Maryland women’s basketball nearly started its season with the comeback of the year.
After trailing by as many as 31 points to top-ranked South Carolina, the No. 20 Terrapins put together a furious second-half rally in France, but came up short in a 101-93 loss.
The game was played at Adidas Arena in Paris as part of a doubleheader that also featured Oklahoma and North Carolina in the second game of the Oui-Play Paris games, which first started in 2023.
The Gamecocks got off to a hot start and led the Terrapins 22-5 just seven minutes into the game. South Carolina’s smothering defense overwhelmed the Terps, and led to 21 points off turnovers in the first half.
Trending
The Terrapins trailed 61-33 at halftime but got back into the game due to sophomore Addi Mack. The Minnesota native scored 31 of her 35 points in the second half, including 6-for-10 shooting from 3.
Maryland coach Brenda Frese also got creative on defense, switching to a box-and-one during the second half to limit the Gamecocks, who had five different scorers in double-figures.
The Terps trailed 85-66 with 7:28 left in the fourth quarter when Mack sparked their comeback. She hit a pair of 3s and assisted on two more baskets as part of a 14-4 run to cut the Gamecocks’ lead to 89-80 with just over four minutes remaining. It was the first time the Terps’ deficit was back in single digits since trailing 11-3 in the opening minutes. A three from Trinity Jones made it a 6-point game with 42 seconds remaining, but that’s as close as they would get.
“I’m really proud of our resiliency in the second half,” Frese told reporters after the game. “I thought we showed a mentality I’m really excited about.”
Tennis star Frances Tiafoe, who is in the city for the Paris Masters and grew up in College Park, attended the game to support his hometown team.
Maryland is expected to be one of the county’s better teams this season, as it was picked second in the Big Ten preseason poll behind UCLA, the reigning national champions.
Author
