The Huskers beat the Terps for the third straight time.
No. 17 Maryland women’s basketball blew an early lead and got dominated in the second half against Nebraska in a disappointing 91-71 loss.
Here are three takeaways from the game.
Maryland can’t find consistency
For the second straight game, the Terps couldn’t stay in the same gear for a full 40 minutes.
In its previous game at Washington, Maryland stumbled early and allowed the Huskies to open up a double-digit lead. Maryland then battled back and dominated the game’s middle two quarters, before letting Washington get dangerously close in the final 10 minutes.
Nebraska’s game showcased the same issue, but in the opposite order.
The Terps’ opening frame was as good as they’ve had all season. They took it to Nebraska on the defensive end and executed their offense beautifully, primarily through Shyanne Sellers, who got off to a blistering start with 12 points in the first five minutes.
Maryland’s impressive play essentially expired when the buzzer sounded for the end of the first period, though. The problems began on the defensive end, where the Terps appeared completely overmatched by the Huskers.
“I thought we lost our focus in the second quarter,” Maryland head coach Brenda Frese said. “That can’t happen against a really good Nebraska team.”
Despite the bad second quarter, Maryland went into halftime on level terms with the Huskers, but didn’t make any positive changes in the third and fourth frames.
“We were supposed to come out more aggressive. We did not do that,” Sellers said.
After holding the Huskers to 38.1% shooting from the field in the first quarter, Nebraska shot over 56% in the game’s latter 30 minutes. Conversely, Maryland went from above 63% shooting in the opening quarter to under 30.1% in the game’s final three.
“[The lack of consistency] rears its ugly head,” Frese said. “These games now come down to playing 40 minutes, and you have to be complete in those 40 minutes.”
Perimeter defense and rebounding were issues
The Huskers did a load of damage from deep, where they were already a top-five team in the conference before Thursday’s game. The Huskers ended the game shooting 57.1% from downtown.
Maryland has now given up 22 threes in its last two games.
Nebraska made some tough contested threes, but from a Maryland perspective, it got far too many open opportunities, particularly for a team that the Terps should have known would be keen on knocking down the deep ball.
“They hit a lot of deep shots, 57% from three killed us,” Sellers said.
Four different Huskers made multiple threes.
The 3-point shooting wasn’t the only major statistical issue for the Terps. Frese’s team prides itself on its ability to rebound, but Nebraska outdid Maryland on the glass, 42-25.
“Minus-17 on the glass, that’s about as bad as it could possibly get,” Frese said. “Their will to win, their heart, you got to see every team in this league is elite.”
Nebraska also won the battle of on the offensive glass, beating the Terps 13-6. Maryland mainly struggled to keep Alexis Markowski off the glass, as she grabbed 11 rebounds.
Loss at a pivotal moment
This loss completely halted all the positive momentum Maryland generated on its 2-0 West Coast road trip. It also has the chance to take the Terps out of contention for a top-2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and potentially knock it out of the Associated Press Poll top 25 altogether, depending on other teams’ results. The Terps will need to rally to regain momentum with four games left in the regular season.
“Time is winding down,” Sellers said. “We got to make a choice, I think the locker room is full of competitors who will know how to respond, but we got to make a choice.”
The team will have three days off before taking on Michigan at home.
“For us, it’s regrouping quickly and finding leadership in our locker room to be able to put this together with the next four games against top-40 teams,” Frese said.
One of the team’s leaders, Bri McDaniel, is currently sidelined with a season-ending knee injury. Her absence is particularly noticeable when the team falls short. She isn’t coming back this season, and for Maryland to get where it wants to go, it will need others to step up fast.
“It’s got to start to be a player-led team and it hasn’t been up to this point,” Frese said.