Women's basketball rolls through slow start in 79-61 win vs. Loyola

BALTIMORE – After sloppy first halves in its previous two games against Purdue last Thursday and Appalachian State on Sunday, the Terrapin women's basketball team appeared, for a while, to be following a similarly lethargic path last night.

As the team entered a media timeout with 11:06 remaining in the first half last night at Loyola's Reitz Arena, it trailed the middling Greyhounds by five points. Lacking intensity early, the Terps struggled against Loyola's zone defense and were unable to find a rhythm, much less a grasp of the ball.

"I thought we were just being really careless," said coach Brenda Frese, whose Terps committed five turnovers in the first five minutes last night. "I thought Loyola came out with a lot more energy than we did to start the game."

After that short break, however, the No. 22 Terps took control. Over the remainder of the period, they scored the game's next 17 points in a 32-7 run to enter halftime with a comfortable lead and cruise to a comfortable 79-61 victory.

Led by guard Erica DiClemente's eight early second-half points, Loyola (2-6) cut the Terps' lead to as little as 12 at one point. But the Terps ultimately proved too much for their hosts.

Center Lynetta Kizer continued to dominate in the post for the Terps, posting 21 points and eight rebounds to lead the team to its seventh straight victory.

"I've really seen Lynetta come into her own the last couple of weeks with her leadership," Frese said. "Being such a young team, we need that leadership to come from everyone."

Kizer's performance was of particular importance as the Terps (8-1) dealt with the absence of freshman forward Alyssa Thomas. Thomas, who ranks second in the team in scoring behind only Kizer, needed 10 stitches for a cut on her knee she suffered Sunday against the Mountaineers.

Reserve forward Tianna Hawkins helped make up for Thomas' lost production, chipping in 17 points and a team-high 12 rebounds off the bench for the Terps.

"Great to see some things from our angle in terms of our post play," Frese said. "I thought Lynetta, Tianna and [forward] Diandra [Tchatchouang] did a tremendous job in dominating the glass and dominating inside. That really helped us through this game."

Last night's showing was not, however, the full 40-minute effort that Frese had hoped for. The Terps were inconsistent, with as many lulls in intensity as flashes of brilliance. They often struggled to break the Greyhound trap in the second half and also allowed DiClemente (23 points) and fellow sharpshooter Miriam McKenzie (12 points) open looks throughout the second half.

Defense "just has to matter; we know we're able to score," Kizer said. "But also we have to stop teams. Defense leads to offense. We just need to focus and trust each other and play defense."

Despite the Terps' 19 offensive rebounds, the Greyhounds attempted one more shot from the field than the Terps. Loyola's 61 points were the second most an opponent has scored against the Terps' stingy defense this season.

"Offensively, they were really clicking on all cylinders," Frese said. "We had a difficult time defending them. … I thought our energy was kind of sporadic."

With ACC play less than a month down the road, Frese said the Terps must eliminate the inconsistent play that has detracted from what otherwise has been a successful start to the season.

"Obviously, with Alyssa out, tonight put a wrinkle in what we were doing," Frese said. "But [consistency] is definitely an area we need to improve on."

TERP NOTE: Loyola presented Frese with a donation of more than $400 before the game toward "Team Tyler," a charitable organization founded by a group of former Terps after Frese's son, Tyler, was diagnosed with leukemia earlier this year. The organization contributes money to leukemia research.

cwalsh@umdbk.com