Maryland women's basketball started their home game against Wisconsin in the same way that they started their home game against Michigan. Slowly.
The sixth-ranked Terps trailed the Badgers, 22-15, after the first quarter and only led by four points at halftime. "We struggled coming out with our level of intensity," said Terrapin head coach Brenda Frese after the game. Maryland methodically wore Wisconsin down with their bigs and their three-point shooting. It was the same strategy that the Terps employed to beat Michigan last week.
"Brionna Jones is a woman. She's not a child. She's a grown-up. Howard is pretty grown-up too," Bobbie Kelsey, the head coach of the Badgers, said after her team lost 83-77 on Thursday night in College Park.
When Maryland goes to the NCAA Tournament, the Terps are going to face teams that are bigger and better than Michigan and Wisconsin. If this team keeps playing with fire, they are going to get burnt.
The Terrapins are turning the ball over almost 16 times per game. The fact that Maryland has continued to dominate despite being so careless with the ball is indicative of just how talented this team is. Frese acknowledged that the Terps need to play consistently for 40 minutes if they want to make another deep run in the tournament. "If we continue to play like this, it's going to be tough." This team can't afford slow starts, and they can't afford to keep turning the ball over.
The Terrapins have the tools, talent and personnel to make it to their third consecutive Final Four. Heck, this team could win the national championship. They match up well with every team in the country, and I mean every team.
Even Geno Auriemma, head coach of three-time defending national champion UConn, said that the Terps give the Huskies problems. "Maryland is a really tough matchup for us because they're so big inside," the coach has said. "We can't handle that unless we get some help and the minute we help, they've got guys that can make you pay for it, knocking in threes. They're much more balanced than they were last year. They're a lot harder to match up with."
Maryland has two of the best players in the country in Jones and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough. The Terps have one of the biggest teams in the country, one of the deepest teams in the country and one of the most talented teams in the country.
Maryland has what it takes to win the national title and cut down the nets for the first time in a decade. If the Terps limit their mistakes and don't beat themselves.
"It's always been about the standard," Frese said. "We want to be the best."