As one of nine teams separated by only two wins in the ACC standings, the Terrapin women's basketball team will have to tangle with a cluttered conference mess twice in four days before it can make sense of just where it stands.
As they embark on the homestretch of their conference slate, the Terps (16-6, 3-4 ACC) will host No. 21 Georgia Tech (18-5, 4-3) today before welcoming Virginia (16-6, 5-3) to Comcast Center on Monday.
Today's game, originally scheduled for 8:30 p.m., was moved to 4 p.m. because of the impending snowstorm.
"Obviously, now it's February," coach Brenda Frese said. "It's a new season in the sense of the second half of play."
Although the Cavaliers' visit to College Park will mark the second time the teams have met this season — the Terps took the first meeting in Charlottesville, Va., 61-60 — today will afford the Terps their first look at the Yellow Jackets, a statistically unimpressive team that has nonetheless managed to remain well-positioned in the conference race.
In ACC play, Georgia Tech ranks last in field goal percentage defense and second-worst in field goal percentage. The Yellow Jackets compensate with 40 minutes of end-to-end pressing that nets them more than 10 steals a game and a handful of easy buckets.
"They've got a very aggressive style of play," Frese said. "They're going to rebound hard and try to give themselves second-chance opportunities."
How the Terps handle the pressure, especially early, will likely dictate the game's tempo and momentum. In their January loss to Miami, the Terps fell behind by 15 points after early difficulties with a swarming Hurricanes defense. Although they eventually climbed back to take the lead at halftime, the stress caused by the press, both mental and physical, took its toll later. The Terps missed five of their last six free throws as they wilted late, squandering a last-minute lead in a rare home loss.
Lately, they've done better. Against Virginia Tech on Jan. 28, the Terps repeatedly exploited a second-half zone press look to burnish a double-digit lead in a comfortable win.
"ACC play has prepared us for that [pressure]," said Frese, whose Terps also faced pressing defenses in losses to North Carolina and Duke earlier this season. "I feel like we've absolutely gotten very comfortable in kind of knowing what we want to do and how we want to break it."
A sweep of the home stand might also break them free from the ranks of the NCAA Tournament's "bubble" teams. Both ESPN.com and collegerpi.com are projecting the Terps to make the 64-team tournament, but a poor league record could bump them onto shaky ground.
"You've got to win in conference to be able to get into the tournament," Frese said. "Every win you can get matters. For us, we've kind of focused small picture. I think we're smart enough to know big picture."
TERP NOTE: The Terps may be without the services of starting forward Diandra Tchatchouang against Georgia Tech. Tchatchouang, who is averaging a team-leading 12.7 points per game, is battling the flu.
"We won't be able to really evaluate anything until [today]," Frese said.
shaffer@umdbk.com
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