Washington State was quick to get up the floor after the Terps missed a shot. With the Cougars holding a seven point lead, Astera Tuhina threw a deep pass up the court to guard Charlisse Leger-Walker for a two-on one opportunity. Leger-Walker laid down a behind-the-back pass to Bella Murekatete who converted the layup, extending Cougars’ lead to 52-43.
Maryland women’s basketball’s (2-3) offensive struggles continued as No. 23 Washington State (6-0) kept growing its lead and routed the Terps, 87-67. Maryland fell to 0-3 against ranked teams on the season.
“That chemistry piece is missing,” coach Brenda Frese said. “… The ball isn’t moving so we’ve got to be able to get better ball movement on the offensive end.”
The Terps started the game on a 6-0 run and built a 12-4 lead early with Lavender Briggs and Shyanne Sellers hitting back-to-back three-pointers in transition.
Briggs found her shot early, scoring 12 of Maryland’s first 19 points. Her season high entering the game was 10 which she scored against Syracuse but quickly eclipsed that in less than six minutes.
Everything was working on offense in the first quarter for Maryland. Frese’s team shot 65 percent in the first quarter. It ended the first quarter with a 31-20 lead as Briggs scored 14 points and the Terps shot 4-for-6 from beyond the arc.
Maryland’s defense forced eight Washington State turnovers over the first 12 minutes, turning those turnovers into 11 points.
Allie Kubek earned her first start for Maryland in place of Faith Masonius. Kubek scored 11 points and grabbed four rebounds, but could not replicate her success from Sunday when she put up 23 points.
While the first quarter was all Terps, the second quarter was all Cougars. They broke down Maryland’s defense, finding easy layups as part of a 14-0 run to take a 34-33 lead — Washington State’s first lead of the day.
Briggs stopped Washington State’s momentum with a pull-up mid-range jumper to give Maryland the one-point lead back. The teams traded baskets from there as the Terps entered halftime trailing 41-39. The Cougars scored 28 of their 41 first half points in the paint.
Maryland started the second quarter shooting 1-for-10 from the field and could not find anything as the quarter went on, shooting 3-for-19 in the frame.
“I thought it was a lot of quick, rushed shots … instead of moving the basketball being able to drive to kick like you saw with Washington State’s ball movement,” Frese said.
In the third quarter, Sellers knocked down a deep jumper. But the Cougars responded with a three-pointer of their own, keeping their lead in double figures. Washington State, the reigning PAC-12 tournament champions, shot 61 percent from the field.
Maryland’s defense remained sluggish after halftime, still giving up open lanes for easy layups. The Terps also left shooters open to knock down shots — Washington State put in nine total threes.
“I think there was a lack of discipline today,” Briggs said. “… We weren’t guarding one-on-one very well and that led to them just getting wide open shots and they were knocking them down.”
After scoring 31 points in the first quarter, the Cougars held the Terps to 36 points the rest of the game, as they shot just 10-for-56 from the field. At the end of the third quarter the game was all but over with the Cougars holding a 67-52 lead.
The Cougars had six players score in double figures as Leger-Walker secured a triple-double with 11 points, 15 rebounds and 13 assists.
