Maryland women’s basketball showed up to the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan, on the verge of making history — but not the kind it wants to make. While it had lost four straight, it had never lost five consecutive contests during head coach Brenda Frese’s tenure.
The Terps were underdogs staring down No. 12 Michigan State, searching for answers to recent offensive struggles. They found them. Led by Oluchi Okananwa’s 23-point performance, five players scored in double figures.
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The Terps won, 86-70, for their first win in almost three weeks.
Maryland’s offense looked uninspired in the first quarter until Saylor Poffenbarger and Yarden Garzon knocked down back-to-back threes to give it a kickstart. Unfortunately for the Terps, the Spartans found their footing right around the same time, working inside out through 6-foot-3 post player Grace VanSlooten.
Despite Poffenbarger’s 3-pointers and Okananwa’s ventures into the paint, Michigan State hung with the Terps, playing a dead even first quarter that ended, 20-20.
It looked like the Terps might have missed their window for offensive success. Early in the second quarter, they became bogged down by turnovers and bad shot selection.
Maryland underwent consecutive possessions with struggles with eight minutes remaining in the second frame. First, Addi Mack attempted a layup that hit the side of the backboard. Then, Rainey Welson was forced to chuck up a corner three as the shot clock expired. Marya Boiko capped off the last possession in the sequence with a low-percentage long two that hit the front of the rim. Meanwhile, Jalyn Brown attacked the rim for the Spartans, helping them to an 8-0 run that forced a Brenda Frese timeout.
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Out of that timeout, Maryland’s offense was reinvigorated — but not by Okananwa, Garzon or any other usual suspects.
Instead, backup point guard Kyndal Walker confidently took over the offense. Walker got to her spots early in Maryland’s possessions and formed an unlikely partnership with Mir McLean, who she set up for multiple open layups and midrange jumpers. That duo combined for 16 first-half points and helped Maryland regain a lead that they extended to 10 points before halftime.
Maryland built that lead without Okananwa having to put together a heroic first-half offensive performance. Still, the guard has a way of showing up when her team needs buckets. She did, making an and-one and a 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions early in the third quarter.
The Terps’ offense is at its best when it can disrupt the opposing team’s flow and force turnovers on the other end. They did just that against the Spartans, turning them over 20 times — which led to 22 of Maryland’s points.
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The Spartans never got the deficit closer than six points in the second half. Every time they started to make a run, Maryland found some kind of answer. Sometimes it was a Walker pullup midrange; other times, a Garzon eurostep or a Poffenbarger 3-pointer.
The Terps played much less isolation offense in favor of swinging the ball around the perimeter, as well as finding cutters at the basket. They ended the game with 17 assists, their most since the Jan. 11 loss to Ohio State.
Okananwa was forced to sit for a long stretch of the third and fourth quarters after picking up her fourth foul with three minutes to play in the third. Foul trouble has been a death sentence for Maryland in other games, especially in its overtime loss to Iowa. The Terps didn’t miss a beat while she sat, though, instead extending their lead during her time off.
Maryland ultimately left East Lansing resembling a different basketball team than the one that arrived, inspiring confidence that it does have the ability to continue to compete in a tough conference amidst its injury woes.
Three things to know
1. Welson returned. After missing the last four games with a concussion — the Terps went 0-4 in that stretch — Rainey Welson returned to the lineup and provided some much needed guard depth. She played 19 minutes, scoring six points and grabbing three rebounds.
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2. Dominance continues. Since joining the Big Ten, Maryland has enjoyed a comfortable run of dominance over the Spartans. Wednesday’s win moved it to 20-3 all-time against Michigan State.
3. Garzon’s marathon. Yarden Garzon played all 40 minutes for Maryland in the victory, contributing on both ends with two steals and 16 points. She showed off her ability as more than just a shooter, slashing to the rim multiple times, including an impressive eurostep she finished with her left hand.
