Florida-transfer Lavender Briggs looks for new start under the helm of Brenda Frese

Over a year ago, Lavender Briggs suffered one of the many injuries that she endured during her time in Florida. This time, though, the injury led her to a new destination, one far away from Gainesville. 

Briggs’ time at Florida was filled with success, as she averaged 19.5 points in the 2020-21 season for the Gators, the fourth-highest in program history. She was named to the All-SEC Second Team in 2021.

Yet, she also dealt through a lot of trials and tribulations. Briggs suffered from a string of injuries, as she managed multiple hip injuries and missed the end of last year’s SEC Tournament due to a foot injury. 

“I had a lot of injuries that occurred back-to-back,” Briggs said. “It was definitely hard to be healthy at some point and then have to take two steps back, get back to feeling good, and then take another two steps back.” 

Yet, shortly after Briggs suffered a foot injury that ended her season on January 6th, she entered the transfer portal. Maryland head coach Brenda Frese came calling, and on January 19th, Freese announced that Briggs had committed to Maryland. 

“I put my name in the portal during the season, so a lot of coaches were focused on their season,” Briggs said. “I reached out to coach Frese, set up a visit, and then canceled my other visits after the one here.” 

Briggs impressed in practice early on, as Frese praised her mentality. 

“She’s someone that I have been really impressed with how she attacks each day like a pro,” Frese said. 

As Briggs enters into a new system, being around the team since last year gives her added experience of the offense. The scoring Briggs displayed in the SEC should give Frese an attacking option on the wing. 

Briggs’ game is centered around her ability to get downhill and play in transition. She’s hard to stop once she gets going downhill, but it will be interesting to see how her shooting translates this year. 

Her three-point percentage has gone down each year. In her freshman campaign, she shot 35% from deep. As a sophomore, she shot 23% from deep. And as a junior, her three-point percentage was just 27%. If Briggs can regain her form from the perimeter, it will add another element to her game that will open up the Terps’ offense even more. 

Yet, if that remains a weak point, it will be difficult to see Briggs continuing her success.

“My three-point shooting has gone down, but that goes along with injury because I wasn’t healthy,” Briggs said. “My goal is to get my percentage up. Let me just say that I’m working on it.” 

Briggs knows that the transition to playing real games against live competition won’t come easily. She says that she is still getting back to the player she used to be, but Briggs and the Terps will be challenged early. 

With the reigning-champion South Carolina set for Maryland’s home opener, along with UConn, Baylor, and Notre Dame on the non-conference schedule, Briggs will have to get used to tough competition quickly. 

“I came here to play the best and I knew that I was going to get to play the best,” Briggs said with conviction in her eyes.