Brenda Frese kept repeating herself in the preseason that sophomore Bri McDaniel was the Terp poised to improve the most entering the year. Over four months later, McDaniel has fulfilled those promises.
Wisconsin clawed back from a 20-point deficit all the way to six. McDaniel and backcourt mate Shyanne Sellers then scored eight straight points to regain a comfortable lead.
The sophomore was all over the court on Thursday, filling up the box score en route to a dominant win. In its final home game of the year, Maryland beat Wisconsin, 79-63. The Terps held the Badgers to just 42.9 percent from the floor and 25 percent from deep.
The Terps went 12-3 at Xfinity Center this season — an impressive record, but marked the program’s worst home winning percentage since the 2017-18 season.
[Maryland women’s basketball’s loss to Ohio State showed its distance from nation’s elite]
McDaniel has been a revelation for the Terps this year, surpassing 15 points in 11 contests. She didn’t reach that mark in a single game last season.
Every offensive stat demonstrates the massive jump the sophomore has taken. Her usage rate has jumped nearly nine percent and her two-point percentage has risen by over six percent.
Arguably no stat shows McDaniel’s importance more than her assist rate. She assisted on 5.8 percent of her teammates’ field goals as a freshman compared to 21.8 percent this year.
“I’m just being more confident in myself,” McDaniel said.
The Chicago native finished with two assists on Thursday, but was the main ball-handler against Wisconsin’s press. McDaniel and Sellers have given Maryland one of the top guard tandems in the conference.
“You have two facilitators on the floor and people that can score the ball so I think we’re just a really tough matchup for every team,” Sellers said after Maryland’s win against Rutgers.
Speed is McDaniel’s biggest asset. She has grown comfortable in the guard role, Frese said, which means knowing how to change speeds as well.
“In the beginning I was like running into people because of how fast I was and I wouldn’t slow myself down,” McDaniel said.
McDaniel scored 10 points on perfect shooting in the first quarter, which included two three-pointers.
[Maryland women’s basketball snaps four-game win streak with 79-66 loss to No. 2 Ohio State]
Her shot didn’t fall in the second quarter, as she went 0-5 from the field, but McDaniel still finished with Maryland’s highest first-half plus-minus.
“Bri in the first half took over,” Frese said.
McDaniel’s defensive responsibility has also increased. With Lavender Briggs out for the season, she’s arguably become the Terps’ top perimeter defender. She guarded Wisconsin’s speedy guard Ronnie Porter for a majority of the game Thursday. McDaniel also had an outstanding strip of Badgers star big Serah Williams in the first quarter.
The squad’s offense struggled mightily to begin the second half, scoring only 13 points in the third quarter. Frese’s defense never allowed Wisconsin to truly threaten though, maintaining a two-possession lead throughout the game.“We’re just more connected, you can see in our scrambles there’s a lot more trust [in] how they’re covering each other,” Frese said. “I think that’s just developed with the chemistry as the season has unfolded.”
Maryland is now 12-0 on the season when it holds teams below 65 points. Five of those came against non-conference opponents, but in Big Ten play, the Terps defense has allowed the sixth-most points per contest.
Eight Big Ten teams hold teams below 68 points a game. But if Maryland can play league-average defense, its strong offense — in large part because of McDaniel — can compete with anybody.
