Maryland women’s basketball’s first turnover didn’t come until the fifth minute on Sunday against Princeton. The Terps ended the frame with only one and finished with a season-low in turnovers.

But Maryland still ended with 16 — one more than the Tigers — in what continues to be an issue this season.

“We’ll have to continue, especially as we move forward with all these great teams, to be able to cut them down,” coach Brenda Frese said.

Even in an 18-point win over Towson on Thursday, Maryland turned the ball more than 22 times, its highest across four games.

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The first turnover was within 20 seconds of the initial buzzer when the ball was passed around the arc to Oluchi Okananwa. Yarden Garzon cut to the paint through an off-ball screen to receive the pass from Okananwa.

Garzon pump-faked a shot and attempted a bounce pass to Isimenme Ozzy-Momodu. Towson defenders crowded the play and the ball was lost.

Maryland has committed 91 turnovers across five games, with the same number of assists. Still early in the season, the team is searching for stability in its ball movement and efficiency.

The Terps dropped to a negative assist-to-turnover ratio against Georgetown and Towson, respectively, before evening out on Sunday.

While Maryland won by at least 18 points in both of these matchups, Frese has been unhappy with the frequency of turnovers.

“I think we still have a lot of work to do when we look at that assist-to-turnover ratio,” Frese said after the Towson matchup.

The Terps prepared for Princeton, a challenging non-conference opponent who has a disciplined and strong rotation of upperclassmen, according to Frese.

“I think it’ll clean up when we can get more chemistry within our lineup,” Frese said about the Terps’ turnovers Sunday. “You’re playing so many games right now, with three games in a week, that you’re not having a lot of practice time.”

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Roster rotations remain a work in progress for Frese, who is currently playing it by matchup. Lea Bartelme tore her ACL in the game against Towson, which has made it more difficult for a new team to gel. She will miss the remainder of the season, the team announced Sunday.

The freshman from Slovenia had been the team’s starting point guard before the injury.

“Just going back to that moment, I mean, we were pretty much all shaken up about it, and that kind of showed a little bit in the game,” Okananwa said. “Lea, like you said, we built so much chemistry with her.”

Frese has already started to work another true freshman at point guard. Addi Mack made her first collegiate start against Princeton and already is second on the team in scoring. She has about a 2:1 assist-to-turnover ratio, above the team’s average.

Mack is one of many new impact players for the Terps. Frese believes as the younger players gain experience, the team will improve.

“Once we get into December and get a lot more practices, and around finals and in that stretch, I expect [the turnovers] will clean up,” Frese said.