Maryland women’s basketball has chance to experiment depth against Niagara on Wednesday

Maryland women’s basketball faced a daunting challenge after a convincing victory opening night against Harvard — the Terps then had to face three ranked opponents within their next six games. 

The result has been a 4-3 record as Maryland dropped all three ranked matchups. But coach Brenda Frese isn’t worried about the results so far, keeping perspective of the difficult schedule for the early season. 

“I think people need to have perspective of the schedule of the first six games against [three] top 25 opponents [and] being on the road for two of those,” Frese said. “… We haven’t played a schedule like most people play, which is playing nobody.”

One of the Terps’ four wins was a 68-59 comeback victory against Green Bay during the Cancun Challenge. The victory is more impressive when considering that the Phoenix defeated then-No. 23 Washington State, who blew out Maryland just two days prior. Green Bay also defeated then-No. 22 Creighton on the road, 65-53.

A difficult non-conference slate is not uncommon for Maryland after facing three ranked teams in its opening nine games last season. The program won two of three games in that stretch with the lone loss coming to No. 1 South Carolina.

“I don’t think this team should be compared to last year’s team,” Frese said. “I think the schedule is not in any comparison to what any team has ever been through and it’s a different roster.”

The Terps lost their top two scorers from last season but supplemented the losses with six freshmen and graduate transfer Jakia Brown-Turner. While Brown-Turner has been a mainstay in the starting lineup through seven games, the freshmen class totaled just 15 minutes collectively per game heading into the three-game Thanksgiving tournament in Mexico.

Frese stressed heading into the Cancun Challenge that her team had to utilize their depth to play three games in consecutive days, and she leaned on her freshman class to do just that. The group’s playing time surged to 44 minutes collectively per game, with a season-high 57 minutes in a win over Massachusetts on Sunday.

Maryland’s coach also shuffled her starting lineup to begin the tournament, replacing graduate student captain Faith Masonius with redshirt junior Allie Kubek. Kubek missed all of last season with an ACL tear but earned a spot in the starting rotation after a 23-point performance against Syracuse. 

The Towson transfer averaged 20.6 minutes a game in her three starts in Mexico while recording seven points and four rebounds per game. Frese noted that the forward provides the team with a low post presence but is still working her way back into shape following her injury. She also noted that the starting lineup still is not finalized yet. 

“I don’t think in any shape or form is our starting five is going to be our starting five in January or February. We’re not even close to that,” Frese said. “… I don’t really think it comes down to who starts, it’s just who’s been the most effective in the lineup.”

Frese will have another opportunity to experiment with her depth Wednesday as Niagara (2-4) travels to College Park. The Purple Eagles have lost two straight games to ranked LSU and UCLA by a combined 85 points, posing a chance for the Terps to play deep into their bench if the game becomes a blowout, similar to Maryland’s 92-63 victory over UMass last time out.

Tipoff for the game is scheduled for 7 p.m.