Maryland women’s basketball climbs to No. 11 in latest AP Poll

Photo courtesy of Maryland Athletics

Maryland women’s basketball (3-0) rose seven spots to No. 11 in the AP Top-25 Week 2 poll, released Monday. The Terps – previously ranked No. 18 in the preseason poll – became the highest-climbing team. 

The climb comes as a result of Maryland’s 85-80 win over rival and then-No. 11 Duke on Sunday. The Terps also sport wins over UMBC and Coppin State. Maryland has trailed for a mere 18 seconds through the three games, winning by a combined 70-point margin.

The No. 11 ranking marks the Terps’ best ranking since Week 19 of the 2022-23 AP poll when it was No. 7. Maryland made a run to the NCAA tournament Elite Eight that season, falling to the top overall seed, South Carolina.

The Terps are fresh off of a disappointing year in which it fell out of the poll for the first time since the beginning of the 2010-11 season. Last season, the Terps fell 93-86 in the first round of the tournament to seven-seed Iowa State, despite leading by 16 at halftime.

But this is a completely different Maryland team, adding 10 new faces to its roster during the offseason to help power it to a 3-0 start. 

Two newly-added Big Ten teams are above Maryland in the ranking: No. 3 USC and No. 5 UCLA. The four other conference foes in the poll are No. 12 Ohio State, No. 21 Nebraska, No. 23 Illinois and No. 25 Oregon.

Maryland has eight more ranked matchups remaining on its schedule, including a nonconference game against No. 4 Texas. Five of these games will be played at the Xfinity Center, a welcoming sight for head coach Brenda Frese, who has gone 316-46 at home.