No. 12 Maryland women’s basketball hangs on for 62-55 road win over USC

Photo courtesy of Grayson Belanger/Maryland Athletics.

Yarden Garzon has shown up for Maryland all season long. With just over two and a half minutes left in the game, she had attempted just five shots, but her sixth – a made three – gave the Terps the momentum they needed to finish the game.

After a tough loss against No. 19 Ohio State, No. 12 Maryland women’s basketball looked to bounce back in their first game of a west coast swing against the University of Southern California. Issues in the Buckeyes loss involved an inability to finish and maintain their fourth quarter lead.

Tonight, they were able to get the job done – the Terps outscored the Trojans by three in the final frame. Garzon’s clutch three, strong defense down the stretch from Isimenme Ozzy-Momodu, and big free throws from Addi Mack sealed a victory for Maryland.

“Regardless of what adversity we faced we all came together – especially in the second half – we really locked in,” Mack said.  

Jazzy Davidson dominated the first quarter, scoring 12 of USC’s 16 in the opening ten minutes. The standout freshman was able to get to her spots early on. Defensively, she primarily guarded Oluchi Okananwa and Yarden Garzon, holding them to just seven first half points.

The rest of the game was a different story for Davidson – she didn’t score and finished 5-23 from the field. The Terps’ stifling defense over the final three quarters kept them in the contest.

“Being able to hold Jazzy was really important,” said head coach Brenda Frese. “To be able to hold her 0-14 out of that first quarter was really impressive.”

Maryland finished the first half with 13 turnovers, leading to the Trojans having 15 more shot attempts in the first. A bulk of the turnovers were travels and other unforced offensive errors –  a common theme for the Terps in more competitive conference matchups.

Another first half struggle for Maryland was its lack of ability to get into transition. USC made an emphasis on crashing the offensive boards and getting back into position after missed shots. A majority of the Terps’ offensive success comes from their transition game, so the Trojans’ stout defense hampered their scoring heavily – Maryland finished the first with just 27 points.

In the second half, the Terps were able to get to the free throw line and limit turnover issues. Despite the discrepancy in shot attempts, Maryland’s 22 made free throws helped close the gap. The defense also held USC to just 16% from three point range – they missed 27 three point attempts.

“I was happy we could rely on our defense this game,” said Frese. “This game wasn’t the prettiest from the offensive end, but we did some really good things to hang in there.”

Rainey Welson hit the court hard after a collision with Davidson in the second quarter – She got up on her own power but didn’t return to the game. The freshman has been a solid contributor off the bench for Maryland as of late, with 12 points in each of the last two games. Isimenme Ozzy-Momodu also left the game briefly after a tough fall but returned to play shortly after.

Saylor Poffenbarger started the game hot, hitting her first two threes. Coming into Thursday night, she had two threes in her last four games overall. The fifth year senior is still working through an ankle injury that has been nagging her for the past few weeks. 

It was another quiet night for the Maryland bench, as Frese gave the starters heavy minutes – Kyndal Walker was the only bench player to exceed ten. This will be something to continue to watch as we get deeper into the season, given the amount of injured Terps.

“I love where our bench is at,” said Frese. “You can see the confidence that they are playing with.”

In a game with 14 lead changes, Maryland was able to show its fight and ability to push through adversity. Despite a rough shooting night, the Terps were able to lean on their defensive identity, which ultimately carried them to victory. Their road trip in the sunshine state will conclude on Sunday in a matchup with one of the nation’s best – No. 3 UCLA.  

“UCLA is ranked where they are at for a good reason,” said Frese. “It’s gonna take another collective team effort on both ends of the floor.”