New faces, same goals: Maryland women’s basketball has lofty expectations for upcoming season

This year’s version of Maryland women’s basketball will look vastly different from last years. 

The Terps lost Angel Reese (LSU), Ashley Owusu (Virginia Tech) and Mimi Collins (NC State) to the transfer portal. Chloe Bibby and Katie Benzan both graduated.

In many programs, losing five of the top six scorers from the previous year’s team would be a death blow. Yet to head coach Brenda Freese, it created an opportunity to bring new blood into the program.

“Getting the [newcomers] into practice has been huge and a lot of the question marks that we still have with our new players, we’re going to find out soon,” Freese said. 

Freese endured a complete roster overhaul in the offseason, bringing in nine newcomers to fill out the roster. All of the transfers were highly regarded, and multiple enter with significant high-level playing experience.

Abby Meyers, a transfer from Princeton, represented the Terps at Big Ten Media Day in Minneapolis. Her experience has helped replace some of the voices that were lost, as she has taken an active leadership role in the locker room already.

“I do see myself in a leadership role, but it starts with earning the trust of my teammates and coaches, ” Meyers said.

Additionally, Meyers brings a talent upgrade on the court. Meyers excelled at Princeton, as she was named the Ivy League Player of the Year in 2022. The Potomac, Md. native averaged 17.9 points per game on a .450/.393/.809 shooting split. Myers led the Tigers in points, field goal percentage and three-point percentage, and ranked second in free-throw percentage.

Meyers brings tournament experience as well, as she helped lead the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament last season, including an upset win over Kentucky in the first win. Meyers scored a career-high 29 points against the Wildcats.

Beyond Meyers, Freese focused on bringing in shooting from the perimeter. With a pair of SEC transfers, the Terps should be dangerous from beyond the arc.

Both Brinae Alexander and Lavender Briggs should prove to be crucial rotation members. Alexander, a Vanderbilt transfer, shot 36% from three-point range in 2022. Alexander led the Commodores in scoring, averaging 15.2 points per game.

Briggs transferred from Florida to Maryland in January but had hip surgery in College Park. She has been around the team for months now, and is ingrained in the culture.

“She brings that SEC experience and with part of our team being so young, we really need that experience,” Freese said. “Now, I’m starting to hear her voice and her leadership … you’re going to continue to see her trending up.”

While all the transfers figure to provide different elements, Freese’s returning star that’s set to lead the Terps is senior Diamond Miller.

“This year I am more of a leader, as people are looking up to me because I have been here for four years,” said Miller.

Miller, who was named to the All-Big Ten Preseason Team, is set for an expanded role with the departure of Reese, Owusu, Collins, Bibby and Benzan. The 6-foot-3 guard scored in double figures in 17 of her 22 games played last year and is looking to take a step forward this year. Miller figures to take more of an on-ball role this year, as Freese has emphasized a flexible roster.

“We have a really good group of players that you’re going to see a lot of versatility where they’re going to be able to cover and play a lot of different positions on both ends of the floor,” Freese said.

The new look of the Terps will be tested early on, as the non-conference schedule is a gauntlet. Maryland is set to face defending national champions South Carolina in its second game of the season, and runner-up UConn will come to College Park in early December.

“We’re also going to find out really quickly what we need to work on,” Frese said. “Our non-conference schedule is probably one of the toughest we’ve ever played here in my time at Maryland.”

Maryland will soon find out how the different pieces of the puzzle fit together, as each player will need to embrace a new role. Maryland’s early tests should reveal if the new pieces can emerge to form a dangerous and contending team in the Big Ten and beyond.