COLLEGE PARK, MD — Halfway through the third quarter, JuJu Watkins’ dribble led her to a matchup against Kaylene Smikle. The two stars were performing below their usual standards of excellence. It was only natural, then, that the best chance for one to round into shape would come against the other.  

Watkins sized Smikle up and hesitated, waiting to gauge the reaction of her defender. But Watkins hesitated for a moment too long. Before she could react, Smikle lashed out an arm, swatting the ball away from the 2024 All-American. Collecting her steal, Smikle dashed coast-to-coast, putting away the layup to the roars of the crowd.

While Smikle won the possession, Watkins won the night. 

Maryland faltered late against No. 4 USC, 79-74, in a game that featured a March-like atmosphere. 

“We’re obviously disappointed to not close this one out, but we just didn’t make enough plays down the stretch,” head coach Brenda Frese admitted . “I definitely think we learned a lot about ourselves tonight.”

Wednesday night’s contest was a unique one for Maryland, who’d gotten used to playing with comfortable leads this season. For the first time, an opponent battled back and forth with the Terps for 40 minutes, with neither team leading by double digits at any point.

Maryland (14-1, 4-1 Big Ten) got off to an excellent start defensively. Kaylene Smikle poked the ball away from USC center Rayah Marshall on USC’s first possession, before the Terps forced a travel off the ensuing inbound. 

Maryland’s bigs started off with the hot hand – Saylor Poffenbarger and Christina Dalce dominated USC (15-1, 5-0 Big Ten) on the offensive side early. 

On the Terps’ very first offensive possession, Smikle took the ball upcourt and sent a pass to Poffenbarger in the corner, who jabbed before driving in and laying up at the rim. The Arkansas transfer then stretched the floor on the next possession, draining a three to put Maryland ahead, 5-1. 

From there, it was Dalce’s turn to make two quick layups, helping Maryland stretch its early advantage to 9-3. 

As has been customary for Maryland, Shyanne Sellers and Bri McDaniel took the majority of defensive looks on the best opposing player. On Wednesday night, that challenge was JuJu Watkins.

One of USC’s two players on the Midseason Wooden Award Watch List, Watkins entered the night third in Division I in scoring, averaging 25.3 points per game. Early on, though, Watkins struggled, committing three turnovers and going just 2-for-6 in the first quarter.

“I think people forget that I’m a two-way player,” Sellers asserted . “I stepped up to the plate. I wanted to make everything difficult for her.” 

Sellers did as she said. 

Watkins finished the night 7-for-19 with 8 turnovers and just 21 points, her second-lowest effort in a game this season. Sellers herself led all players with 26 points, quieting any doubts about her two-way ability.

Crucially for the Terps, USC’s other Wooden Watchlist player, Kiki Iriafen, committed two fouls in the first four minutes. Trojans head coach Lindsay Gottlieb was forced into fielding a weaker lineup early, sitting her star for over five minutes as a result of the foul trouble.

Maryland responded by going brutally up-tempo in transition, though it came with mixed results. 

Five fast break points aided the Terps, but poor shot selection allowed USC to claw its way back into the game. The Trojan cut the deficit to two after ending the first quarter on an 11-4 scoring stretch. 

Kaylene Smikle entered the game off the back of a 26-point performance against No. 23 Iowa. However, Smikle had a brutal opening 20 minutes on Wednesday night. The reigning Co-Big Ten Player of the Week missed all eight of her attempts from the field in the first half, and entered the break with just a pair of free throw makes.  

With its leading scorer unsuccessfully forcing the issue, Maryland’s offense ran dry midway through the second quarter. The offensive drought opened the door for USC, who went on an 11-2 run that propelled the Trojans to their first lead of the night.  

Down seven points with two minutes remaining in the opening half, the Terps needed a response, and got one. 

Sellers made two free throws, and on the ensuing possession, before a circus three pointer from Sarah Te-Biasu cut the lead to two. Maryland also forced two bad shots and a turnover from Watkins to end the half.  

A free throw from Mir McClean meant the lead was just one at the break. It didn’t stop the Terps from uncharacteristically slipping in the second quarter – this was the first time all season Maryland has lost the second frame by more than one point.

In reality, the situation could have been far worse for Maryland; Frese attributes the fact that it was not to her team’s resilience.

“A lot of teams would have folded. They’re so strong, so fast, so athletic, and then they have the best player in the country on their team,” Frese said. “I love the fight in this team. They fought for the entire 40 minutes, and we’ll learn a lot of lessons from it.”

The Trojans struggled to shoot the ball following the restart, going just 2-for-11 to open the second half Compounding their issues, Maryland’s leading scorer finally snapped out of her cold streak.

Three minutes into the third quarter, Smikle landed a jumper to finally make her first shot for the night. 

After the Terps drew an offensive foul from a Trojans inbound play, Smikle attempted a pass to Dalce on the inside but the ball was deflected by a USC limb. Dalce dove for the loose ball, and while sitting on the floor, fed a cutting Smikle to cut the Trojans’ lead to one. 

Smikle capped off the quick burst with that layup off a steal from Watkins, giving Maryland its first lead in over ten minutes. 

USC rounded into shape as the third quarter neared a close, ending the period 5-for-6 from the field. The only miss came on a vicious block by Dalce. 

To start the fourth quarter, though, it was all Maryland. 

The Terps ruthlessly took advantage of USC’s mistakes on back-to-back-to-back possessions to turn a tie into a six-point advantage. 

With the energetic crowd baiting Iriafen into a desperate fadeaway, McDaniel was free to sprint away for an easy layup. USC’s Kennedy Smith traveled coming back down the court, with Smikle making a contested jumper on the ensuing possession. Finally, after a missed jump shot from Smith, Sellers sprinted the other way for an easy make. 

Just as it seemed Maryland would take control of the back-and-forth bout, USC took off on a quick 7-0 run to tie the game at 68 with three and a half minutes remaining. 

The Terps took the lead twice on hard-fought baskets, but Watkins replied both times, making the game look easy in the process. With the contest knotted at 72, Iriafen received the ball inside and drew a foul, converting the and-one to put Maryland down by three. 

As the clock ticked below one minute, Watkins controlled the ball on the Maryland side of the court, watching the seconds slip away. With the chance to put the Trojans up two scores, Sellers drew an offensive foul, giving Maryland another chance to level the game as Watkins fouled out. 

But the Terps couldn’t convert on a decisive ensuing possession. 

Poffenbarger heaved a wild three with 15 seconds remaining, an attempt that ultimately fell short. Her miss capped a run of five consecutive scoreless possessions for Maryland across the final two minutes and 30 seconds, ended only by a meaningless Sellers layup with a few ticks remaining.

“I think they started doing a good job of punching it in to Kiki [Iriafen]. We got sealed too deep,” said Sellers. “And in a top 10 matchup, you can’t have back to back empty possessions.”

In the end, it was another 11-2 run that doomed Maryland to its first loss of the season. 

The Terps’ output was uncharacteristic. They went just 2-for-14 from three, the team had just seven assists, and the four guards combined for just one rebound amongst themselves. However, Frese’s Terps remain confident that their late-season aspirations remain intact.

“It’s not going to set us back,” insisted Dalce. “I think that it’s going to fuel us even more to go back on that winning streak again.”

The Terps will look to restart that streak in a road contest against Wisconsin on Saturday, January 11.