No. 9 Maryland women’s basketball explodes in second half for 84-62 win over George Mason

After halftime, Maryland women’s basketball came out of the locker room tied 36-36 with George Mason. The Terps looked flustered and out-of-sync for the game’s first 20 minutes.

But just 10 minutes later, on the strength of their suffocating defense from their smaller lineup, they found themselves winning by 15 points, high-fiving on the way to their pre-fourth quarter huddle. 

“It’s a chess-match in every game based off of what you see from a scouting end,” head coach Brenda Frese said of the team’s adjustments. “I think that’s what our staff probably does best is understanding what we need and what’s working.”

Maryland responded extremely well to a slow first half, taking down George Mason, 84-62, for its seventh straight victory to open the season. Oluchi Okananwa led Maryland with 23 points, while Zahirah Walton put up 27 in a losing effort for the Patriots.

Maryland began the game the way it has started the last few, with a lineup of three guards — Kyndal Walker, Kaylene Smikle and Okananwa — and two versatile forwards — Yarden Garzon and Saylor Poffenbarger. 

It produced much of the same success it has in recent weeks, allowing Maryland to turn up an aggressive full-court press and work the ball around the perimeter for good shots. The Terps unleashed a 10-0 run early in the game to take the lead before Frese switched to a much bigger lineup with Marya Boiko and Isimenme Ozzy-Momodu.

That lineup slowed things down. Maryland began to fall into some of its turnover-prone tendencies, and Ozzy-Momodu struggled to score inside. The Patriots started to find rhythm on the other end, mainly through Walton, who carved Maryland up in the post. She was simply too agile for Maryland’s post players. 

Walton sparked George Mason’s run to take the lead. The Terps headed into quarter two down 24-23.

And Walton only continued to find soft spots in Maryland’s defense, extending the George Mason lead as far as seven points. Maryland struggled to knock down shots from outside the perimeter despite generating good looks for Garzon and others; it was just 1-of-10 from deep in the first 20 minutes. Garzon was 1-of-4 as the struggles to find her shot she displayed at Indiana continued. The steadying forces were Okananwa and Smikle — both were able to effectively get downhill using screens. 

“Every single player on our team can score in the paint, so I think [if] our shots aren’t falling, that’s fine, we’ll go find it other ways,” Okananwa said.

With four seconds in the half and the Patriots up two, Garzon came down with a contested rebound and instantly threw the ball out in front of a streaking Poffenbarger, who took a few dribbles and swished a floater at the buzzer. She gave Maryland a bit of positive momentum to end a frustrating half of basketball, knotting the game at 36 at the break.

Frese switched back to her starting five with one change: Addi Mack went in for Walker to start the second half. Similarly to the first half, Maryland produced a run, forcing turnovers and running in transition. 

Mack, Okananwa and Smikle all cashed in layups in transition, but none got the Xfinity crowd on their feet like when Mack pushed the ball by herself, went in-and-out on a dribble and dropped her George Mason defender to the court before finishing with a finger roll. 

“Addi, I think, pushes us at a rate where they have to run with her,” Frese said. “I think that adjustment was big.”

Garzon got going, too. She knocked down a corner three, sprinted back on defense, rooted herself in the paint and drew a charge to get Maryland the ball right back. The Terps forced the Patriots into nine turnovers and won the quarter by 15 points. 

“We were talking about, it’s a game of runs,” Okananwa said. “Sometimes when you get punched, you think, ‘Ok I have to do everything at once’, but really it’s just one possession at a time.”

From there it was smooth sailing, as Maryland went on cruise control. Whatever issues George Mason’s offense had presented were long gone, as it held the Patriots to nine fourth quarter points. 

Mir McLean boosted the Terps further, drawing fouls at the rim and crashing the glass on both ends. She helped ensure Maryland put the finishing touches on its eighth win in eight tries.

Three things to know

1. McLean’s best game. While Izzy Ozzy-Momodu struggled and Marya Boiko barely played, Maryland’s best option at center was McLean. McLean has seen inconsistent minutes this year, and has not looked her best when she is on the court. But Sunday, she impacted the game in the way she does best, hustling and scrapping her way to eight points and six rebounds.

“She’s not felt sorry for herself when she had limited minutes,” Frese said. “She’s just stayed the course and stayed humble and hungry, that’s when you see that kind of success.”

2. Poffenbarger continues to swipe. Maryland created much of its offense off of turnovers, and much of its turnovers were created by Poffenbarger. She entered the game leading the team in steals and then added five more, picking off passes and using her length to make George Mason uncomfortable. 

3. Maryland responded again. Maryland hasn’t put together many four-quarter performances this season, and yet, they haven’t won a game by a margin smaller than 16 points. The Terps have stood tall in the face of adversity, whether through individual performance or adjustments from Frese.

“This team has done a phenomenal job responding to adversity,” Okananwa said. “Really what it’s taken is just chemistry… and going back to our basics, you know. ‘What aren’t we doing that we should be doing?’”