“You’d always want more players, I think that was something coming off of an Elite Eight that we really tried to do and that run didn’t really impact anything,” Frese said. “We tried to get as many numbers in here, we tried to get more point guards in here and it wasn’t meant to be.”
While Frese said her staff tried to acquire more contributors from the transfer portal, the Terps only added NC State transfer Jakia Brown-Turner. Bringing in only one player with three available scholarships remaining, whether by design or not, might have been a mistake.
Big Ten teams added an
average of nearly two transfers each this offseason, but contenders such as Ohio State and Penn State brought in even more with three and five, respectively. Maryland could have benefited from an experienced guard such as Tania Mair, who committed to Duke over Maryland, or Celeste Taylor.
The Terps have not been averse to using the portal in the past, either. Frese grabbed five transfers in 2022.
[Maryland’s Shyanne Sellers day-to-day with a knee injury ahead of difficult week]
Now, a roster that was projected to be deep before the season is running awfully thin. Riley Nelson and Emma Chardon both suffered season-ending injuries while Lavender Briggs has also missed time with a lower body injury.
Beyond injuries, returning players have regressed in key areas. Veteran Brinae Alexander’s scoring and three-point efficiency has declined so far in conference play. Shyanne Sellers has shot just 11 percent from deep and turned the ball an average of more than 3.5 times per game against Big Ten opponents.
Maryland returned an All-Big Ten first team guard in Sellers and a majority of its roster from last season, but lost Abby Meyers and Diamond Miller — two WNBA first round picks.
Sellers and the rest of the Terps have struggled to grow into their new roles and replace the production of their do-it-all forward in Miller, a solid secondary scorer and shooter in Meyers and role players like Eliza Pinzan — who proved to be a bigger loss than expected.