A Fresh Look For Maryland Women's Basketball

Versatility.

That will be a key theme of Maryland women’s basketball’s upcoming 2022-23 season as evidenced by Tuesday’s Big Ten Media Day in Minneapolis. 

11 of the 13 players on the roster are listed as either a guard or a guard/forward. As a result, the Terps will rely on their ability to spread out opposing defenses and to defend multiple positions more than ever before. 

“People always talk about playing positionless basketball in this new era,” head coach Brenda Frese said to the media inside of Target Center. “You're really going to see it from us this upcoming season. We have a really good group of players that you're going to see a lot of versatility where they're going to be able to cover and play a lot of different positions on both ends of the floor. Our staff plans on using our system that way.”

In addition to the versatility, the Terps will look different from last year in a lot of ways, especially in terms of the fresh faces on the court. They brought in five transfers—Abby Meyers (Princeton), Elisa Pinzan (University of South Florida), Allie Kubek (Towson), Brinae Alexander (Vanderbilt) and Lavender Briggs (Florida)—and also added a quartet of freshmen for a total of nine new players. 

“When you look at the rest of the transfers and the incoming freshman we brought in, they’re all winners,” Frese said. “I think that common ingredient is what you’re looking for (in the transfer portal).

“For us at Maryland, for our team, it is going to be a unique team and season for us this year,” she added. “You will continue to see a lot of our team traits, going to be very similar that we've had in the past. But we're also going to try a lot of different concepts.”

Meyers was a particularly big get in the transfer portal for Maryland. Not only was she the 2022 Ivy League Player of the Year, she is also a Maryland native who grew up going to games at XFINITY Center and cheering on the Terps.

She joined Frese and senior returner Diamond Miller in Minneapolis and expressed her satisfaction with her experiences on the new team. 

“It’s actually been a great learning experience for me,” Meyers said. “I definitely see myself to have a leadership role, but really it starts off with earning the trust and respect of my younger teammates and my new teammates. For me, it’s just been about finding the balance there and just working hard.”

As Frese noted on Tuesday, Meyers has the ability to be one of the Terps’ primary go-to scorers.

“She has the confidence,” Frese said of Meyers. “She knows she’s a big-time player and she leads that way. She’s a bucket. She can go get it whenever she wants. She also knows how to play the game at a really high level, so it’s that blend that you have to have to be a big-time competitor.”

And although the majority of Maryland’s roster is new, there are still key returners who will continue to play significant roles all season—especially Miller.

Miller was named All-Big Ten First Team in 2021 and Second Team in 2022, despite missing 10 of the first 12 games that season due to a knee injury. Heading into the new season, she is feeling “A-OK”, though Frese had stronger words than that at Media Day.

“(Miller’s) more than A-OK,” Frese said. “We are thrilled to have her back as close to 100 percent as she can be. Everyone knows how special of a player Diamond is.”

Now a senior with an already illustrious career to her name, Miller is growing into more of a leadership role this season.

“This year, I would say I’m definitely more of a leader,” Miller said. “A lot of people look up to me to tell them what to do because I’ve been here for four years.”

The Terps also bring back reigning Big Ten Sixth Player of the Year Shyanne Sellers. Sellers excelled for the Terps on both sides of the ball as just a freshman and is poised to have another big role this season.

“Just that she continued to grow,” Frese said of what she liked most about Sellers’ freshman season. “I love the fact that she put her defense first, that’s where we needed her to be. I’ve never really seen a freshman take on such a big role so quickly, usually it takes a year to be able to adapt to the defensive system. She just continues to evolve and get better and she’s going to be a huge piece to our success this season.”

Miller sums up Sellers’ impact perfectly.

“She understood the assignment very well.” 

Maryland and its revamped roster will be tested right off the bat as the Terps head into a non-conference slate that features South Carolina, UCONN, Baylor, Notre Dame and DePaul.

“We're going to find out really quickly what we need to work on,” Frese said. “Our non-conference schedule is probably one of the toughest we've ever played here in my time at Maryland.”

For Frese and her team, that challenge is a welcome one.

“It allows us a great opportunity to play both challenging and really fun games to find out where we stand before heading into the most competitive conference in the country,” Frese said. “However, that's why you come to Maryland, is to play on these big stages. It's something that we're all looking forward to.” 

“These guys want to compete,” she added later in the day. “You don’t want to go out and beat someone by 50 and not know where you are as a team and as a program.”