Maryland women's basketball vs. UMBC: Terps' lineup stands tall in 71-45 rout

The two characteristics of Maryland that are going to give plenty of teams trouble this season are its size and depth. On Friday night at Comcast Center, the No. 22 Terrapins exploited both advantages against UMBC.

By going with an even taller lineup than usual, the Terrapins thoroughly dominated the Retrievers, winning 71-45 for their eighth victory in a row. The 26-point win was their third consecutive double-digit victory.

Tianna Hawkins (Riverdale Baptist) made the most of her first start of the season. Hawkins scored 16 points on 7-for-10 shooting for her second double-figure scoring game in a row. Anjale Barrett, the lone guard on the court to start the game, added 12 points and six assists, and Alyssa Thomas came back from a knee laceration that required 10 stitches to chip in 10 points.

The win "definitely gives us momentum and a lot of confidence, but we've got a lot to work on still," Barrett said.

Maryland Coach Brenda Frese tinkered with her starting five, putting three forwards, a center and a guard on the court for tipoff. That lineup gave the Terrapins (9-1) four players standing 6 feet 2 or taller on the court. Meanwhile, UMBC's lineup featured only one player taller than 6 feet.

"The great thing is we can continue to look at a lot of different combinations, but right now, our size is really helping us in terms of giving us an advantage in a lot of different areas," Frese said. "We want to continue to find ways to utilize it."

Maryland's length gave the Retrievers (4-6) all sorts of problems. The visitors from the America East Conference turned over the ball four times to start the game. They didn't attempt their first shot until more than three minutes had expired. By the time they scored their first points - a pair of free throws by Tope Obajolu - the Terrapins had a 15-point lead.

After turning over the ball seven times and missing its first five shots, UMBC finally made its first field goal with 11 minutes 44 seconds remaining in the first half. Obajolu made a short jump shot to cut the Retrievers' deficit to 19-4.

Rather than trying to go up against the Terrapins' height, the Retrievers tried to shoot over Maryland. All but six of their shots in the first half came from behind the arc. For the game, UMBC took more than half of its shots from three-point range. Erin Brown (Whitman High) was the most successful, making four three-pointers to finish with 14 points.

Thomas, who missed Tuesday's game at Loyola with a knee injury, didn't waste any time making her impact in this game. Thomas scored six of Maryland's first 12 points. She played just 19 minutes in the blowout and had six rebounds to go with her 10 points.

"We obviously wanted to be smart with her tonight," Frese said. "If she would have had it her way, she would have been out there a lot longer."

Hawkins, who scored 17 points in 18 minutes off the bench in the Loyola game, had five rebounds.

"Tianna has been one of our most consistent post players from the start of the season," Frese said. Starting the game is "a reward for how hard she's been working. . . . As we're looking at different combinations and how we want to play, Tianna definitely showed that she is ready to play every night."

Hawkins said she is starting to feel more confident out on the court. It certainly showed against UMBC.

"It really didn't matter to me" whether she started or not, Hawkins said. "It's whatever is best for the team."

Maryland takes a nine-day break for final exams and then plays just once in the next 17 days. For a team that seems to be hitting its stride, the Terrapins must hope that the time off doesn't slow their forward progress.

"We're almost through our nonconference play here in terms of getting ready" for the ACC, Frese said. "This is where you want to start clicking on all cylinders so to speak and kind of start gaining some momentum."