No. 8 Maryland women’s basketball suffers 38-point loss to No. 7 Texas

Photo courtesy of Maryland Athletics

No. 8 Maryland women’s basketball holds one of the best offenses in the country this season, entering Monday’s contest with the 10th-most points per game. But against No. 7 Texas, turnovers and missed opportunities plagued the Terps all game long.

After a missed three-pointer by Longhorns guard Shay Holle, Maryland struggled to get the ball inbound against the full-court press. Miscommunication between Shyanne Sellers and Sarah Te-Biasu led to an errant pass, which gave the Terps their first of a season-high 27 turnovers. 

“Against a pressing team, you have to have ball handlers and we tried to change up our press breaks, especially at half and little to none was working,” head coach Brenda Frese said.

Texas took full advantage, using 33 points off turnovers and a near career night from forward Madison Booker to fuel a 43-point lead. Maryland picked up its second loss of the season, 89-51, in the Coretta Scott King Classic at the Prudential Center.

Holle knocked down the first jumper of the night, but Booker took over the game from that point on. She was firing on all cylinders on the offensive end, splashing mid-range buckets from all around the court.

The absence of the Terps’ primary defender, Bri McDaniel, was evident. Maryland had no options to slow Booker down, allowing her to score with ease and finish with 28 points in the contest off 13-19 shooting from the field.

“You’re not going to replace a player like Bri,” head coach Brenda Frese said. “We spoke as a team, everyone has to do a little bit more

The Terps attempted to use a zone defense in the opening half but failed to cool off a red-hot Texas offense. Maryland’s inability to clog the lanes inside led to 52 paint points.

“I think that was a disappointing piece to start the game because it’s not what we read over the last two practices,” Frese said. “We wanted to take away those short corners and the overloads and really make them have it from the perimeter.”

And when the Longhorns managed to miss a shot, the Terps didn’t help themselves on the glass. The seventh-best rebounding team couldn’t corral a defensive board, giving Texas 17 second-chance opportunities. 

The Longhorns sprinted to an early 6-1 lead in the opening quarter, but Maryland had its only answer of the contest. Back-to-back layups from Allie Kubek and Kaylene Smikle cut the Terps’ deficit down to one.

That was the closest it would get, and then it went downhill for Maryland. A 13-0 Texas run led by seven points from Booker crushed the Terps’ spirits and effectively sealed the outcome of the contest.

Over the course of nearly six minutes of gameplay, Maryland scored just three points — an easy layup from Saylor Poffenbarger and a made free throw from Shyanne Sellers. 

The Longhorns opened up an 18-point advantage with 1:28 left in the first quarter. Te-Biasu knocked down two free throws and Kubek finished off a layup to wrap up the first quarter, 28-12.

The second quarter wasn’t any better, as Booker scored another quick three points to help spark an 11-2 run. The Terps offense looked stagnant and frantic, scoring just two second-quarter points in the first seven minutes.

To make matters worse for an already-depleted Maryland roster, Shyanne Sellers — the team’s leading scorer in Big Ten play— limped off the court. She would come back in later for just 30 seconds before hobbling back to the locker room.

“Playing a top-10 team and losing two of your top three scorers is a tough pill to swallow, but [we] gotta move through this quickly,” head coach Brenda Frese said.

Texas took a 48-18 lead into the break, led by a game-high 20 points from Booker. The Terps managed just three buckets in the second period of play and shot 32% from the field.

Maryland got its offense going a bit in the second half, scoring 33 points in the final 20 minutes. But it was too little too late, as the deficit was already insurmountable. 

Kaylene Smikle finished with a team-high 15 points, scoring 11 of her points at the charity stripe. However, just three Terps shot over 50% from the floor in the game: Christina Dalce, Kubek and Amari DeBerry.

Maryland is back in action Thursday against No. 12 Ohio State on the road. Tip-off is at 6 p.m. and will air on Big Ten Network.