Maryland Terrapins
ACC (28-4, 12-4)
Maryland has nearly everything a team needs to win a national championship. They have an experienced coach in Brenda Frese who has been with the Terrapins for 11 years, an experienced senior point guard, a shooting guard who can score in a variety of ways, a couple forwards who are dangerous on both ends of the floor and a big center who can clog the paint and hit the glass. That all adds up to a team that has the potential to make a deep NCAA Tournament run.
Big Wins: 11/13 Georgetown (72-53), 12/29 Delaware (85-76), 2/19 Duke (63-61)
Bad Losses: 1/12 at Miami FL (63-75), 1/26 Virginia Tech (69-75), 2/12 Miami FL (74-76)
Coach: Brenda Frese (10 seasons at Maryland)
Why They Can Surprise:
Point guard Anjale Barrett is not a big scoring threat, but that is fine as long as she continues to find her teammates. Barrett is enough of an outside shooting threat that the opposition at least has to defend her on the perimeter and that gives her the space she needs to attack the basket. Laurin Mincy is the shooter on the team, but the 6-0 sophomore has the size and quickness to attack the basket as well. Alyssa Thomas is the team’s leading scorer. At 6-2, Thomas is a nightmare to guard. She can hit the mid-range jumper with consistency and plays on the wing. That versatility is very tough for most teams to match up with, especially when 6-3 forward Tianna Hawkins and 6-4 center Alicia DeVaughn are on the floor. Hawkins is a superb rebounder and, along with DeVaughn, gives Maryland a great duo under the basket on the defensive end.
Why They Can Disappoint:
This is a group that has quality depth with players like center Lynetta Kizer, who will often team up with DeVaughn when the Terps want to play extra big. Brene Moseley is a decent scorer off of the bench, but this team has a couple obstacles that stand between them and a national championship. The most important may be the turnover battle. The Terps do not commit too many turnovers, but they rarely force any either. It is not a system decision either. The team allows the opposition to shoot quite well from the floor, so it is not like they opt not to gamble on steals and play straight up tough defense…they just do not create a lot of turnovers. That issue can usually be overcome by simply outscoring the opposition. However, this is a team that can struggle offensively when they match up with a big team. Mincy is the lone outside shooting threat and if her shot is not falling, the opposition can try and pack it in and stop all the big players from getting easy buckets in the paint.
Probable Starters:
Anjale Barrett, Senior, Guard, 6.7 ppg, 5.2 apg
Laurin Mincy, Sophomore, Guard, 12.8 ppg, 2.2 apg, 4.1 rpg
Alyssa Thomas, Sophomore, Forward, 17.4 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 3.2 apg
Tianna Hawkins, Junior, Forward, 12.2 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 1.1 bpg
Alicia DeVaughn, Sophomore, Center, 6.7 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 1.3 bpg
Key Roleplayers:
Whitney Bays, Freshman, Forward, 2.6 ppg, 3.0 rpg
Lynetta Kizer, Senior, Center, 11.4 ppg, 5.8 rpg
Brene Moseley, Freshman, Guard, 7.2 ppg, 2.7 apg
Kim Rodgers, Senior, Guard, 2.8 ppg, 1.6 rpg
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 79.6 (3rd in nation, 1st in conference)
Scoring Defense: 60.2 (138, 6)
Field-Goal Percentage: 47.1 (4, 1)
Field-Goal Defense: 34.8 (20, 1)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 3.8 (255, 8)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: na
Free-Throw Percentage: 74.6 (31, 1)
Rebound Margin: 14.2 (2, 1)
Assists Per Game: 17.3 (9, 1)
Turnovers Per Game: 16.3 (106, 3)
Recent Postseason Appearances:
Maryland 2011 NCAA Round of 64 win over St. Francis (PA)
Maryland 2011 NCAA Round of 32 loss to Georgetown
Maryland 2010 NIT Round of 64 win over Iona
Maryland 2010 NIT Round of 32 win over East Carolina
Maryland 2010 NIT Regional Semifinal loss to Providence
Maryland 2009 NCAA Round of 64 win over Dartmouth
Maryland 2009 NCAA Round of 32 win over Utah
Maryland 2009 NCAA Regional Semifinal win over Vanderbilt
Maryland 2009 NCAA Regional Final loss to Louisville
Maryland 2008 NCAA Round of 64 win over Coppin State
Maryland 2008 NCAA Round of 32 win over Nebraska
Maryland 2008 NCAA Regional Semifinal win over Vanderbilt
Maryland 2008 NCAA Regional Final loss to Stanford
Maryland 2007 NCAA Round of 64 win over Harvard
Maryland 2007 NCAA Round of 32 loss to Mississippi
*all team stats through 3/1
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