Maryland women’s basketball’s second-half struggles have doomed it this season

Brenda Frese exited the Crisler Center’s court Wednesday following Maryland women’s basketball’s 79-77 overtime loss to Michigan with a victory having slipped through the Terps’ grasp in the second half. 

As Maryland suffered its seventh loss of the season, Frese noted post-game the result “hurts” — being that the Terps surrendered a large halftime lead on the road and were outscored 48-31 following the break. The theme of second-half struggles isn’t a stranger to the veteran coach this season.

“We’re going to continue to have to take tough lessons when we lose the battle with something we can control and we can control the poise and that composure piece,” Frese said.

The Terps have been outscored in the second half of all their losses, with their first three coming at the hands of ranked opponents. Their last four losses have come against conference foes. 

Maryland’s field goal percentage in those seven games dipped from 43.95 percent in the first half to 35.71 percent after halftime. The Terps’ opposition have seen an inverse with a rise in field goal percentage following the break, increasing from 45.45 percent to 50.21 percent.

The third quarter is where Maryland’s issues are more glaring. The Terps held a third-period lead in each of their past four losses, yet were outscored in each of those quarters by a combined 28 points

Maryland’s largest third-quarter margin was against Michigan State when the Spartans outscored the Terps 24-14 during the frame. Frese’s team led by as much as 16 against Michigan Wednesday night in the third quarter, and even held a nine-point advantage with 3:08 left in the fourth period before the Wolverines completed the comeback in overtime.“

[It’s] definitely frustrating … right now it’s kind of make it or break it and we’re right on the breaking point,” guard Lavender Briggs said. “We’re just trying to stay together as a team so we can get over that hump.”

While Frese noted her team needs to be more composed in the second half, Briggs attributed the pains to defensive miscommunication following the Michigan loss. The guard also remarked after an 84-76 loss to No. 18 Ohio State that Maryland gave up too many rebounds and needed to play cohesively while crashing the boards. The Buckeyes secured eight offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter. 

“We need to shift over and just be disciplined with that,” Briggs said. “All five of us have to hit, not just four, not just three, all five need to hit people and get that ball.”

The Terps have dealt with foul trouble in their defeats, out-fouling their opponent in six out of the seven losses. The result has been more free-throw attempts for the opposition in five of those games.

The losses of Riley Nelson and Emma Chardon both hamper Maryland rotation-wise beyond the foul trouble. Nelson and Chardon are tied for second-tallest on the team at 6-foot-2, so the Terps lost two long and athletic players in their rotation — which now mainly consists of eight players. Nelson averaged 14.1 minutes in 16 games while Chardon appeared in all eight games before tearing her ACL against Niagara. 

“Conditioning has got to be greater, teams are separating in the second half. We don’t have the depth anymore …  so you see heavy minutes that they have to play,” Frese said after the Ohio State loss. 

Maryland must use the Michigan loss as a lesson and adjust quickly with an away matchup against a surging Penn State team. The Nittany Lions have won four straight, albeit with only one win against a team over .500.

The Terps then return home for premier matchups next week against No. 14 Indiana on Wednesday and No. 5 Iowa on Saturday. They have yet to record a win over a ranked opponent this season. 

“When we play together, we’re a great team,” forward Jakia Brown-Turner said. “And I think if we keep doing that, we’ll be good.”