Injuries have swept over the Maryland women’s basketball roster to open the year.
On Tuesday, Maryland women’s basketball announced sophomore Ava McKennie tore her ACL after starting point guard Lea Bartelme suffered the same injury four games into the year.
Three current Terps are recovering from that tear.
The No. 7 Terps must show there’s enough depth to overcome the absences. Wednesday was a glimpse they could. Maryland rolled Mount St. Mary’s in a 92-44 win at Xfinity Center — keeping the Terps 10-0 in nonconference play.
“I thought we were able to pick up our intensity defensively and get a lot of good things out of that. I love the fact that we shared the basketball,” Frese said. “I thought working through our chemistry on the offensive end.”
It seems the Terps have begun to find consistency in their game flow. Kaylene Smikle’s return on Nov. 13 from a “nagging” injury has cemented many of Maryland’s lineups. Brenda Frese has started the same five the past three games, including freshman Addi Mack at point guard since Bartelme’s injury.
[No. 7 Maryland women’s basketball stomps Hofstra in Puerto Rico, 95-38]
Mack scored 2 points with 2 assists against the Mountaineers, now averaging 10.2 points per game. She is just one freshman flourishing under Frese.
Rainey Welson has experienced increased minutes on the hardwood and has impressed with her play.
In the first quarter, Welson knocked the ball free from a Mountaineer and then raced down the court. Mack gathered the ball and dished Welson with a fast break layup through the seams as the two freshmen trotted down the court together. She made another impressive play in third — knocking a three as time expired.
The freshman led the team with five points after the first frame, finishing with eight.
“Rainey is really, really good. She’s still on minutes restriction and so like, just the stronger we can get her healthy,” Frese said. “She’s an important piece for us. She plays the right way, shoots the ball extremely well, really high IQ hit defense.”
Maryland took advantage of the fast breaks, recording 18 points off the sequences. The speed most prominently came from the sneakers of Oluchi Okananwa and Mack the Terps outran Mount St. Mary’s most of the game.
Wednesday’s matchup was the first after Maryland’s return from the Puerto Rico classic featuring two commanding performances. The win against No. 17 Kentucky was one of the best 40 minute full games from the tipoff, according to Frese.
[Maryland women’s basketball stuns No. 16 Kentucky, 74-66, to remain undefeated]
Wednesday was more of the same. The Terps put up 23 points in the first two quarters respectively. Maryland found the basket easily with Okananwa at the helm. She contributed 13 points, over half the total. She’s added double digits in every game, excluding the two in Puerto Rico.
Maryland’s defensive identity builds each game. The team’s extensive backcourt focus in the offseason has created a clean and aggressive formation, and rebounds are critical to that success, according to Frese.
The Terps notched 46 rebounds against the Mountaineers, 30 of which were defensive. Saylor Poffenbarger had six rebounds on Wednesday and has established herself as a top rebounder with 59 rebounds, averaging 5.9 per game.
“We have a great presence, Frese said. “I thought they were unselfish with some of their high-low opportunities, as well as being able to just get in the paint, but our inside and outside movement was really good,”
The athletic Maryland defense kept the Mountaineers to under 45 points, the third-least points allowed so far this season.
