No. 7 Maryland women’s basketball hit the road for the first time this season to play in the Discover Puerto Rico Classic.
The Terps faced their first real test of the season against No. 16 Kentucky on Wednesday and earned their first top-25 win after they defeated the Wildcats, 74-66. On Thursday, the Terps celebrated Thanksgiving Day with a dominant 57-point win against Hofstra, 95-38.
Maryland took the lead early on Wednesday and never looked back. Four Terps finished the game in double digits, and the Terps’ defense once again was a difference maker.
Frese experimented with different lineups in Maryland’s game against Bethune-Cookman a week ago, going for a small-ball look despite Kentucky’s notable size. This didn’t faze the Terps’ hard-nosed defense. The Wildcats heavily outmatched Maryland inside, but they would only win the rebound battle by two, 38-36.
Staying on the defense, Maryland continued to force turnovers. In Puerto Rico, the Terps proved that they can take better care of the ball themselves. Against Kentucky, the Terps forced 20 turnovers and only had 13 turnovers.
“I thought it was probably one of our best 40-minute complete games from the tip,” head coach Brenda Frese said. “I thought we were really, really aggressive to be able to force them into 20 turnovers. I thought our pressure was a lot.”
Freshman standout Addi Mack was inserted back into the starting lineup and proved that the lights weren’t bright enough for her to step out of the spotlight. Mack finished the game with 15 points and a team-high six assists, shooting over 50% from the field and 100% from deep.
Despite a huge performance from Mack, Kaylene Smikle was also a huge factor on Wednesday. Smikle led the Terps with 22 points, shooting 50% from the field.
“Obviously, [Kentucky] had no answer for [Smikle] and just her aggressiveness and drawing six fouls… I thought we were able to spread them out, and just a really good win that is going to pay dividends for our future.”
Yarden Garzon was electric behind the arc on Wednesday night, drilling five 3-pointers of her own off an efficient 50$% shooting percentage.
The Terps led by as much as 20, but the Wildcats made a late-game push.
Maryland struggled to shoot in the fourth quarter. Six blocks from Kentucky’s defense brought the lead back down to just six. But clutch free throws late in the game helped Maryland prevail for its first top-25 win of the season.
Maryland had all the momentum going into Thanksgiving day. Hofstra caught the short end of the wish bone having to play the Terps after what Brenda Frese believed to be their best win of the season.
The Terps came out of the game firing on all cylinders. The team shot 75 percent from the field, forced nine turnovers, and took a dominating 29-6 lead after the first quarter.
“10-0 to start the game. I thought defensively we were really, really good. We’re all over the glass, being able to hold them to no rebounds in that first quarter,” Frese said.
The turnover battle has been crucial in Maryland’s nine-game early-season win streak. The Terps forced 24 Hofstra turnovers and only had 10 of their own.
Not only the turnovers stand out for the gritty Maryland squad. The team picked up right where they left off against Kentucky on the glass as they out-rebounded Hofstra, 40-17.
Despite the Maryland defense being so dominant early in the season, its offense got rolling on Thursday. The Terps scored 95 points and shot over 58% from the field, as well as 45% from behind the arc.
Maryland received strong contributions from Saylor Poffenbarger, Marya Boiko, Isimenme Ozzy-Momodu and Breanna Williams. The Terps’ bigs combined for 37 points and shot a perfect 100% from the field.
The Terps would go on to take this one with a final score of 95-38, as the team celebrated Thanksgiving in Puerto Rico and was thankful for an undefeated start to the season.
