Takeaways from Maryland women’s basketball’s dominant win over Davidson

Maryland women’s basketball improved to 3-1 on the season with a 70-52 win over Davidson in the team’s annual Field Trip Day, hosting 6,000 students from local elementary and middle schools.

It was an early matchup, but the Terps were wide awake from the onset, leading for all 40 minutes.

Head coach Brenda Frese’s squad will see its schedule get harder quickly, with No. 18 Baylor on the upcoming slate before heading to Florida for the Fort Myers Tip-Off, where they’ll play three games in three days starting on Black Friday.

Here are some takeaways.

A ridiculous amount of turnovers.

This was one of the sloppiest games of basketball one will see. Fortunately for Maryland, both sides were turnover machines. In the first half, there were a combined 31 turnovers, with Davidson committing 17 and Maryland 14.

The Wildcats were shooting 27.6% from the field after 20 minutes, which helped the Terps lead by 10 at the half. Maryland shot at a 50% mark and netted seven points off turnovers.

“The 14 turnovers in the first half is really what kept this game too close,” Frese said.

The second half was a much better one for the Terps, who continued to use a full-court press, causing 13 more turnovers. 30 takeaways in the game is a season-high and an incredible mark.

“Our defensive intensity made up for our turnovers. We had a season-high eight steals. We forced 30 turnovers and we definitely needed every single one of them,” Frese added

The kids brought the energy.

Wednesday’s contest was the eighth annual Field Trip Day at XFINITY Center, with over 6,000 local elementary and middle school students packing the arena. To say it was loud would be an understatement. With every dribble, whistle and pass, these kids were bringing unbelievable noise.

“We always love this day. It was our eighth annual Field Trip Day and we had over 6,300 kids. Obviously the atmosphere was electric,” Frese said.

It’s a special day for the kids to experience a basketball game, but to Diamond Miller it’s more than that.

When asked about being a role model for the girls in the stands, Miller said, “I think it’s important to be a role model because when I was a little girl I was watching college basketball. I wanted to be one of those girls playing. The fact that the role is reversed now is really cool. I just hope when they see us, they see how passionate we are and we’re strong and we’re powerful and we could do anything we put our minds to.”

Abby Meyers reached a career milestone.

In the first quarter, the senior guard recorded her 1,000th career point after knocking down two free throws. She’s been outstanding to start the season, leading Maryland in scoring. Meyers’ collegiate career has been nothing short of special.

She spent the first three years of her career with Princeton and had her best season last year. Meyers racked up awards, earning AP Honorable Mention All-America honors, being named the Ivy League Player of the Year and getting selected to the Ivy League All-Tournament Team. She started all 30 games for the Tigers and scored double figures in every game.

Her career spanned to international play this past summer, where she captained the USA team in the Maccabi games, leading the team to a gold medal.

“It’s a huge accomplishment, just within your career and you know, pretty exciting that she could do it here in Maryland, in her own home state. She’s definitely deserving of it when you look at all the hard work that Abby’s put in and you know, really over the course of her career because we’re lucky to have her,” Frese said.