Some lessons learned from Maryland’s win over Georgia Tech.
COLLEGE PARK, MD—The Lady Terps found themselves again having to fight for a win—his time, a 67-54 victory over Georgia Tech.
The Terps entered the series 10-1 and 5-0 at home all time in the challenge. However, the Terps were knocking on the door of 5-1 with the way Georgia Tech played in the second half.
This is a Georgia Tech team that is 5-1 overall, and got an early 63-53 upset win over ranked Georgia ahead of their battle with the Terps.
It was a scare for head coach Brenda Frese and her seventh-ranked team, but with the help of defense, Taylor Mikesell, and Kaila Charles, the Terps were able to move to 7-0 on the season.
Here are three takeaways from the game:
Turnover Woes
The biggest issue this team is struggling with is turnovers. They committed 20 turnovers on Thursday, allowing Georgia Tech to score 17 points off of them. This has been a consistent theme for this team and it must be cleaned up before conference play starts. This conference has gotten stronger, so this is not a good habit to have, especially when teams are looking to knock this juggernaut of a team off after dominating the first three years of the B1G.
Taylor Mikesell does not play like a freshman
The first half of the game was all Mikesell. She scored 18 points and knocked down three 3-pointers to lead the Terps to halftime. Frese played Mikesell for 40 minutes, unusual for a freshman, but Frese has put trust in her due to her work ethic.
“It’s incredible. From the moment everyday we walk in, she is the first one in the gym,” Frese said following the game. “She’s here, eight o’clock in the gym, putting shots up. When you work that hard, great things are going to continue to pay off for her and her team.”
Kaila Charles does Kaila Charles things
The difference in this game when it mattered was Kaila Charles. Charles led the Terps on a 9-0 run in the fourth quarter. She finished with a season-high of 23 points, including 13 points in the fourth quarter. It reminded me of last season, when she scored 19 points all by herself in the fourth quarter against the A’ja Wilson led South Carolina team. It bodes well for Maryland’s aspirations that they have a closer like Charles to rely on late in games.