The University of Maryland Women’s Basketball Team is Reloaded and Dangerous
Ranked 13 in the ESPN/USA Today Top 25 Coaches Poll, the Maryland Women’s basketball team is strongly committed to achieving its ultimate goal. Bottom line, the Terrapins (Terps) want another NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) championship banner hanging in the rafters of the Comcast Center in College Park. No surprise, recruitment of top talent is the cornerstone in becoming a powerhouse in collegiate women’s basketball. With the addition of six new recruits, the Terps are reloaded with some of the best talent in the nation. Although Maryland is starting to resemble the make-up of the 2006 championship team, will they take it all?
The 2010-2011 season will not be without its challenges as Head Coach Brenda Frese’s team is one of the youngest in the nation. On the roster are four juniors, four sophomores and five freshmen, one of only seven teams in the country without a senior. Yet, Frese has a stellar reputation at being able to successfully transform young talent into motivated, well-trained, winning basketball teams.
Recruited to the University of Maryland in April 2002 to rebuild its program, Frese has put Maryland women’s basketball back on the map. Under her leadership, the Terps won its first and only NCAA title in 2006. At age 35, she was the fifth-youngest coach in NCAA history to win a national title and only one of nine coaches to win a championship in their first trip to the Final Four. Over the years, Frese’s teams have been competitive. Maryland finished the 2009-2010 season at 21-13 overall, marking the Terps sixth straight 20 plus win season and seventh consecutive postseason tournament play.
The Kids Are More Than All Right
With the signing of Alyssa Thomas and Whitney Bays (forwards) Alicia Devaughn (center) and Laurin Mincy and Natasha Cloud (guards), Frese has landed the #2 ranked recruiting class in the nation. While all five were nationally ranked for the strength of their play at the high school level, Alyssa Thomas is the player to watch. In addition to the new recruits and a walk-on guard that Frese added, the rooster has returning star power. Junior center Lynetta Kizer and sophomore, guard Diandra Tchatchouang, represent the top two scorers from last season and junior guards Kim Rodgers and Anjale Barrett are capable of shooting well at the three-point range.
A defining moment came last season when the Terps failed to reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time since Frese’s inaugural season at Maryland. Instead, the team appeared in the less prestigious WNIT (Women’s National Invitational Tournament), advancing to the third round before experiencing a season ending loss. Giving the returners a mandate of what it takes to play at the highest level, the sophomores and juniors showed-up this season in what Frese has described as “the best shape of their life.”
Terps Are Fun to Watch
When the team is playing well, the pace is very fast due to the improved physical condition of the players and with a deep bench, Frese substitutes often to maintain this high tempo. This intensity level puts defensive pressure on opposing teams, forcing turnovers and shot clock violations. Also, the depth of talent enables Frese to use different rotations. Offensively, several of the returners are capable of finishing in double figures in any given game. Of the freshmen, Thomas has scored in double-figures in 16 of the 18 games she has started and Devaughn, coming off the bench, is making noise in scoring and rebounding. And, with ten of the 14 players over 6’0” tall and eight over 6’2”, the Terps are one of the tallest and best rebounding teams in the nation.
The Terrapins are a Division-1 team playing in the highly competitive Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Maryland started this season playing non-conference teams and commenced ACC league play in January. When Letters went to print, the Terps’ record was 16-3 overall and 3-2 in conference play. Following a decisive win over the highly ranked University of North Carolina (10 at game time) on January 23, Frese and her players stated in post game comments that the team had “started to come together.” The final score, Maryland 88 and North Carolina 65, reflected a team effort with the Terps’ shooting well from the field, outside the arc and at the free throw line while out rebounding (dominating the glass) the Tar Heels—a team known for its rebounding capability. Not surprising, the Terps’ ranking in the ESPN/USA Today Top 25 Coaches Poll has significantly improved from the start of the season, moving from 22 to 13.
At the end of February, the Terps will end league play and enter the ACC Tournament. The winner of this tournament will receive an automatic bid to play in the NCAA tournament as does every other Division 1 conference champion. The remaining teams playing in the tournament are chosen by the NCAA selection committee with 64 teams qualifying in total. Starting on March 20, one of sixteen first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament will be played at the Comcast Center in College Park. If Maryland maintains its ranking in the top 25, a reasonable expectation, it will receive an invitation to play in the NCAA tournament. Accordingly, the Terps will be playing in its “house” and as Coach Frese told her players before the North Carolina game, “it’s our house and our glass.”
For more information on the Terps, including schedule and ticket information, visit the web sites for Maryland’s Women’s Basketball team. The next nationally televised Maryland game will be on ESPN2 at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, February 20, 2011; the Terps will be playing ranked Florida State (15) in Tallahassee.
Contact Sports Girl at KerryThalheim@Comcast.net.