The Bruins overwhelmed the Terps in College Park.
No. 8 Maryland women’s basketball fell to No. 1 UCLA on its home floor, 82-67, Sunday afternoon, making it three straight defeats against top-15 opponents.
Here are three takeaways from the game.
Betts was too much for Terps
Containing UCLA’s 6-foot-7 star center Lauren Betts had to be at the focal point of Maryland’s game plan entering Sunday. Unfortunately, it failed to execute successfully. Betts had a feast down low, finishing with a career-high 33 points, seven rebounds and four blocks.
“My coaches do a really great job of putting me in the best positions to do what I need to do,” Betts said. “Points will come, but I think it just goes with the flow of the game and I don’t try to force anything.”
Reminiscent of Zach Edey on Purdue, the Bruins offense consisted of waiting for Betts to get position close to the basket and throwing her an entry pass. Once Betts received the ball, the Terps may as well have given UCLA two points — she missed just one shot all game.
Head coach Brenda Frese tried multiple strategies, the primary one being throwing 6-foot-6 Amari DeBerry at her. However, Betts was too strong, even for DeBerry.
“We tried to match length with Amari,” Frese said. “She’s so physical and she’s so strong. We were trying to double off the dribble because she’s a great passer, but in the second half, we just had to sell out.”
On the other end, she made Maryland’s usual strategy of relentlessly attacking the basket much more difficult, affecting every shot around the rim. Her primary matchup was Christina Dalce, who had one of her quietest offensive games this season, scoring just eight points on 3-of-10 shooting.
When it wasn’t Betts, her pick-and-roll duo KiKi Rice found success, ending with 19 points and seven assists.
“We watched enough film, it’s a really hard scout because when we went double, [Betts] knows how to pass out,” Frese said.
Maryland showed resilience in defeat
Beating the No. 1 team in the country without arguably their two most important players was always going to be a monumental task. While the Terps couldn’t get it done, the game wasn’t without positive signs for Maryland fans.
“What I’m probably most impressed with with this group is they keep battling, they keep showing up,” Frese said. “They’re running to it, not from it.”
Multiple times in the first half, the Bruins looked ready to blow the game open, and Maryland brought their lead back down to single digits. The Terps’ best stretch came in the second quarter, when they put together a 12-2 run that brought them to within two points before trailing by five at the break.
Saylor Poffenbarger was Maryland’s biggest bright spot, playing her best game this month and putting the offense on her back for a stretch of the game. She made shots from all levels, including some tough ones around the rim. Poffenbarger finished with 18 points.
“I think my mid-range is coming along,” Poffenbarger said. “If I want to be a 3-point shooter, I’m going to get pushed off that line, so being able to put the ball on the floor and trust myself, it’s been important.”
Even when UCLA had the game secured in the fourth quarter, the Terps fought on both ends of the floor, a welcome change from their second-half collapse against Ohio State.
“I think we competed for 40 minutes, and I think that just shows a lot about our resilience as a team,” Poffenbarger said.
Maryland only lost the rebounds and the turnover battles by one, two things that Frese has emphasized for her team.
Maryland is out of the brutal stretch of games against three of the nation’s best teams and gets a chance to earn a bounce-back victory against a weak Penn State team on the road Wednesday.
The Bruins hurt the Terps in transition
One of UCLA’s biggest advantages against the Terps was its ability to run at them in transition. The transition game aided Betts’ success, as she ran the floor and establish position around the rim before Maryland could match up with her.
Guards like Rice were successfully pushing the pace off defensive rebounds, as well as turnovers.
“You can see the assist-to-turnover ratio [7-18], that keeps me up at night,” Frese said.
The Bruins totaled 20 fast-break points to Maryland’s seven and outscored Maryland off opponent turnovers, 21-15.