Brene Moseley’s injury means Terps could turn to committee at point guard

The Maryland women’s basketball program asked a lot of Laurin Mincy last season.

They might need just a little bit more out of the junior this year.

With sophomore Brene Moseley suffering a knee injury during practice Sunday, Mincy could be needed to step in as the Terrapins’ point guard in what appears to be a promising season for the perennial ACC contender.

Coach Brenda Frese said Monday that Moseley’s injury could be a torn anterior cruciate ligament. The Terps, a regional finalist a year ago while going 31-5, did not immediately have the results of an MRI exam taken Monday.

“In our preseason practices, we’ve been repping Brene and Laurin [at the point],” Frese said during her team’s media day. “Laurin actually had really asserted herself naturally into that point guard position early. We felt like that was going to be the two-player early rotation, but now it extends us to going further.”

Frese acknowledged Maryland might be pressed into a committee situation at the point. It could mean freshmen Chloe Pavlech and Tierney Pfirman run the offense at times. So could junior Sequoia Austin and even star forward Alyssa Thomas.

But Mincy, a preseason all-ACC pick after averaging 12.9 points and 4.2 rebounds a year ago, might make the most sense for the Terps at this stage.

Mincy had a decent idea based on preseason workouts she would be asked to move over from a wing spot on occasion. And it’s not as if running an offense is foreign to her; the 6-footer took more than a few turns at the point in high school.

“It’s not really a big transition,” Mincy said. “In high school, I had to play every position. … I think with the college level, there’s more pressure on the ball. You definitely have to be a leader, you have to control the tempo and know the game situations. I think it’s more of a mental thing in college than it is high school.”

Moseley, a member of last year’s all-ACC freshman team , averaged 6.9 points and 2.7 assists in a reserve role a season ago. It was anticipated she would slide into a spot in the starting lineup vacated by graduated point guard Anjale Barrett.

While Moseley’s injury will force Frese to juggle the lineup in advance of the Nov. 9 opener against Mount St. Mary’s, it also deprives Maryland of some already limited depth. Without Moseley, the Terps would have only a 10-player roster to work with this season.

“We’re just going to have to build each other up,” Mincy said. “We’re all in, that’s what our motto says, and we’re only as strong as our weakest link. If Brene cannot go, we’re just going to play for her.”

Mincy might be the player who does so as much as anyone should she take on much of the time at the point.

“Laurin has always sacrificed,” Frese said. “Anything this team needs her to do, she’s going to do. She’s the ultimate champion and it shows why she’s a winner. She will play any position we ask her to and defend any player that we’re looking for her to stop. It’s a credit to Laurin and why her teams win and why she’s been so successful.”