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LOS ANGELES -- The No. 12 Maryland women's basketball team is doing some sightseeing this week. Hollywood. Beverly Hills. Rodeo Drive. Santa Monica Pier. Even a Lakers game.
For the first time since the latest Big Ten expansion, the Terrapins jetted to Los Angeles to play a pair of conference games, and they took advantage of a warm January week. Still, there's business to take care of for a banged-up Terrapins squad that had dropped two of their previous four games and fell from the Top 10 for the first time this season.
And the combination of USC, with the top-ranked freshman in the nation, and No. 3 UCLA, with the possible No. 1 pick in the WNBA Draft, made for a daunting task. The first task was accomplished with a 62-55 win against the Trojans on Thursday.
"It's a week for us to handle business," Maryland guard Oluchi Okananwa said after Wednesday's practice. "A week for us to kind of show who we are, why we're one of the best teams in the Big Ten and just kind of back that up."
A healthy Terps (17-2, 5-2 Big Ten) unit certainly had the look of Big Ten contenders early in the season with an eight-point win over No. 7 Kentucky. But the injuries have piled up and eroded the depth. Kaylene Smikle (knee) out for the season. Lea Bartelme (ACL) out for the season. Ava McKennie (ACL) out for the season. Bri McDaniel (ACL) out for the season. That's last season's No. 1 scorer in Smikle and a total of three starters.
UCLA (16-1, 6-0) and No. 11 Iowa (15-2, 6-0) sit atop the conference with perfect records.
Freshman Addi Mack has been bumped to starting point guard and fellow freshmen Marya Boiko, Rainey Welson and even Breanna Williams, at times, have seen significant minutes. Redshirt freshman Kyndal Walker is the first perimeter player off the bench. That's five freshmen contributing to a team with high aspirations.
"Unfortunately, you've got to go through it," Coach Brenda Frese said about the youth. "You can watch all the film you want, but you've still got to be able to get out there and be live. It's hard right now in January. It'll make us better for March."
USC is also beat up and without JuJu Watkins (ACL) for the season, and Kennedy Smith has missed the past three games with a lower leg injury. The Trojans have leaned on Jazzy Davidson, the No. 1 recruit in the nation according to ESPN, who was on fire in the first quarter on Thursday with 12 points and nearly outscored the Terps by herself. Okananwa had the Davidson assignment and missed most of the first quarter after picking up an early foul, but she returned in the second quarter and helped hold Davidson scoreless the rest of the game on 0-for-14 shooting after the opening quarter.
Offensively, it was an ugly night for Maryland, shooting just 39.1 percent and 25 percent from behind the arc, but the defense swarmed and kept Davidson in check.
"Communication, that's been a big thing in practice," Maryland forward Isimenme Ozzy-Momodu said. "That's really the main thing - communication, communication, communication. Defense wins championships, and that has to be [a priority]."
Maryland continued its streak of bouncing back after a loss and still hasn't suffered consecutive defeats this season. An 89-76 loss to No. 19 Ohio State on Sunday was quickly old news.
Life certainly doesn't get easier, though, with UCLA hosting Sunday. The Bruins are scoring team 86.4 points per game, with four players averaging at least 13.8 points per game, while shooting 51.1 percent from the field. Everything starts with 6-7 Lauren Betts, the all-American and reigning Big Ten defensive player of the year, but Maryland native Kiki Rice, Gianna Kneepkens and Gabriela Jaquez are all possible first-round WNBA draft picks. Additionally, Betts's sister Sienna, the No. 2 recruit in the nation behind Davidson, is back from injury.
"Maybe between now and then we can find someone 6-7 to be able to guard Lauren Betts," Frese joked. "It's going to take a team, this kind of defense collectively. UCLA is ranked and where they're at for a good reason."
Another day, another lesson for these developing Terrapins. Early in the season they were able to lean on their depth and offensive prowess. Now they're tied with UCLA with the second-best scoring defense in the conference (56.7 points per game) while continuing to work on offensive consistency.
"For us, it's continuing to be in these great matchups and these battles that are going to prepare you for postseason," Frese said. "I think our Big Ten tournament is going to be just crazy in a lot of great ways, but that'll prepare you for the NCAAs."
In her 24th season at the helm, Frese seems unbothered. Traditionally, her teams are at their best in March, and that's the main focus -- continue to get these young players ready for the spring. There will be bumps in the road, such as losses to Ohio State and No. 25 Illinois.
And that's why she doesn't have her team locked in hotel rooms during this West Coast road trip. They've already got one victory, and she believes in making sure her players get to experience environments outside of basketball. The biggest surprise of the entire trip may be team fashionista Okananwa swearing that she's just window shopping this week.
"I think that's sad when coaches do that," Frese said. "To me, we're in education and there's great opportunities where kids may never get back here."