No. 8 Maryland women’s basketball remains undefeated with 50 point win against William & Mary

Photo courtesy of Maryland Athletics

In front of a crowd of over 15,000 screaming kids, No. 8 Maryland women’s basketball sought to remain as one of the nine unbeaten teams left in the country. And the Terps did exactly that, dominating from the opening tip-off against William & Mary.

Maryland’s size and presence on the glass proved too much, forcing the Tribe into highly-contested shots and collecting 62 rebounds. The Terps — who scored 196 points in the paint in their previous four games — continued that success, adding 44 more on Thursday.

“I thought they were really aggressive offensively,” head coach Brenda Frese said. “A lot to like on the offensive end. We got better when we were really intentional of making contact and boxing out on the defensive end.”

In the second all-time matchup between these squads, the script went exactly as expected. The Terps took the lead just two minutes into the contest and never looked back, winning 107-57 at the Xfinity Center on Field Trip Day. 

“It’s so much fun to bring in so much energy to this game with an 11 a.m. tip,” Frese said. “We hope all the kids came away becoming Maryland fans for life and tell their parents they want to come back. … Just a really special day for us all around.”

The script went exactly as expected in the second all-time matchup between these squads. The Terps took the lead two minutes into the contest and never looked back, winning 107-57 at the Xfinity Center. 

Saylor Poffenbarger displayed early on why Maryland (11-0) is one of the best rebounding teams in the country. After a missed jumper from Kaylene Smikle, Poffenbarger collected the first of 26 offensive boards and drew a foul.

But William & Mary (3-8) responded, knocking down a three-pointer off of a Terps’ turnover and taking its only lead of the contest. But Smikle gave Maryland its advantage back, finishing off an easy layup. In minutes, Sarah Te-Biasu and Allie Kubek nailed the Terps’ first two jumpers from downtown to extend the lead to nine.

Maryland entered the contest with 14 three-pointers made in its past four games, something that continued to plague it against William & Mary. Outside of Smikle — who splashed two in quick succession and three in the contest — the Terps went 5-22 from deep.

Despite this, the Terps held just a nine-point advantage after one-quarter of play. And as it’s done all season long, Maryland used its second-quarter dominance to extend its lead. 

William & Mary scored the first five points of the period off a layup from forward Rebekah Frisby-Smith and a three-pointer from guard Emma West. But then Smikle took over, scoring a quarter-high 10 points.

In her first game off the bench, Kubek exploded for 15 points. She took control of the paint, finishing through the contact and making it look easy. With Christina Dalce in foul trouble for parts of the contest, Kubek saw extended minutes and she certainly made the most of it.

“I’m more than happy to come off the bench to give the team a punch,” Kubek said. “Christina has been producing and that’s how it is. All I can do is just help my teammates coming off the bench.”

The Terps held a 49-30 lead at the break, in large part from the play of Smikle and Kubek. The duo combined for 25 of Maryland’s first-half points.

But it was William & Mary who came out of the break firing on all cylinders. Back-to-back three-pointers and an and-one from guard Bella Nascimento dwindled Maryland’s advantage down to 12.

Instead of letting the Tribe hang around, the Terps sprinted off to an 8-0 run, restoring their 19-point lead. Maryland used the charity stripe to its advantage, knocking down six during the run and 35 in the contest.

The Terps continued to crash the glass in the third quarter. Kubek got the offensive board after Shyanne Sellers missed a jumper and kicked the ball out to Smikle, who knocked down the open three-point jumper.

Maryland wrapped up the third period on an 11-2 run. After playing through illness in the Terps’ last outing against Purdue, Sarah Te-Biasu had 12 points, including five during the run.

The fourth quarter was more of the same for Maryland. Bri McDaniel — a spark plug for the Terps on both ends — knocked down the first jumper of the period. Just minutes later, McDaniel moved the score to 89-56 with a layup.

“I thought the last quarter and a half was probably some of our best defensive effort and where we need to be,” Frese said.

Dalce got hot late in the contest, scoring seven straight points. Her last free throw pushed Maryland to the 100-point barrier and sent the crowd wild. The Terps finished the game off on a 20-1 run.

Six Maryland players finished the contest in double-figures: Sellers, Te-Biasu, Smikle, Dalce, Kubek and McDaniel. Its bench play was also crucial, contributing 42 points. The bench play was also crucial, contributing 42 points. With her 21 points in the game, Smikle is now over 1,000 career points.

“It’s a blessing to accomplish the milestone here at Maryland,” Smikle said. “It’s made the accomplishment better being in such a great program with people around me who genuinely care for me and want to push me every day.”

The Terps have another break before getting back to Big Ten play. Maryland takes on unbeaten foe Michigan State on Dec. 29.