After losing to South Carolina in the Sweet 16 a season ago, head coach Brenda Frese and No. 10 Maryland Women’s Basketball welcomed seven new players to this year’s roster.
Maryland brought in two highly established transfers, combined with the youth of five freshmen who are expected to have impactful minutes this season.
The Terps were ranked No. 10 in the Associated Press preseason poll and look to live up to those expectations. But what seems like a pressure-filled ranking for Maryland is actually just another year ranked in the preseason top-25. The Terps have started the season ranked for 16 consecutive years.
Frese enters her 24th season in College Park and has a career record of 607-169 (.782) with the Terps. She is the winningest head coach in program history.
At media day, Frese discussed how she believes the Terps will be a fun team to watch this upcoming season.
One of the biggest factors that led to their success a season ago was their health. As long as this team can stay healthy, Frese expects big things.
“You’re going to love watching this team. We’re deep, we’re fast, we’re athletic, we can defend, and we can score,” Frese said.
Under Frese, the Terps have been to 21 NCAA Tournaments and 12 appearances in the Sweet 16, including last season’s heartbreaking loss to one of the nation’s best.
Now, looking forward to this upcoming season, Maryland will try and get back to the NCAA tournament without key contributors, Shyanne Sellers and Sarah Te-Biasu.
However, despite all the pieces the Terps lost in the offseason, they brought in some star power.
Frese brought in seven new players, headlined by transfer guard Yarden Garzon. Coming from Indiana, Garzon averaged 14.4 points per game last season and looks to make an immediate impact in the lineup.
Not only will Garzon make an impact on this new Terps squad, but Oluchi Okananwa was also a highly touted transfer.
Okananwa was last year’s ACC Tournament Most Outstanding Player. After averaging over 10 points and five rebounds per game last season, she looks to now round out what will be a newly looking Maryland backcourt.
Given all their new pieces entering the lineup this upcoming season, senior guard Kaylene Smikle looks to continue what she did a season ago, where she averaged over 18 points per game for this Maryland squad.
After transferring from Rutgers two seasons ago, Smikle continued right where she left off. She was an All-Big Ten honoree for the 2024-25 season, as well as being named to the 10-player All-Big Ten Preseason Team.
Maryland will begin this upcoming season at home, where they will face off against Loyola on Monday. The Terps have won their last 19 matchups against the Greyhounds.
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