Freshmen lead women's basketball over Virginia Tech

The final regular-season home game for just about any college basketball program often doubles as a date on which it can honor its seniors.

There was no such Senior Night ceremony before the Terrapin women's basketball team's game against Virginia Tech last night. Instead, for a team with no seniors, the game served as an opportunity to showcase its still-developing stars rather than its departing upperclassmen.

But when the Hokies tied the game at 33 midway through the second half, it wasn't the Terps' veteran leaders who stepped up to steady the wavering team.

Instead, it was an even younger group: coach Brenda Frese's lauded freshman class. As first-year forward Alyssa Thomas (15 points, seven rebounds) dominated both ends of the floor, newcomer guard Laurin Mincy (12 points) knocked down three second-half 3-pointers to help the No. 15 Terps pull away from the Hokies en route to a 61-48 victory.

"I thought both Alyssa and Laurin did some tremendous things for us," Frese said. "Both of them did a tremendous job leading this team as freshmen."

After an 11-4 run by the Hokies in the second half, Frese was forced to call a time-out. Reorganized and refocused, Thomas forced a steal and bullied her way to a fast-break lay-up. The following possession, she knocked down a perimeter jump shot.

Mincy promptly scored nine of the team's next 10 points — all from beyond the arc — to spur a 14-6 run that helped the Terps pull away from a feisty Hokie team that became just the third this season to outrebound the Terps.

"I really think it was my best shooting game of the season," Mincy said. "It was just falling for me."

A sluggish first half left the Terps visibly frustrated by the visiting Hokies (11-17, 1-12 ACC) on the offensive end. Virginia Tech's zone defense packed the go with what has been their bread-and-butter all season: post play.

But the Terps did enough to hold their middling visitors at bay offensively. The team forced bad shots, turnovers and shot-clock violations throughout the first half to enter the locker room with a 29-22 halftime lead. And although Frese wasn't entirely pleased with her team's defensive effort — "I thought we got kind of complacent," she said — it nonetheless kept the Terps from ever losing the lead they gained just 3:50 into the contest.

Using the same strategy No. 14 Florida State employed successfully Sunday against the Terps, the Hokies' zone defense dared the Terps to beat them from the outside. They didn't find an answer in Sunday's loss, shooting just 3-for-13 from beyond the arc.

But last night, Mincy was the difference. After her nine-point outburst midway through the second half, the Hokies' chokehold on the paint loosened, allowing center Lynetta Kizer (11 points, 12 rebounds) back into her workspace. She chipped in seven points and nine rebounds in the second half.

And with Thomas' 39 minutes of pedal-to-the-metal intensity — a level that has become all but the norm for the ACC Rookie of the Year favorite — the Terps were able to avoid what would have been a step in the wrong direction as the regular season wraps up.

Moving forward to the ACC and NCAA Tournaments, though, Frese said she isn't worried. It's teams like the Hokies, who sit in last place in the conference, that concern her more.

"I'm not worried," said Frese. "In bigger games, they like to step up … they like to play in big games. That doesn't make me nervous; it's more the games that they're supposed to win [that concern me]."

cwalsh@umdbk.com