No. 7 Maryland women’s basketball hangs on, beats No. 16 Kentucky 74-66

Photo courtesy of Grayson Belanger/Maryland Terrapins

No. 7 Maryland women’s basketball had been dominant all season long, but hadn’t played outside of College Park. The Terps had homecourt advantage in their first seven games of the season – all wins. Their first road game occurred on Wednesday night, as they headed to Puerto Rico for the Discover Puerto Rico Classic, going up against No. 16 Kentucky. 

The Wildcats appeared to be the toughest challenge for Maryland in the young season on paper. Kentucky came into Wednesday’s matchup averaging 82 points per game and was coming off a ranked win against No. 21 Louisville.

In a litmus test for the Terps, they passed. Maryland (8-0, 0-0 B1G) beat the Wildcats (7-1, 0-0 SEC), 74-66 – the Terps’ first win over a ranked opponent this season, along with their first win without a home environment. 

“I thought it was probably one of our best 40 minute complete games,” said head coach Brenda Frese. “From the tip I thought we were really, really aggressive.”

Once again, Maryland’s defense produced another stellar performance, forcing turnovers and disrupting Kentucky’s offensive flow. The Terps won the turnover battle 20-13, leading to 21 fast break points. Maryland’s ability to turn defense into offense with strong transition play has stood out all season long. 

The Terps’ leading scorer was held in check by the Wildcats. Junior guard Oluchi Okananwa was kept under 10 points for the first time this season – she finished with four points with no made shots from the field on seven attempts. Other Maryland players picked up the slack. 

Kaylene Smikle was the leading scorer on the night, with an impressive 22 points in just 23 minutes played. Yarden Garzon dropped 17 on a blazing 50% from the three point line – her five threes made was a season-high. Addi Mack and Saylor Poffenbarger also contributed with 15 and 12 points.

“I thought Saylor, Yarden, and [Kaylene] really showed their experience as seniors,” said Frese. “The poise and leadership that they were able to give us really settled us in and they played really confident.”

The Terps offense thrived at the charity stripe. They were able to get to the free throw line 23 times, converting at a 91 percent clip. The Wildcats, on the other hand, just had eight attempts, six of which they made. 

Maryland began the game on a 10-0 run and led by 11 at halftime. In a game where the Terrapins were up by as much as 20 points, the Wildcats clawed back in the fourth quarter, cutting the lead down to eight late. Clutch free throws from Poffenbarger and Mack iced the game.

An area to improve for the Terps was bench scoring. The bench group was strong defensively but struggled to generate offense, getting outscored 15-4. This is partly due to a top-heavy lineup from Frese – Mack played the entire game and three other starters saw over 30 minutes.

Maryland will take on Hofstra tomorrow in their second game of the Puerto Rico Shootout.