Thomas' absence could continue to hamstring women's basketball

Alyssa Thomas does just about everything for the Terrapins women's basketball team.

The sophomore forward leads the ACC in scoring. She ranks first on the team in steals, second in rebounds and third in assists. She plays more minutes per game than any Terp not named Laurin Mincy. She's starred early in her promising career — winning ACC Freshman of the Year last season — and late in Terps games, having hit a game-winning jumper and a buzzer-beating, game-tying layup in two victories this month alone.

With all of Thomas' success on the court, it's easy to see why the Terps have come to rely on her so much, both offensively and defensively. But perhaps the most telling account of her importance to the team is how it played without her Thursday night.

After suffering a sprained left thumb in practice Tuesday, the No. 8 Terps were forced to look to other options to replace their star's production. But even against lowly Virginia Tech, the loss of Thomas proved too much to overcome.

"When you don't have a sense of urgency for 40 minutes to come out and play, every team in the ACC is going to come in and play like this," coach Brenda Frese said after the Terps' 75-69 loss. "I'm just extremely disappointed for our seniors, for this team in terms of how we played tonight."

Guard Kim Rodgers and forward Whitney Bays saw the biggest uptick in minutes in Thomas' absence. The pair — who averaged a combined 22 minutes per game coming into Thursday — totaled 34 against the Hokies.

The increase in playing time didn't translate to an increase in production, however, as Rodgers and Bays combined to finish the night scoreless on 0-for-4 shooting from the field.

"Obviously, Whitney Bays played more minutes than she normally had," Frese said. "We had rotations in there tonight that you haven't seen all season."

It wasn't just Rodgers and Bays who struggled, though. Starters Alicia DeVaughn and Anjale Barrett scored just six points total and Brene Moseley added only one off the bench.

In the end, Mincy, forward Tianna Hawkins and center Lynetta Kizer were forced to do nearly all the heavy lifting in the game, combining to score 58 of the team's 69 points.

"We were looking for any kind of energy out there," Frese said. "But we also have a lot of talented players in this locker room that should be able to step up in [Thomas'] absence."

With no games on the schedule until Thursday, when the team hosts Boston College, the Terps will have ample time to adjust to playing without Thomas should she miss another game. But if Thursday was any indication, the team would like its star forward back on the floor sooner rather than later.

"No question, when you lose a piece like Alyssa," Frese said, "it hurt us in a lot of different areas."

vitale@umdbk.com