With over 13,000 students across 80 local elementary and middle schools in the DMV, No. 7 Maryland women’s basketball put on a show and had fun doing so.
The Terps crushed Central Connecticut State University on Friday, 98-30, in celebration of its annual Field Trip Day.
Yardon Garzon had a standout performance and started red hot from beyond the arc. After a quarter of action, she made 4-of-6 from deep. She scored 12 points in the opening quarter and led Maryland to an early 25-point lead.
But it wasn’t just her who got off to a hot start from the field. In fact, it was the entire Terps squad.
Maryland scored 39 points in the first quarter — 2nd-most in a quarter in school history — and also averaged over 70% from the field and 50% from deep.
“We really look forward to this field trip game. To be able to have over 13,000 kids here, and it’s really one of our favorite days and games that we get to play,” head coach Brenda Frese said.
Maryland’s defense has been able to force teams into trouble early with a press that sometimes seems unstoppable. The Blue Devils were the culprit on Friday, tallying 26 total turnovers compared to Maryland’s nine. These turnovers led to an additional 29 points for Maryland. For Central: zero.
Diving deeper into the Maryland defense, their ability to protect the rim today was stellar, starting with Isimenme Ozzy-Momodu, who tallied four blocks today — nine total. Ozzy-Momodu also had four blocks.
The Blue Devils were only able to put in one basket throughout the entire second quarter. Yes, you read that right.
While the Maryland offense wasn’t as efficient either, they still outscored the Blue Devils 18-2, going into the break leading by 41 points.
Maryland came into this one extremely shorthanded. They had nine available players this morning after precautionary sits for Poffenbarger and Welson.
After Bri McDaniel announced on Friday that she decided to redshirt – joining Lea Bartelme, Ava McKennie and Kaylene Smikle as players out for the rest of the 2025-26 season.
Central was the team’s last non-conference matchup this season. The real test was about to begin, and these injuries aren’t going to help them.
But that doesn’t mean the scorers for the Terps didn’t continue to step up. Without those four important pieces, they were still able to score 98 points in this game. Four players were in double digits in this one, while Oluchi Okananwa and Yarden Garzon were over 20 each.
On student day, there was one moment in particular that all the kids were looking forward to: the infamous 67th point. Even Frese joined in on the fun as she was introduced in a Maryland jersey, wearing No. 67.
“We had to do it for the kids. We knew this would be a fun game. We enjoyed all of it,” Frese said.
The moment all the kids were waiting for – the shot heard ‘round College Park was from Garzon.
The Terps sat at 64 points, knowing the nature of the number. After missing four 3-point attempts, Garzon stepped into one from deep and knocked it down, sending the Xfinity Center into a 6-7 frenzy.
“Probably the best shot of my career. That was fun. Having this moment, and I know my teammates trusted me to take this shot,” Garzon said jokingly.
After a second half that was just as dominant as the start of the game, Maryland went on to celebrate with the students, and they would take this one — earning themselves an undefeated non-conference record on the season.
Maryland moves to 13-0 on the season and will take on Wisconsin in College Park on Monday, Dec. 29.
