COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- The fourth-ranked Maryland women's basketball team was battle-tested in just the second game of the season Sunday afternoon, matching up with No. 8 South Carolina at the XFINITY Center. The Terrapins fell to the Gamecocks, 63-54. 
 
Both teams were plagued with a tough shooting night. Maryland (1-1) shot 31.4 percent from the field (22-70), while South Carolina (2-0) shot 31.7 percent on 19-60 shooting. 
 
"You know, I thought South Carolina really came in ready to make their presence known and they did," head coach Brenda Frese said. "They took control of the glass early, they got to the free throw line and really set the tone. I thought for us, shooting under 30 percent for most of the game and to be outrebounded is really uncharacteristic of our play.
 
"But again this is a game, second game of the season and we knew that this early type of game you find out where you're at. As a team, I think we learned a lot of things that we're going to be able to utilize moving forward that's going to help make us better."
 
Freshman Ashley Owusu led all scorers with 17 points, shooting 50 percent from the field (7-14). She led the Terps with seven rebounds and three assists. Senior Kaila Charles contributed 11 points, shooting 5-18 from the field, grabbing five rebounds. Freshman Diamond Miller chipped in 10 points.
 
Going into halftime, the Terrapins trailed by 10 points. The Gamecocks extended the lead to 38-24 early in the third quarter. Maryland cut it to 44-38 off a layup by Miller late in the period, but struggled to see the ball go through the net .
 
With 3:11 to play, freshman Faith Masonius made a layup to cut it to six at 52-46, but that was as close as the Terrapins came the rest of the way. Maryland won the second half overall, 30-29.
 
The Gamecocks, led by freshman Aliyah Boston with 14 points, shot 24-for-30 from the free throw line. Maryland went 8-for-12 from the line.
 
Before Sunday's game, the Terrapins received their championship rings for the 2019 Big Ten regular season title. Athletic Director Damon Evans, Deputy Athletic Director Colleen Sorem and Frese presented the returning Terps with their rings.

Next, the Terrapins will travel to Harrisonburg, Va. to take on James Madison (2-0) Wednesday at 7 p.m. The Terps-Dukes game will be televised on MASN and streamed on FloSports.com.
 
Tickets for the 2019-20 season are on sale now. To purchase, click here. For ticket information for the upcoming season, log on to the Terrapin Ticket Office online umterps.com or call 1-800-IM-A-TERP.
 
The Associated Press contributed to this report.