The Terps forward has embraced a new mindset heading into the postseason.
A little over a month ago, Christina Dalce’s mindset changed.
Maryland women’s basketball’s senior center has always been a wave of positivity off the court. But on it, she felt drained of confidence, putting an excess amount of pressure on herself.
“It’s a matter of [remembering] what the goal is. This is to have fun, it’s a blessing,” Dalce said. “We created a sport that was supposed to be played in the playground, in the park, into something that [allows you] to go to school for free.”
Removing that pressure has allowed Dalce to bring her humor from the locker room to the floor.
Recently, Dalce has celebrated big plays, such as drawing a charge, by breaking into a full-on sprint toward the other end of the floor with an expressionless look. Or she’ll finish an and-1 and mean-mug her bench, flexing both arms.
Both will get her coaches and teammates — active and injured — to their feet, smiling and energized.
When the Terps’ season reached its high point after Sarah Te-Biasu’s game-winning overtime three to knock off Ohio State, Dalce managed to be at the center of it despite having fouled out in the fourth quarter. She sent her coaching staff and teammates into a brief panic when she sprinted onto the court to celebrate — it could have been a technical foul.
“I thought the game was over just like everybody else in the stands,” Dalce said with a laugh. “I look at the scoreboard and I saw one second, and I’m like, ‘Ohhhh.’ That’s when I started running back.”
“I knew we had to get her off of there,” head coach Brenda Frese said with a wry smile when asked about the situation postgame.
After the game, a freeze frame of Dalce in a full sprint off the bench toward her teammates circulated on social media. Some Maryland fan accounts even began using it as a profile picture.
“People were taking pictures, reposting it,” Dalce said, “but I’m like, ‘You know what, everyone gets a laugh.’ I thought it was funny. Obviously, I didn’t go on the court with bad intentions.”
More than 30 minutes after the win, Dalce remained in the stands, signing autographs and taking pictures with every fan that wanted one. The extended session included students from Terps Exceed, a program that allows students with intellectual disabilities to have a two-year college experience.
“It’s a real deal to have a few Terps Exceed students to high-five a Maryland player,” Evan Miller, a member of Terps Exceed, captioned a photo of him and his friends with Dalce in the stands.
“Sometimes students think that athletes think that they’re too cool to acknowledge them,” Dalce said. “I know the audience is way different than a men’s game, but for the people who came on their Sunday to stay for the entire game to watch, I really appreciate that.”
Getting comfortable in the Maryland colors took time for Dalce. She made the decision to transfer from Villanova after she won Big East Defensive Player of the Year.
She was struck by the amount of eyes.
“Before, we were on FloSports, so it’s like only for a select few people. [Now,] we’re playing on CBS, we’re playing on Fox Sports,” Dalce said.
She was concerned the larger platform would open her up to more criticism online, something she got a taste of when Villanova made the NCAA Tournament.
“People telling me we messed up their parlay … no one told you to bet,” Dalce said.
Dalce had her fair share of strong performances in the early stages. But she had her struggles too, missing an uncharacteristic amount of layups at the rim and falling apart at the free-throw line, where her percentage dipped to 46.5%.
The struggles saw Dalce go to the bench for a stretch of the season, while Frese favored Allie Kubek in her position. Dalce didn’t play more than 16 minutes in three straight games.
When she was at Villanova, she became friends with fellow athlete Bryce Ganious, a defensive tackle who is currently preparing for the NFL Draft. He also transferred up a level, playing his final two collegiate seasons at Wake Forest, and was a resource for her during the rough patch.
“You start off feeling like you might not be worthy to play there,” Ganious said. “You left all your friends, all your family behind.”
Ganious described Dalce as the most caring friend he has, and wanted to make sure he provided her the same support she does for him.
“I was talking with her throughout the whole process,” Ganious said. “The main thing is to have fun. Be who you are, your personality can never change, especially whenever you’re on the court because that’s what got you there.”
His advice overlapped with Frese’s and her teammates’. At one point, Frese had a one-on-one film session with Dalce, which focused on building her self-confidence.
Since February, Dalce has seen an uptick in her scoring and rebounding output, all while remaining a defensive force and drawing the opposition’s best post player. The newfound confidence is most evident is at the free-throw line, where Dalce is up to 75% since the start of February.
“Shy [Sellers] and the coaches, they talk to me and it’s like, ‘It’s just a free throw, just follow through,’” Dalce said. “If you make it, you make it, you miss? Ok, we’ll get back on defense, we’re going to go clamp up and make sure we get the next possession.”
Maryland was bounced in its first game of the Big Ten Tournament against Michigan. However, Dalce stood out, attacking her defenders in the post, drawing and-1s and having her best offensive performance of the year. She finished with 19 points.
“She’s always there for other people. She’s there for her teammates, she’s there for the ones around her. I feel like this translates to her basketball skills” Ganious said. “It makes it easier to trust her with the ball in her hands, or makes it easy for her to be the person on the sidelines who’s cheering on.”
When she’s out of the game, Dalce’s mindset remains unchanged. She stands up and celebrates every positive moment for her teammates — this was especially true after fouling out against Ohio State.
“We were having fun with it. We were doing the charge signs, jumping up and down,” Dalce said. “I was telling them, ‘What do they want me to do? Back flip? A somersault?’ … Mind you, I don’t know how to do any of those things.”
No. 4-seed Maryland starts its NCAA Tournament journey at Xfinity Center against No. 13-seed Norfolk State Saturday afternoon, and Dalce hopes to be a key piece in the postseason run. Regardless, she’ll be making the most of every game, as any could be her last.
“If we get the chance to host, the energy in the gym for the first two rounds of March Madness, it will be great,” Dalce said before the team found out its seed. “When other people match my energy, it makes it even more exciting.”