Maryland adds Eleanna Christinaki, gasses past Coppin State

Eleanna Christinaki played plenty of basketball this summer & this fall except she still hadn’t had a chance to break in that MD jersey yet. Today finally was the day.

She didn’t start. Wasn’t the first sub. Or the second really.

Christinaki entered the game at the 6:30 & promptly turned the ball over during her first possession in a Maryland Terrapins uniform. Her first positive stat? An assist to senior Ieshia Small for her points of the day. She took her first shot (a three) & missed exactly three minutes after entering the game.

A steal. Another miss. Almost four minutes pass & the alleged UM 2017-18 season’s savior has yet to put any points on the board. What’s wrong?

Then….it happens. In typical Brenda Frese fashion. Solid straight line drive creates a gap in the rotation. Good ball movement. Swing. Extra pass. Three-point basket. Eleanna Christinaki is in the books. & off to the races.

The slow start did little to affect Christinaki’s debut or Maryland’s steamrolling of its opponent either. 113-49 was the final score. Maryland scored 31 points in the first quarter & 35 in the second to outscore CSU’s team for the entire game in the first half.

Eleanna Christinaki, meanwhile, showed that she can more than lift this team a few notches. She might even be able to carry them for stretches. Her final stat line reads as follows:

"32 points on 12-20 shooting. 6-13 from deep. 2-2 from the free throw line. 2 boards, 2 awssists, 1 steal. 3 turnovers. Usage rate of 35.07, second-highest efficiency rating on the team with 26.0 all in 30 minutes of floor time."

Mind you, Coppin State made 5 threes & had four players finish with negative efficiency ratings.

Welcome back to NCAA Women’s College Basketball Eleanna we missed you.