It felt like everyone in the stadium held their breath when Maryland women’s basketball shot a 3-pointer on Thursday night.

The Terps shot 2-for-15 in the first half against UMBC. Yarden Garzon and Oluchi Okananwa, arguably Maryland’s best shooters, made zero of their nine 3-point attempts.

“I think we were at like 13 percent in the first half from the three-point line, and it kind of felt like we would shoot it when we shouldn’t, and then we would pass it up when we should,” coach Brenda Frese said.

In the first minute of the second half, Garzon broke the slump. She drained a three off a Lea Bartelme offensive rebound, and after a shaky first half, Maryland pulled away to earn an 87-54 win over the Retrievers at Xfinity Center.

The Terps allowed their season-low against UMBC last season in a 74-32 win. Thursday’s performance wasn’t as dominant, as Maryland recorded 18 turnovers and shot just 30.8 percent on 3-pointers. But it never allowed more than 16 points in a quarter — another strong defensive performance to open the season after allowing just 26 points to Loyola Maryland on Monday.

Off the tip, the Terps’ were sporadic. Saylor Poffenbarger notched two turnovers in the first five minutes. The rhythm came once the reserves entered.

Frese followed a similar substitution pattern to Monday. Marya Boiko and Addi Mack were again the first two out of the gate, controlling the ball.

[Maryland women’s basketball’s energetic youth could provide extra depth this season]

Building up a dominant defense was a focus of Frese’s entering the season. Boiko and Okananwa led the team in rebounds and grabbed 13 of the team’s 40 boards. The Terps forced the Retrievers into lengthy offensive possessions in the first quarter.

“We’re playing really hard every possession,” Frese said. “Obviously defense is something they’re really prideful of, and I love the ownership that they’re taking on both ends of the floor.”

UMBC rivaled Maryland, keeping a 10-point margin for most of the first half. Kennedy Austin, a freshman guard, sank two 3-point buzzer beaters, contributing 14 points.

The Terps, on the other hand, struggled in that area. Maryland’s roster is full of 3-point shooters, but many fell short in the first half.

Halftime proved to be a reset for Maryland. The Terps added 11 points to the board within three minutes. The third quarter marked an obvious change in intensity from the opening frames.

[Ever wondered why athletes have such odd superstitions? Maryland athletes, coaches explain]

The Terps looked to score in different ways in the second half. Their offense spent much more time down low, scoring 18 of their 47 points in the paint and shooting 16 free throws.

“I told them at shootaround — to have a team collectively buy in to really study the plays and understand, this group is really far ahead,” Frese said.

“There’s a lot of areas that we can continue to challenge and grow with this group, because they have a really high IQ.”

After only one starter logged more than 20 minutes on Monday, three eclipsed that total against UMBC. True freshman Rainey Welson mixed in with the starters, notching 24 minutes — the most of any freshman on the team. She scored the first six points of her collegiate career.

“It’s great to see my shot go in,” Welson said. “I was just relieved to get the first collegiate points out of the way.”

After Frese lost two of her key players to injury last season, she stressed the importance of the team’s health going forward. Mir Mclean was escorted off the court in the third quarter, holding her left shoulder. Frese said she will know more in the next couple of days once she is examined.

Maryland will continue to rely on its depth when players go down. The Terps will return to Xfinity Center on Sunday to take on Georgetown.