Maryland women's basketball defeated by UCLA, extending losing streak
No. 8 Maryland Women's Basketball vs. No. 1 UCLA in the Xfinity Center Arena in College Park MD, on Sunday, January 26 2024 (Courtesy of University of Maryland Athletics)
Lauren Betts scored a career high 33 points as No.1 UCLA women’s basketball defeated the University of Maryland 82-67 Sunday afternoon at Xfinity Center.
Sunday’s loss capped off a tough six-day stretch for the Terps, who played three opponents all ranked in the top 10 in the country and couldn’t escape with a win.
The Terps went through this stretch largely without two of their starters.
Junior guard Bri McDaniel tore her ACL against the University of Minnesota on Jan. 14 and is out for the remainder of the season.
Senior guard Shyanne Sellers suffered a knee injury in the first game of this stretch against No. 7 University of Texas after scoring a career-high 27 points against Minnesota.
These absences have given other Terps players the opportunity to step up their game. Junior guard Saylor Poffenberger scored 18 points, her second most of the season. Graduate student guards Sarah Te-Biasu and Mir Mclean have also assumed new roles.
Despite the result, Maryland head coach Brenda Frese is optimistic about the future and players stepping up.
“Whenever that time comes for Shy to get back in the fold, you know, it just means that we're that much better,” she said.
Poffenbarger echoed this mentality and said there is a lot that the team can take away from this tough stretch.
“I think it's really important to learn in January and not March. And I think going out, we learn a lot about ourselves,” said Poffenbarger. “It teaches us to stay together. It teaches us to play together, play through hard times.”
The Bruins showed why they remain the only undefeated team in NCAA Division I college basketball, largely thanks to the efforts of Betts.
Betts got off to a fast start, scoring 24 points in the first half, a tally higher than her season points-per-game average of 20.3 points.
Despite Betts’ dominant performance, Maryland clawed back before the half, going on a 13-6 point run to make the game 39-34 to the Bruins.
Maryland was able to slow Betts down in the second half, who scored just nine to complete her career night, but Betts was able to find her teammates, junior guards Kiki Rice and Gabriela Jaquez and the Bruins extended their lead.
Along with her ability to pass the ball, Betts credited her teammates with her career night, saying, “My guards, Kiki, did a great job today, just finding me in transition. But I think it started with their defense once you started getting stops and, you know, just walked in on that.”
Rice had 19 points of her own in her return to the state she grew up in.
“I mean, growing up in Maryland and going to camps here, I've played here so many times,” said Rice. ”So it was really exciting to see so many of my family and friends come out here.”
The Terps will look to break their three-game losing streak and get back to their winning ways against Penn State on Wednesday.