COLLEGE PARK — Fresh off a home loss against one of the country’s top programs, the No. 13 Michigan women’s basketball team needed a rebound win on the road, against a tough conference opponent. 

Instead, many of the issues that plagued Michigan in that Jan. 23 loss to Indiana — particularly those at the offensive end — persisted. The result was another deflating loss decided in the first half as the Wolverines (16-5 overall, 6-4 Big Ten) fell to No. 10 Maryland (17-4, 8-2), 72-64, losing back-to-back conference games for the first time this season. 

The Wolverines hung around through the game’s opening minutes, but they fell behind following the first-quarter media timeout. Maryland’s ability to disrupt the Wolverines’ offense following the break dictated the rest of the game.

“(We had) a pretty stagnant offense,” graduate forward Emily Kiser said.

From that point on, the Wolverines struggled to create any open looks on offense. Points came on broken plays, tough layups and fifth-year wing Leigha Brown’s typical athletic midrange shots. 

But notably absent were the “easy” baskets. 

Some of Michigan’s offensive fireworks fell noticeably quiet. Kiser in particular struggled to find her usual high-percentage looks, finishing with 11 points on just seven shot attempts. Sophomore guard Laila Phelia, who finished the first half with nine points, shot just 31% from the field. Kiser and Phelia’s struggles were contagious, and the rest of the offense suffered as a result. 

“We didn’t feel like we were getting (Kiser) enough touches and wanted to get her inside a little bit more,” Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico said. “She only had three shots at half, but only finished with seven on the game. She’s obviously a key to our offense, so we were trying to get her more involved.”

Following each Michigan basket throughout the game — whether it came from key scorers like Kiser, Brown or the supporting cast— the Terrapins quickly answered. Maryland guard Diamond Miller led the way, scoring at will over every defender she matched up with, finishing the first half alone with 13 points and helping Maryland jump out to a 39-29 lead.

The Wolverines deployed several different defenders to try to stifle Miller for all 40 minutes. But Barnes Arico’s efforts to limit the 6-foot-3 Miller’s size by marking her with forwards created mismatches elsewhere on the court that led to offensive success from other Terrapins. Maryland’s measured attack opened up opportunities from all parts of the floor.

One of Michigan’s offensive strengths to this point has been depth. The Wolverines have relied on sophomore guard Jordan Hobbs, sophomore guard Greta Kampschroeder and others as sources of rejuvenation on offense. But that cast of role-players, thrust into a larger role due to starters in foul trouble, struggled against Maryland.

Michigan ended the game with a meager six bench points, despite relegating senior guard Maddie Nolan to the bench due to foul trouble and playing nine different players in the contest. Instead of igniting the Wolverines, the bench further buried their chances throughout, committing lethal turnovers and missing important shots. 

“They were pressuring passes to the point we weren’t open,” Kiser said. “We couldn’t really get any ball movement. We stayed stagnant.”

Brown and Phelia got Michigan back within striking distance in the fourth quarter, drawing fouls to cut the Maryland lead to seven points with eight minutes to play. The duo combined for 31 points, but added just eight total assists — a number emblematic of the Wolverines’ weak offensive showing. 

In the end, it was the same issues that took them out of control early in the game that also put it out of reach. Sloppy passing and an inability to keep up with the Terrapins quashed any chances of a comeback — as did 24 total turnovers. Any late scoring success was too little, too late.

What appeared as an opportunity to get back on track in the Big Ten turned into a nightmare for the Wolverines. Plagued by turnovers and lifeless offense, Michigan fumbled its chance to get back into the conference title hunt, instead heading back to Ann Arbor reeling from another tough loss.