Multiple Terps make debut in Maryland women’s basketball’s blowout exhibition win over Frostburg State

Maryland women’s basketball head coach Brenda Frese said at Thursday’s practice that the Terps are not married to any performance in an exhibition game. But Frese did get to know her team a little bit in their first outing.

With a plethora of new faces on the roster after the myriad departures of last year, Maryland’s brass got a fresh look in its 113-46 victory over Frostburg State, a small Division III university just under three hours away from College Park.

New transfers Abby Meyers, Elisa Pinzan and Lavender Briggs joined the only two true seniors on the team in Diamond Miller and Faith Masonius, rounding off the first starting five of the year.

Six substitutions were made in the opening quarter, and a brand-new cohort of Terps were on the court by the six-minute mark. All of the 12 active players saw minutes and seven contributed a point in helping Maryland jump to a 18-point lead at the end of one.

“We wanted, intentionally, to get the freshman out of those nurves and jitters and putting a lot of emphasis there to get a lot of new players wearing the uniform for the first time,” Frese said.

Frese added that the starting five of Miller, Meyers, Briggs, Masonius and Elisa Pinzan could “potentially” be the group fans see start opening night.

Miller played a total of 12 minutes and was involved with many different rotations. She emphasized her goal of just playing consistently with each group.

Frostburg State’s offense was sparse and that can be attributed to a few things. Maryland worked on its full-court press and transition game throughout the week and right from the jump, the Terps executed in those departments.

Maryland converted 17 Frostburg State turnovers into 36 points by halftime — an encouraging metric to show the defensive scheme is working. Half of the Terps’ points in the opening 20 minutes were scored by the reserves.

“I think points off of turnovers is very valuable,” Briggs said. “We’re great in transition and if we can get any run-outs or anything like that I think we’re gonna be great.”

On offense, the Terps connected in a variety of areas, growing their lead past 60 points in the third quarter. They eclipsed the 100-point mark within the first two minutes of the fourth quarter. Mila Reynolds, a freshman guard from South Bend, Indiana, got an offensive rebound and converted the putback, giving the Terps 101 points. It was her first made field goal of the game.

Frese kept things consistent in terms of subbing out various players. She made nine changes in the third quarter, the most of any period of the game. A notable bench performance was that of Emma Chardon, who netted 15 points in 16 minutes and went 5-for-7 from the field.

Maryland’s final tuneup before the regular season will be on Nov. 2 against Millersville at 6 p.m. at the Xfinity Center.