For Brenda Frese and No. 8 Maryland, the Terrapins’ comfortable 15-point lead wasn’t a cushion; it was the prelude to a familiar and frustrating collapse against No. 19 Ohio State this Sunday afternoon. By the end of the game, Maryland was down by 13 points. The 89-76 loss was their second of the season and forced Frese to deal with a familiar pattern of execution that fell apart when it mattered most.

Frese revealed after the game that Ohio State responded to Maryland’s early aggression more effectively.

“We punched first to start the game, but I thought they responded really well and flipped the script on us,” she explained. “The second quarter was impactful. We put them at the free throw line way too many times and didn’t respond as well as I thought we would to their aggressiveness.”

The box score backed up her observation.

In the second quarter, the Buckeyes made 10 free throws while the Terrapins made none. Ohio State outscored Maryland by 10 points in that quarter and cut their 12-point lead from the first quarter to just 2 points at halftime.

Maryland’s defensive mistakes continued to worsen after the second quarter.

Ohio State had easy scoring chances because the backcourt kept turning the ball over, and the Buckeyes kept going to the free-throw line because they fouled too much. The Terps’ constant fouling only fueled Ohio State’s offense. That pattern never stopped, and what was once a small deficit became an unmanageable one.

Brenda Frese went on to break down Ohio State’s offense, pointing out how well Jaloni Cambridge played.

“I thought it was very impactful for Jaloni Cambridge and their team being really, really aggressive,” Frese stated. “When you talk usually about 50-40-90 stats for players, for them it’s 50-50-90. I mean, they haven’t been shooting the three like that, and obviously Tylia Kits had a game.”

Even though they lost, the problems with defense and turnovers that turned Maryland’s 15-point lead into a loss are issues that can still be addressed before the rematch. The Terps let Ohio State set the pace by playing physically, and Frese’s team will need to change how they handle transition opportunities.

Brenda Frese watches Ohio State’s shooting come alive when it matters most

The Ohio State team came to the Xfinity Center ready to make a statement. The Buckeyes couldn’t hit three-pointers all season, and they were near the bottom of the conference. But on Sunday, they turned everything upside down by making 11 three-pointers out of 22 tries. The Cambridge sisters took control in the last few minutes, with Jaloni and Kennedy making clutch shots that sealed Maryland’s fate with the game on the line.

The fans in Maryland did everything they could to help their team, but the shooters for Ohio State always had an answer.

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The building felt colder every time a Buckeye bucket went through. No amount of energy from the crowd could stop Ohio State’s hot hand.

Freshman guard Rainey Welson provided a much-needed offensive spark. gave Maryland hope by not going away when the Terps needed offense. She went after the basket hard and made four three-pointers out of eight tries. Welson hit a corner three-pointer that cut Ohio State’s lead to just one point as the game slipped away. This showed that she has ice in her veins when the pressure is on.

Welson’s performance was a silver lining, but the question remains whether the rest of the Terps can match her intensity when they meet Ohio State again.