By: Noah Gross

The No. 6 Maryland Terrapins showed why they are viewed as a top team in their 106 – 61 win against The Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks in the XFINITY Center Wednesday night.

Freshman guard Destiny Slocum showed why this freshmen class has so much excitement surrounding it.  Slocum was the leader for the Terps on the floor, dictating the pace and flow of the game.

Slocum scored just three points in the first half, but added two quick three-pointers to start the second half.  She attributed her hot start in the second half to getting good passes from her team.

Sarah Myers played a big role off the bench tonight adding nine assists.  Coach Frese applauded her effort after the game.

“She brought the energy up,” said Frese.

“Coach always tells us to be ready when our number is called,” Myers said when discussing how she was effective off the bench.

Some of the best moments of the game came late, when it was already clear Maryland was going to be the victor.  Freshman guard Kaila Charles, who ended up with 14 points, hit a buzzer-beater at the end of the third quarter to extend the Maryland lead to 30.  Stephanie Jones tallied eight points and put an exclamation point on the game with under a minute left as she converted a layup and drew a foul.

Brenda Frese had her team ready to go as the Terrapins jumped out to a 14-3 edge over the Hawks.  MDES would not go down without a fight though, as they quickly made it a 16-11 game.

Even though the team won by 45, Frese was not fully satisfied.

“We gave up 61 points,” Frese said, worrying about her defense.  “That is way too many points.”

She went on to also express her concern with the second half turnovers.

The size of Maryland was too much for MDES to overcome, but the Hawks fought valiantly.  Coach Frese said that this MDES team was much improved from a year ago.

Maryland is now 2-0 on the young season.  They will try to stay unbeaten on Friday at home against Mount St. Mary’s – MD.