The Terps passed their true first test of the season.
No. 18 Maryland women’s basketball passed its first true test of the 2024-25 season Sunday, when it got the best of No. 11 Duke, 85-80, in an upset victory. The Terps led for the entire game.
Here are three takeaways from Sunday’s contest.
Fighting the press
Duke had the full-court press on Maryland all game, and it caused issues for the Terps, who turned the ball over 20 times.
“In moments, it helped us kind of close the gap a little bit,” Duke head coach Kara Lawson said. “Forced 20 turnovers and [was] able to get some of our own in transition off of that.”
It proved to be one of Maryland’s only flaws in what otherwise was an impressive win for the Terps.
“They’re obviously a great defensive team,” Shyanne Sellers said. “We made some silly challenges, but I don’t feel like it was because of them. I feel like it was mainly because of us.”
Terps in double figures
Four Terps — Sellers, Kaylene Smikle, Bri McDaniel and Christina Dalce — scored double-digit points against Duke. Smikle posted 23 points, Sellers recorded 17, McDaniel tallied 15 and Dalce had 12.
Smikle notched 20 points or more for a second straight game and has quickly become a star for the team. She was 7 for 17 from the field, 3 for 3 from beyond the arc and 6 for 7 from the charity stripe.
“We [knew] coming into this game, we had to bring intensity,” Smikle said. “We wanted to give them the first bunch, and I feel like we did.”
Sellers probably could’ve scored more if she didn’t get into foul trouble in the third quarter. She was strong from midrange and made some difficult shots, going 6-of-12 from the field, 1 for 1 from deep and 4-of-4 from the free throw line.
McDaniel had her strongest game off the bench this season. After going relatively quiet in the first two games, she exploded in the third quarter. She finished with 15 points, including 11 in the second half.
“I know my team needed me to be aggressive, so I had to keep attacking and getting open looks for everybody else,” McDaniel said.
Dalce was a force down low for the Terps. She posted a double-double with 14 rebounds.
“She was huge, and she’s a monster on the glass,” Frese said. “That is why we recruiting her, that she was going to be an elite rebounder, shot blocker, high motor.”
She had eight points in the first half, and then got into foul trouble in the second half, playing only 11 minutes. Dalce was 4-of-5 from the field, but only 4-pf-8 from the free throw line.
Rotation tightened against a tougher opponent
Sunday provided the first look at the rotation Frese could go to in games against competitive opponents.
Maryland’s rotation was cut to eight players. Sellers, Dalce, Sarah Te-Biasu, Allie Kubek, Smikle, McDaniel, Mir McLean and Saylor Poffenbarger saw the floor Sunday.
“I was really encouraged, because even when a few players had some some nerves within the game that I could see … they were able to work themselves out of it,” Frese said.
Dalce was in foul trouble and only went in late to match up with Duke’s bigs. But Kubek, who usually sees the floor as a big, did not play late.
Despite a pedestrian stat line, Poffenbarger was an important part of Sunday’s win, making some huge plays late and putting in the extra effort with her size. Poffenbarger brought down some important rebounds late in the game as well.