Women's basketball's Thomas questionable vs. Eagles

A cloud of uncertainty seemed to hang over Alyssa Thomas as she stood outside the Terrapins women's basketball locker room inside Comcast Center earlier this week, a bandage still wrapped heavily around her sprained left thumb.

"I did a little [practice] here and there, more bike-type stuff," the sophomore forward said. "I don't know [my status] yet. Just taking it day by day."

Coach Brenda Frese also wouldn't speculate on the availability of her star player as the Terps prepared for tonight's matchup with Boston College.

"She hasn't practiced yet, so she's still day-to-day," she said. "She's going to continue to be evaluated."

It would seem that if the No. 9 Terps (18-3, 5-3 ACC) could afford to rest Thomas for one remaining opponent, it would be the Eagles (5-16, 0-8), the only team still winless in conference play. But with the team licking its wounds after an upset loss to Virginia Tech one week ago, Thomas' return can't come soon enough.

"Obviously, when you lose a player like Alyssa, you need everybody to make up for her absence," Frese said. "We obviously didn't have as many players who stepped up in her absence."

In theory, Boston College shouldn't pose much trouble for the Terps, as the Eagles rank in the bottom third of the conference in nearly every statistical category.

But after falling to the Hokies last week, a team that also ranks in the bottom third in the league by most metrics, Frese said the Terps are going to have to improve in all areas if they want to end their two-game losing streak, no matter whom their opponent is.

Or whether Thomas is on the floor.

"Her energy, the level of play she brings to us every day — it's definitely frustrating not having that piece for us," center Lynetta Kizer said. "But we have 11 other players who put their jersey on Thursday night, and there's really no excuse."

Though the last-place Eagles will be looking to hand the suddenly reeling Terps their third consecutive loss, the team has had a full week of practice to adjust to the potential of another game without arguably its most crucial playmaker.

Even if she's forced to sit out again due to injury, Thomas seems confident tonight's game won't play out like last week's did.

"It was hard for me to just sit there and watch [last week], knowing I couldn't do anything but cheer them on," Thomas said. "After practice this week, that's going to be different. … We just have to bring the energy that we used to bring earlier in the season."

Said Frese: "You're only as good as your last game."

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