Maryland women’s basketball lost its first game of the 2024-25 season when it dropped a 79-74 decision to No. 4 USC on Jan. 8, part of a challenging schedule that head coach Brenda Frese hopes prepares the Terps for March.
Three days prior to the loss to USC, Maryland dealt Iowa its first Big Ten home loss since Feb. 14, 2022. And later this month, the Terps will take on three top-10 teams — Texas in a nonconference tilt and Ohio State and UCLA in league games. Frese believes the gauntlet will help Maryland in the long run.
“This is what prepares you. It’s not going to make or break or give you an indication because the NCAA Tournament is its own beast, but it prepares you for that,” Frese said on Glenn Clark Radio Jan. 8. “It’s going to get you to that level where you have to show up every single night and perform or at some point in March you’re going home. That’s what I love about this season, this conference is so different from any other season I’ve ever coached with a team. I’m glad this is the roster I’m putting up against anybody.”
The Terps fought through an unusually uneven campaign in 2023-24, finishing 19-14 and generally appearing short on the talent typical of a Frese squad. As such, the coach got to work in the offseason to reboot the roster. Frese brought in Christina Dalce (Villanova), Amari DeBerry (UConn), Mir McLean (Virginia), Saylor Poffenbarger (Arkansas), Kaylene Smikle (Rutgers) and Sarah Te-Biasu (VCU) via the transfer portal.
It was clear early on that Frese found the right transfers to mix in with returners Allie Kubek, Bri McDaniel and Shyanne Sellers. Maryland defeated then-No. 11 Duke, 85-50, at Xfinity Center on Nov. 10.
“You just didn’t know how they were going to respond in an arena that was packed and a top-10 opponent coming in ahead of us,” Frese said. “Man, we punched first and never looked back. I thought that was a response where I really saw just how competitive this group is. Fortunately for us, they hate to lose, they love to win. It’s one of the most competitive groups I’ve been able to coach.”
A second-team All-Big Ten performer a year ago, Smikle was a critical addition out of the portal for Maryland. The 6-foot guard out of Bay Shore, N.Y., has started all 15 games, averaging 17.9 points and 3.5 rebounds per contest. She has scored 20 or more points in seven games, including against Duke and Iowa.
Smikle is only a junior, so she has a chance to stick around for more than one year.
“She’s just scratched the surface. I think that is what’s so exciting,” Frese said. “We knew she could score, but just her willingness to want to be a complete player is what I love about Kaylene. She wants to be an elite-level defender. She wants to be able to make the right play and be able to give the right assist when people are doubling her. She’s fun to coach because she’s a winner and she just wants to be great at everything. Her six steals that she had at Iowa, every single one of them was so valuable.”
Poffenbarger was also a critical addition. Frese has known Poffenbarger for years, offering her a scholarship before the highly-touted recruit chose to attend UConn out of Middletown High School. She later transferred to Arkansas, developing into a menace on the boards (11.2 rebounds per game in 2023-24).
Poffenbarger circled back around to Maryland this offseason with the Terps in need of some rebounding help. The 6-foot-2 redshirt junior has provided that and then some in averaging 9.3 points and 9.8 rebounds per contest.
Poffenbarger was a Terps fan growing up, and now she gets to play in front of energetic crowds like the one that saw Maryland take on USC (14,735).
“This is why our players come here to Maryland,” Frese said. “I was doing film with Saylor [on Jan. 7]. She said to me, ‘It’s a full-circle moment.’ This was her when she was a little kid growing up coming into Xfinity. Now here she is as a player that these kids are coming in to watch. I thought that was so well said by Saylor. It’s why players come here. We have the best fans in the country.”
For more from Frese, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Maryland Athletics