From the opening minutes of Thursday night’s matchup between No. 12 Maryland women’s basketball and USC, it was obvious offense would be hard to come by.
A grind was in store.
Despite losing its identity for most of the matchup, the Terps’ defense stepped up even further late. The Trojans didn’t make a field goal in the final three minutes of gametime, as the Terps beat USC, 62-55, in Southern California.
Neither team shot the ball well all game long. But 19 total turnovers for Maryland — a similar trend to their loss against Ohio State — and 39 percent shooting wasn’t the deciding factor of the game.
Maryland has made a statement all season on the offensive glass, but being able to push the pace, just couldn’t find its groove. The Terps settled for just three fastbreak points and were outrebounded on the offensive end, 18-12.
Instead, Maryland’s defense truly pushed it to a gritty victory. The Terps forced USC to just 28% shooting from the floor and 16% from behind the arc.
Late in the game, after struggling on the glass, Maryland got back to what they’ve shone in all season. A late three-pointer by Yarden Garzon and a second-chance layup by Izzy Ozzy-Momodu helped Maryland pull ahead and never look back.
“Just really proud of our toughness. Anytime you can go on the road and be able to get a road win … they’re precious,” head coach Frese said. “Two hungry teams, we knew what USC’s mindset was going to be coming in after having lost three games, and we also wanted to play better.”
For a Maryland team that averages 87 points per game, 19 turnovers was not a recipe for success. The Terps had 13 in the first half alone. They ranked second in the Big Ten in offensive rebounds per game, but lost the battle against the Trojans.
Even Maryland’s full-court pressure didn’t faze the Trojans at all. Maryland — a team that does such a good job of getting out in transition for easy baskets — scored only three of its 62 points on fast breaks.
Despite the Terps almost completely losing their identity, they found a new one that would push them to victory — free throws. The Terps got to the free-throw line 26 times, capitalizing for 22 of their 62 points.
In the fourth quarter, especially, Maryland went 2-of-11 from the field, but they knocked down 11 free throws and limited the turnovers from the first half.
Maryland’s defense was especially successful at stopping USC’s leading scoring freshman Jazzy Davidson. The freshman averaged 16.4 points per game coming in, and scored 12 first-quarter points. But this trend would not continue throughout the rest of the matchup.
Davidson was held scoreless after the opening quarter — shooting 5/23 from the field.
“I was happy that we could rely on our defense in this game because this was a game that wasn’t the prettiest from our offensive end. But defensively, I thought we did some really good things to be able to hang in there,” Frese said.
In a contest that was back and forth for most of the second half, it was only a matter of time before Maryland got their identity back. With the game tied at 54 and under three minutes remaining, Yarden Garzon nailed a rainbow three-pointer to give Maryland the lead. It was Maryland’s first field goal of the quarter.
The very next possession, Isimenme Ozzy-Momodu scored a second-chance layup to extend their lead to five – she had nine rebounds in the game. From there, Maryland’s defense that has shined all season in making shots difficult, delivered, as Maryland came out with a bounce-back victory.
The Terps grinded out a victory on Thursday, but the road only gets harder. Maryland stays on the West Coast to take on No. 3 UCLA on Sunday — its toughest scheduled game of the regular season.
