Following a disappointing loss in Paris, Oluchi Okananwa set the tone for Maryland women’s basketball on Sunday.
The senior scored five points before anyone on George Mason scored, an early indication of what was to come for the Terps.
Maryland defeated George Mason 81-62 in the first game at Xfinity Center of the season, claiming their 11th straight win against the Patriots.
“I thought it looked like the second game of the season. I thought we had great starts, first quarter, third quarter. Not sure what happened in the second and the fourth, but again, some of that is continuity, chemistry,” head coach Brenda Frese said. “Still trying to find the right combinations, rotations that we’re nowhere near finding finding that out.”
The Terps (1-1) began the game on a 7-0 run and built the lead throughout, leading by 11 at the end of the first quarter.
The scoring slowed in the second frame. Four minutes in, the two teams had combined for just five points in the quarter.
But the Patriots (2-1) found some rhythm, pulling the score within six.
The Terps struggled, scoring just 14 points in the second quarter.
However, a steal from Lea Bartelme created a fast-break opportunity for Addi Mack, helping Maryland hold onto a six-point lead at halftime.
“When you talk about defensively rebounding, commanding the offense, I love that it allows us to get even more shots for Addie, so she’s not having to take all of that pounding every single minute. But really excited. I think she’s improving to understand what we need,” Frese said.
Okananwa still looked good after her hot start. She added six more in the second quarter, consistently getting into the paint.
The third quarter started hot for the Terps, with eight fast-break points just two minutes in. After two airballed three-pointers from George Mason, it was forced to call an early timeout to regroup.
The break did not help the Patriots. Maryland outscored them by 10 points in the third frame.
Terps kept it rolling in the fourth quarter with back-to-back three-pointers from Bartelme and Okananwa. Maryland’s leading scorer from last season finished with 24 points.
Another leading scorer coming off a hot game in Paris against No. 1 South Carolina was Mack. The sophomore had 35 against the Gamecocks, and her hot start to the season continued on Sunday. She scored 15 points and five rebounds.
“We’ve got to be able to have that consistency from you know your your top players there that they’re bringing that every day as we bring everyone else along. It’s going to make us that much better as a team,” Frese said.
Tensions were high during the matchup, with two flagrant fouls called, split between each team. Nunu Agara got one of these fouls at 9:49 in the third quarter.
“I’m learning her as she’s learning me, and so you know, she’s got to be more disciplined for us and and not put herself in that position to go sit on the bench,” Frese said.
The Terps separated themselves from George Mason as the game went on. They had nine three-pointers, more than double the Patriots’ total. Also, Maryland had 36 points in the paint, 12 more than George Mason.
A key for the Terps in securing the victory was their ability to force turnovers and score off of them. They had 10 steals, which led to 14 fastbreak points. Bartelme led Maryland with five steals. The redshirt freshman was one of three players with multiple steals.
After leading the Patriots throughout the entirety of the game, the only area where the Terps fell behind was rebounds. Maryland fell behind in defensive rebounds by four, gathering 41 rebounds overall.
After an up-and-down opening game, the Terps found their rhythm on Sunday. With a slew of non-Power Five teams ahead on the schedule, Maryland will look to build on that momentum and establish some consistency before its bout with UConn on Dec. 5.
