ANNAPOLIS, MD — With three minutes remaining in Saturday’s game and the shot clock ticking down, Maryland women’s basketball guard Kaylene Smikle took over. 

On defense, she reached in, stabbing the ball away from Kennedy Harris, the leading scorer of a resilient George Mason team. 

“I know I have length, and she was dribbling in my face, so I just took it,” Smikle chuckled.

On offense, Smikle took off, beating a defender to the hoop and drawing contact on her shot to push Maryland’s lead to four. 

Her following free throw extended that advantage to five, helping No. 10 Maryland slip past the Patriots, 66-56, in game one of the Navy Classic.

Saturday evening’s close call ironically followed Maryland’s biggest win in almost five years, which the Terps scored in last weekend’s drubbing of Saint Francis.

“These are the kind of battles that we need,” coach Brenda Frese asserted after the game. “You don’t need games where you win by seventy, they don’t really show you what you need to work on.”

Smikle led the charge last Sunday and did so once more on Saturday. The junior immediately brought energy for the Terps (7-0), finding Christina Dalce on a break to put the Terps up early. Then, Smikle stole an inbounds pass to set up a short jumper for Kubek.      

The Patriots (6-1), who had rattled off six straight wins for the second-best start to a season in program history, saw an early three from Kennedy Harris fall to make the game 4-3. However, George Mason made just one of its next 13 shots, setting the Terps off on a 12-0 run that stretched the advantage.

But aided by early foul trouble for Bri McDaniel and Christina Dalce, George Mason fought back. Consecutive baskets from Jada Brown brought the Patriots as close as eight early in the second quarter. 

A gritty, second-chance layup from Smikle set the tone for the Maryland offense early in the second quarter. The Patriots tried to respond but missed a layup, and Sarah Te-Biasu found Saylor Poffenbarger with a pass back the other way.

Poffenbarger’s three-pointer from downtown pushed Maryland’s lead back to double-digits, giving the Terps room to breathe — for a short time, at least.

As the first half wound down, the game devolved into a stop-and-start affair. 

Thirteen total fouls in the second quarter, and twenty-three in the half, left both offenses struggling for a semblance of rhythm. 

George Mason strung three baskets together before the break, though, cutting the Maryland lead to 10. The Patriots rode their momentum into the ensuing half, where they ripped off a quick 8-2 run, shaving their deficit to just one. 

To make matters worse for Maryland, Smikle, Dalce, and Sellers all committed their third fouls, depriving the offense of its top scorer, rebounder, and assister for most of the quarter. 

In their absence, the offense went dry, failing to score a basket for over seven minutes.

With the Patriots breathing down Maryland’s neck, two straight offensive possessions ended in five-second violations from Mir McLean. Bri McDaniel was then called for a charge — her third personal foul, making her the fourth on the team with three — with just over three minutes remaining in the third quarter. 

“They were really aggressive. I thought they made a lot of hustle plays, [and] I think we had a lot of lapses… They were the tougher team in the third quarter,” Frese admitted.

Turnovers continued plaguing Maryland possessions as the period crept to a close. Poffenbarger coughed the ball up, allowing the Patriots to march down the other end. Harris’ fourth three-ball of the game gave George Mason its first lead. 

Maryland’s fear that its unbeaten records — both on the season and against George Mason all-time (9-0) — would be broken seemed all the more real as time ticked. The Terps tried to chip back, but the Patriots held steady, keeping Maryland behind through three frames for the first time this season. 

With the Terps under far more pressure than expected, Frese finally unleashed the three-foul trio of Smikle, Dalce, and Sellers in the fourth quarter. 

That choice was immediately rewarded, as Smikle’s fast break layup briefly restored the Maryland lead before Dalce then made it to the line twice. However, struggles from the charity stripe were an issue for her and the entire team throughout the game. 

Dalce couldn’t make any of her six from the line on the evening, and the Terps went 13-26 on free throws overall.

Those easy baskets could have come back to haunt the Terps, as George Mason stayed within striking distance for nearly the entire game. Late on, though, the Patriots’ perseverance fell apart. Consecutive offensive fouls and a technical foul on head coach Vanessa Blair-Lewis stymied what could have been a final offensive push.

With George Mason self-sabotaging in the final minutes, a three-point play from Smikle, followed by a putback from Christina Dalce, helped to push the game just out of reach. 

“I liked our resiliency. We were in a lot of foul trouble, a lot of adversity in this game, and found a way to win in spite of not [having] one of our better games,” Frese said. “That bodes well, but [some] areas we’ve definitely got to be able to clean up if we want to perform at a really high level.” 

The Terps have a quick turnaround to close the Navy Classic. They face Toledo on Sunday afternoon at Navy’s Alumni Hall. Ryan Martin will be on the call for WMUC Sports.