Maryland women’s basketball wins opener 74-32 at UMBC

Photo courtesy of Ian Cox/Maryland Terrapins

No. 18 Maryland women’s basketball dominated in the fourth quarter of its opener at UMBC, winning 74-32 on Monday night. 

With a new-look team featuring seven transfers and three freshmen, the Terps looked to establish comradery for the 2024-2025 season. 

These new faces bring crucial experience to the team. They include Big East Co-Defensive Player of the Year Christina Dalce (Villanova), Atlantic 10 Player of the Year Sarah Te-Biasu (VCU), All-Big Ten First Team honoree Kaylene Smikle (Rutgers), and All-SEC Freshman Team honoree Saylor Poffenbarger (Arkansas).

Along with those big names, the Terps also brought in Mir McLean (Virginia), Amari DeBerry (UConn), and Isimenme Ozzy-Momodu from Gulf Coast State, who will be redshirting this season.

While many new names are on the roster, some familiar faces got the Terps going early. Senior guard Shyanne Sellers and graduate forward Allie Kubek led the teams in scoring in the first quarter—Maryland led 18-8. 

The transfers began making plays early in transition. Junior guard Kaylene Smikle got a strip steal and an easy transition layup to put the Terps up 7-0. Later in the first, graduate guard Sarah Te-Biasu read a pass perfectly and took it for an easy layup to extend the lead to ten. 

In the second quarter, the Retrievers got the lead within five at 24-19 thanks to sloppy play from the Terps. 

In the first half, Maryland committed 14 turnovers and 14 fouls and shot only 1-9 from three. In addition to the sloppy play, the Terps had zero bench points through two quarters. 

“I think when you look at the games right now, you’re going to see a lot of this,” said head coach Brenda Frese. “We have 10 new players and that chemistry is going to take time.”

Despite this, the lead grew in the second as two Te-Biasu layups and a three-point play by Smikle was part of a 7-2 run to close out the quarter, leaving the score at 33-22. 

The Terps defense locked down UMBC to start the third, but red-shirt junior guard Poffenbarger scored her first Maryland points to stop a four-minute scoring drought. 

The third quarter was much cleaner than the first half. Maryland committed only two turnovers and two fouls, scoring its first bench points. 

The Terps took command, outscoring UMBC 17-7 to take a 50-29 lead into the fourth quarter. 

The fourth quarter was the most dominant of the night, as Maryland outscored UMBC 24-3. 

Poffenbarger finally made a three-pointer for the Terps after missing their previous eleven, sparking a 7-2 Terps run in less than a minute of play. Christina Dalce joined in on the run, scoring five of her team-leading thirteen points to help the Terps build the lead. 

“We had good looks… we were quick with the trigger and were excited, first game, and normally we’re gonna knock those down”, said Frese.

After not scoring a single bench point in the first half, the Terps scored 23 in the second half, fueled by seven points from Poffenbarger. 

Christina Dalce led the Terps with 13 points and 10 rebounds while also tying for the team lead in assists with Shyanne Sellers with two. 

“[The coaches] have done such a great job encouraging me to learn a new system,” Dalce said. “Even though it’s not just me, I think the returners have done their best to elevate me.”

Maryland gets its first victory of the season with a final score of 74-32. The Terps will face Coppin State in their home opener on Thursday at 6:00 p.m.