COLLEGE PARK, MD — To say that No. 11 Maryland women’s basketball was heavy favorites against Saint Francis (Pa.), would be an understatement. But for just about 20 seconds on Sunday, the Red Flash had a glimmer of hope.
Forward Juliana Gibson snuck down low on Saint Francis’ first possession of the game. The junior grabbed an over-the-shoulder pass and finished at the rim to give the Red Flash a 2-0 lead. They wouldn’t make another field goal until the ensuing quarter.
Maryland followed up Gibson’s layup with a 33-1 run over the next 10 minutes, virtually ending the game after one quarter. The Terps rode that early lead to a comprehensive 107-35 beatdown over Saint Francis (1-6) at the XFINITY Center.
“I thought this week we were able to get better in practice, [and] I thought it showed throughout the game,” coach Brenda Frese said. “These are great games to be able to kind of add and build your bench minutes, and be able to see where we’re growing in that area.”
The colossal victory — Maryland’s largest since 2019 — gave the Terps their first 6-0 start since the 2021-22 season.
Maryland’s leading scorer Kaylene Smikle continued her early season offensive tear with 15 points in the first quarter. The junior scored with virtually every opportunity she had.
Less than three minutes after the opening tipoff, Smikle surprisingly missed an open layup for what would’ve been her sixth and seventh points of the game. Smikle immediately grabbed that miss though, finishing with her right hand to put herself at 100 total points on the season.
The Rutgers transfer later finished with 25 — her fifth game in a row scoring over 20 points.
Smikle also got plenty of help from teammate Shyanne Sellers, who effortlessly picked up assists.
With the first quarter winding down, Sellers dribbled down the left sideline before cutting toward the basket — seemingly for an open layup. Sellers instead dished a no-look bounce pass between her legs to a trailing Smikle. The Rutgers transfer coolly drained the triple — one of her three in the first quarter.
With a sizable advantage already in hand, contributions came from everyone and everywhere in the second period.
Eight different Terps scored in the second quarter. Forward Allie Kubek led the charge with nine as she scored in three different fashions — two layups, a pair of made free throws, and one lone triple.
Kubek only trailed Smikle, with a season-high 20 points by the time Sunday’s game was over.
The Terps led by an astounding margin of 66-9 at halftime — their largest first-half lead of the season.
“I told them we needed to come out and play like we were down 20,” Frese said. “Those are the habits that we want to build … We’re not playing the score, we’re not playing the team, we’re playing to have really good habits, especially on the defensive end.”
Maryland leaned on its press defense to create a sizable portion of its 66 first-half points. Saint Francis had several stretches where it struggled to get the ball beyond half-court, leading to 17 turnovers. The Terps turned that into 24 points — 36 percent of their first-half tally.
“This is how Maryland plays,” Smikle said. “We want to turn teams over and we want to play aggressive from the jump.”
Frese continued mixing the rotation in the second half.
Junior Bri McDaniel played the point guard position for portions of the third and fourth quarters — mostly when Sellers was on the bench. McDaniel picked up five points and an assist during this time, to finish the game with 10 points overall.
Sellers put the cherry on top of Maryland’s rout by drilling a corner three with just over two minutes remaining. Her triple put Maryland over the century mark for the first time this season.
Graduate student Mir McLean and Sellers both added layups as the game was winding down, to put five Terps in double figures — another comprehensive offensive display. McLean also grabbed 10 rebounds for her first double-double in a Maryland uniform.
Maryland has another substantial break before traveling to Annapolis for next weekend’s Navy Classic. The Terps play George Mason on Saturday before facing Toledo on Sunday.
