The Terps improved to 11-0 with a statement win on Field Trip Day.
No. 8 Maryland women’s basketball took care of business against William & Mary Thursday in front of a sold-out crowd of local school children on “Field Trip Day”. The Terps struggled early but regrouped to finish off a 107-57 victory.
Here are three takeaways from Thursday’s game.
Poor shooting
Maryland reached its second 100-point performance of the season in an uncharacteristic fashion. Even though they won by 50 points, the Terps didn’t shoot well. They were 32-of-72 (44.4%) from the field and 8-of-27 (29.6%) from 3-point range.
The worst of it came in the first half. The Terps went 15-of-40 (37.5%) from the field and just 4-of-17 (23.5%) from beyond the arc in the opening 20 minutes.
“We started a little slow when you talk about the [12-day] break that we were just coming off,” head coach Brenda Frese said.
But the Terps dominated in other ways. Maryland controlled the paint and got to the free-throw line constantly. Led by Saylor Poffenbarger’s 15 rebounds, the Terps dominated on the boards, 62-28 — the most Maryland has posted since 2018 — and totaled 20 more offensive rebounds than William & Mary.
“We got better when we were really intentional of making contact and boxing out on the defensive end,” Frese said.
Smikle notched 1,000 career points
Kaylene Smikle reached the 1,000-career-point milestone with a 3-pointer in the second quarter. Coming into Thursday, she needed 11 points to hit 1,000 — Smikle finished with 21, shooting 6-of-11 from the field and 3-of-5 from deep.
“It’s a blessing to be here,” Smikle said. “It’s a blessing to accomplish just one milestone here at Maryland.”
Smikle became one of four Terps on the current roster to reach the 1,000-point milestone, joining Sarah Te-Biasu, Shyanne Sellers and Allie Kubek.
Out of Maryland’s four 1,000-point scorers, three transferred to College Park. Their play has has been significant in Maryland’s 11-0 start.
For Smikle, it’s her 58th career game, and she now sits at 1,010 points, which is 17.4 points per game on her career.
“It just 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 and want to help me grow,” Smikle said. “I love accomplishing it here at Maryland.”
Free throw differential
Thursday was a borderline unprecedented game when it came to getting to the free-throw line. Maryland shot 50 free throws, while William & Mary only attempted six.
The Terps only made 70% (35-of-50) of their attempts from the line, though. If Maryland hit all of its free throws, it could have scored 122 points. The last time Maryland scored upwards of 115 was Nov. 5th, 2019.
It was the most free-throw attempts the Terps have earned this century, surpassing the 47 they took on Jan. 19th, 2000, at Wake Forest. Frese was not head coach yet and the team played its games at Cole Field House.
The free throw differential wasn’t a product of the referees being more favorable to the Terps, but rather a testament to Maryland’s ability to draw fouls.
“I don’t know that I’ve ever been in a situation like that, from a foul end,” Frese said. “I liked how aggressive we were, being able to get to the glass and drawing fouls.”
Christina Dalce was a major factor in the paint and attempted 16 free throws, but only made eight. Her dominance in the paint has been unmatched.
“They’re already in their own head mentally. Our staff is always just trying to instill confidence,” Frese said. “Got to get in the gym and rep free throws so you can get out of those moments. You want to have those opportunities at the free-throw line to add points.”
The rest of the team was fairly strong from the line. Shyanne Sellers went 5-of-6, Smikle made 6-of-7, Poffenbarger was 3-of-4 and only scored off free throws, Kubek went 4-of-5, Bri McDaniel went 4-of-5 and Ava McKennie went 2-of-2.
“I liked how we stayed resilient through that and tried to take advantage of those points,” Frese said.