The Terps lost Shyanne Sellers to injury in their second defeat of the season.
No. 8 Maryland had its worst possible performance in the Coretta Scott King Classic against No. 7 Texas Monday, falling 89-51.
The Terps endured a potential season-altering blow as Shyanne Sellers got hurt and limped to the locker room in the second quarter. Despite returning quickly, she continued limping on the court and went straight back to the locker room. She did not play again.
“I think you can see as we’re trying to regroup as a team,” head coach Brenda Frese said. “Losing Bri [McDaniel] and then having [Sellers] go down was also extremely painful to be going against a pressing team with limited guard play.”
A nightmare night for the Terps in Newark, New Jersey, saw them trail by 30 points in the first half and lose their second star to injury in as many games, with the first being Bri McDaniel.
The Terps started sloppy, and Texas was in full control. The Longhorns forced turnovers and began to overmatch Maryland early on. Texas was the bigger and stronger team, and used a 13-0 run to build a 14-point lead.
The Terps also started 2-of-7 from the free-throw line. Things couldn’t have started worse for head coach Brenda Frese and company.
Things got as bad as an 18-point deficit in the first quarter, and the Terps needed to build a strong comeback if they wanted any chance of staying competitive. Texas’ Madison Booker scored 13 points in the opening 10 minutes, and its full-court press made things difficult for Maryland offensively.
In the second quarter, it went from bad to worse for the Terps. The Longhorns built their lead as Maryland struggled to score, and even more so after Sellers went down.
The Terps scored just six points in the second quarter. It seemed like a comeback was possible, but after the events of the latter 10 minutes of the first half, it became very unlikely.
Christina Dalce was strong in the paint for Maryland, though, tallying seven points and three rebounds. But it was still Maryland’s worst half of the season, scoring only 18 points.
The second half saw Texas go up by 35 points quickly, as the Sellers-less Terps tried to show some semblance of life.
Texas swarmed Maryland on defense, turning takeaways into easy offense. Without two of its best players, Maryland had little to no chance against a strong Texas team.
The Terps looked better in the third quarter, scoring 21 points in the frame after their abysmal first half. Even still, Texas outscored Maryland by four.
The Terps tried to make the score more respectable, but the game’s result had already been all but decided at the half.
Maryland utilized its bench heavily. Emily Fisher played for the first time in 11 games, while Ava McKennie and Amari DeBerry also saw extended minutes.
Kaylene Smikle led the Terps in scoring with 15 points, going 11-of-12 from the free-throw line.
The Terps posted a season-high 27 turnovers and were outrebounded 35-29 despite leading defensive rebounds. The Longhorns totaled seven more offensive boards than Maryland.
The biggest concern following the game is Sellers’ health. After already losing McDaniel for the year in the last game, it’s even more crucial that Sellers makes a comeback.
“She said she could go. So she gave it a try, and then she said she couldn’t. She tried, she’s a competitor, tried to go out there and fight for her team, but then she said it didn’t feel right,” Frese said of the sequence where Sellers tried to re-enter the game. “There’s a bigger picture in mind.”
Three things to know
1. Not the game Maryland hoped for. In what was one of Maryland’s premier matchups on the schedule this season, the Terps laid a dud in the inaugural Coretta Scott King Classic, going without a 3-point make Monday.
“Playing a top-10 team and losing two of your top three scorers is a tough field to be able to swallow,” Frese said. “But, got to move through this quickly.”
2. Booker torched the Terps. The Texas star showed shades of Kevin Durant Monday, whom she shares a number with at Texas. Booker had a thrilling 28 points in the dominating effort.
“She’s just so talented, so versatile,” Frese said of Booker. “we wanted to take away her going left, and she went left all night, got to any spot she wanted to.”
3. Silver lining. While almost everything went poorly for Maryland, there is one bright side. The contest was a nonconference game, and thus won’t effect Maryland’s Big Ten record and standing in the conference.