Maryland Coach Brenda Frese, left, immediately has to find a solution for her team at point guard after learning that an ACL tear will sideline sophomore Brene Moseley for the entire 2012-13 season. (Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post)
The Maryland women’s basketball team will be without presumptive starting point guard Brene Moseley for the season after the sophomore tore her ACL during a scrimmage on Sunday, Coach Brenda Frese said Monday.
Moseley was running down the court in transition when her left knee buckled as she was planting her leg. It’s the second such injury for Moseley, a first-team All-Met who tore her right ACL when she was a junior at Paint Branch High School.
Moseley shot baskets from a chair on the Comcast Center court at media day on Monday shortly after the severity of the injury was announced. She said she remains optimistic for a full recovery, although not having the first-team all-ACC freshman figures to impact the reigning ACC tournament champions, who finished 31-5 last season following a trip to the NCAA’s regional final.
Moseley finished with 2.7 assists per game, 6.9 points and 1.8 rebounds last season. She led Maryland in three-point field goal percentage (.405) and was second in three-pointers made.
“It’s a tough injury, but they’re resilient,” Frese said of her team. “We’ve been working through a lot of point guards knowing that was going to be a position that was going to be in flux. A lot of people will step up, and it’ll be by committee.”
Junior Laurin Mincy is the most likely choice to start at the position. Mincy was honorable mention all-ACC last season, averaging 13.1 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists, and she played particularly well in the NCAA tournament. She scored 24 points in a second-round win against Louisville and followed that with 21 points in a victory over Texas A&M in the regional semifinals.
Maryland also has freshman Chloe Pavlech, who was ranked among the top 25 high school point guards in the country, according to several recruiting Web sites. The other guards on the roster are juniors Katie Rutan and Sequoia Austin. Rutan is a three-point specialist who sat out last season after transferring from Xavier, and Austin was a walk-on who recently earned a scholarship.
Another alternative could be asking junior forward Alyssa Thomas to handle the ball. The first sophomore in program history to be named ACC player of the year has done so in spots since she came to Maryland, and with her at point guard the Terrapins would have a physically imposing lineup with no player shorter than 6 feet on the court.
The Terrapins have leaned heavily on interior play over the past few years regardless, with a starting front court that helped Maryland finish second in the nation in rebounding margin (+12.9) last season and fifth in 2010-11.
“We’re not really sure yet,” Thomas said of the distribution of point guard responsibilities. “Just kind of being positive. We’re just keeping [Moseley] up in spirits. It is a tough time for her, but as long as she has us, I know she’ll be happy.”