No. 10 Maryland women’s basketball struggled to pull away early against UMBC, but fixed its flaws later on. 

That said, Maryland’s defense continued its dominance. Combined with the previous game, Thursday revealed Maryland’s all-gas, no-brakes defense from wire to wire. 

The strong defense allowed the Terps to hold a lead even when the offense played sloppily, leading them to victory over UMBC, 87-54.  

Oluchi Okananwa and Isimenme Ozzy-Momodu led the Terps with 15 points respectively. Okananwa continued to prove her pure scoring ability and Ozzy-Momodu dominated both sides of the ball, owning the paint as she finished with 15 points on 7-8 shooting. 

Every Terp who checked in scored. Maryland passed the ball well, finishing with 23 assists on the game, seven of which came from freshman Lea Bartelme. 

“I think everyone has so much ability, and we’re really gelling well together right now,” Saylor Poffenbarger said. “We give each other confidence every day, and just continue to build that chemistry.” 

Out of the gate, the Terps picked up right where they left off and played tough defense.  Maryland forced six turnovers, but the game remained relatively close. Though UMBC’s defense kept them in the game. 

Maryland struggled from beyond the arc in the first half, shooting 2-15 and scored 24 of their 40 points in the paint. 

Maryland’s offense played much more smoothly after halftime. They knocked down five of eight three-point attempts in the quarter and remained aggressive, getting to the free-throw line at will. The Retrievers could not slow them down as the Terps pulled away. 

“Just love the response after half,” said head coach Brenda Frese. “I thought we kind of really, kind of understood our identity and where things needed to go.” 

Ozzy-Momodu had a dominant quarter, scoring nine and providing a strong presence in the paint. So did Poffenbarger, who knocked down two threes to turn the Terps’ three-point luck around.  Poffenbarger has made six of her seven attempts from beyond the arc in this season’s two games. 

Not everything went well in the quarter, as Mir McLean headed straight to the locker room after contesting a shot. She did not return, and coach Frese said after the game that it was a shoulder injury that needed to be evaluated. 

Turnovers in the fourth quarter had the Terps looking similar to the first half. The defense was not helping as UMBC capitalized on its opportunities and got shots to fall. 

Despite this, the Terps turned it around and outscored UMBC, winning by 33.  

“We’ve really been focused on holding them under 60 points, and we were able to do that,” Frese said. “Just that focus, and never take your foot off the gas, and just again, just every game, growing it as a team.”

The Terps will be back at the Xfinity Center on Sunday against Georgetown.