No. 7 Maryland women’s basketball struggles early in road games despite perfect start

Photo courtesy of Rose Fernandes/Maryland Athletics

In its seven home and neutral site contests, No. 7 Maryland women’s basketball has trailed for under six minutes, including no time against No. 9 Duke. But on the road against two Power 4 opponents — Syracuse and Purdue — the Terps have trailed for almost 39 minutes. 

Maryland has looked dominant early this year. It has gotten off to a 10-0 start, its best since the 2018-19 season, when it went 12-0. Despite this, the Terps have been shaky away from College Park, digging themselves into two double-digit deficits.

“Going on the road, it’s about who wants it more,” guard Kaylene Smikle said. “This is a very competitive group. We’re not going to give up, no matter [if] we’re down [or] we’re up. We’re still going to keep punching hard.”

On Nov. 13, Maryland took on its first true road test, Syracuse. And that was evident, as it scored just nine points in the opening seven minutes. The Terps had one of their lowest first-quarter outputs–14 points while shooting 5-14 from the field. 

With 8:13 left in the second quarter, Maryland found itself down 24-14, the largest deficit it faced. But then, the Terps got going offensively with a balanced attack. Maryland scored 28 points in the second quarter, doubling its production from the opening period.

“We know we can’t do it all ourselves, so we have to lean on our teammates and just follow the game plan,” guard Bri McDaniel said. 

The Terps shot an efficient 70.6%, including splashing four of its six jumpers from behind the arc. Instead of seizing this momentum and extending its 11-point halftime advantage, Maryland’s offense scuffled in the final 20 minutes.

Having scored 42 points in the opening half, Maryland matched that output in the second half. The Terps scored 19 and 23 points in the third and fourth quarters, respectively. Despite only knocking down 11 buckets in these two quarters, Maryland held on to win, 84-73.

“Road wins are precious, and it’s really hard to win on the road against a really good team like Syracuse,” head coach Brenda Frese said. 

The play of Smikle was crucial. She scored 11 points in the final 6:30 of action, helping the Terps ice the game with six clutch free throws. Smikle finished the contest with 22 points, her third of five straight 20+ point outings.

Maryland failed to contain Syracuse’s guard Georgi Woolley early in the game, notching 13 of her team’s first 29 points. Then, McDaniel put the clamps on Woolley and held her to just four points the rest of the way.

“[Bri] brought it from both ends,” Frese said. “She was the only one who could really defend [Woolley] and limit her when she had their first eight points out of the tip.”

The Terps proceeded to rout four of their next five opponents, winning by a combined margin of 174 points. 

But then, Maryland ran into its first Big Ten opponent, Purdue. The Terps traveled north to West Lafayette, Ind. marking its third game in a week. Once again, Maryland got off to a slow start.

In the opening period, the Terps scored a season-low six points, making its second and last bucket of the quarter with three minutes left. Maryland wasn’t just missing shots, but also playing sloppy. The Terps had five turnovers, almost matching their offensive production.

“I will never take a road win for granted, especially with our start,” Frese said. “I don’t think you could have had a worse start for us.”

Purdue, on the other side, was firing on all cylinders early. The duo of guard Rashunda Jones and forward Reagan Bass took over, scoring 13 points off of 6-7 shooting from the field.

And the Boilermakers only added on, as it opened up a 31-15 lead. 

“A lot of teams when they were down 16 [points] could have folded and not had the response that they had in the remainder of the game,” Frese said. “A lot of things didn’t go right for us. We weren’t controlling it, but I thought our effort and attitude to win a game on the road … is encouraging.”

Instead of letting the mounting pressure continue, Maryland got its offense going. Saylor Poffenbarger knocked down the team’s first three-pointer, a welcoming sight for the Terps. A 12-2 run helped Maryland cut the deficit down to six.

Just like in the matchup against Syracuse, McDaniel snatched control of the game, this time offensively. She scored 13 of the Terps’ 26 third-quarter points, helping the team nail 71.4% of their shots.

Maryland took a three-point advantage into the final 10 minutes before Smikle and Poffenbarger furthered its lead. The combo racked up 14 points to push the Terps over the line, 78-69. 

“Welcome to conference play in the best league in the country,” Frese said. “Anyone can beat anyone on any given night. We saw a really well-prepared Purdue team execute really well. They came out and were ready right from the tip.”

Jones—who averages 7.2 points a game—exploded for a season-high 17 points. Bass chipped 16 points for the Boilermakers.

However, Maryland had five players in double figures, which was the third consecutive occurrence. 

Poffenbarger had a team-high 17 points and 13 boards, her third double-double this season. McDaniel finished with 16 points, Smikle contributed 13 points, Shyanne Sellers added 12 points and Christina Dalce rounded it out with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

While Maryland has continued to excel on the glass, its three-point percentage has dipped. The Terps were at one point ranked 21st in the country, but have made just 23.7% of its jumpers from downtown in the last four contests, a cause for concern.

Maryland has three of its remaining nine ranked matchups away from College Park, including No. 6 Texas. If their struggles from the three-point line persist and they get off to slow starts, the Terps will be in trouble once the meat of their schedule hits.