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2025-26 STORYLINES<\/p>\n
What’s UP<\/p>\n
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The Terrapins are coming off of a 97-59 win over Wisconsin Monday in College Park. Oluchi Okananwa<\/a> dropped a career-high 28 points, Yarden Garzon<\/a> and Addi Mack<\/a> each scored 15 and Saylor Poffenbarger<\/a> added 14.<\/p>\n
The Terrapins are No. 2 in the country and No. 1 in the Big Ten in rebounding margin (+16.5). The Terps are 10th in the country in scoring (89.3 ppg), 8th in scoring margin (+35.6) and No. 7 in free throws made per game (17.79).<\/p>\n
Maryland is ranked No. 7\u00a0in the Associated Press poll released Dec. 22\u00a0and No. 6 in the USA Today Sports WBB Coaches Poll released Dec. 30.<\/p>\n
Seniors Yarden Garzon<\/a> and Kaylene Smikle<\/a> were named to the 10-player All-Big Ten Preseason Team by both the league’s head coaches and media panel.\u00a0<\/p>\n
series\u00a0history<\/p>\n
milestone and streaks<\/p>\n
Maryland has three 1,000 point scorers (Smikle – 1,499, Garzon – 1,383, Poffenbarger – 1,040).\u00a0<\/p>\n
TERPS IN THE BIG TEN<\/p>\n
Since joining the Big Ten in 2014-15, the Terrapins are 183-40 (.821) vs. their conference opponents, including their 22-6 record in the Big Ten Tournament.<\/p>\n
Frese File<\/p>\n
Terps in the Polls<\/p>\n
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\n\tMaryland is one of 11 teams in the country to still be undefeated.
\n\tThe Terps are 14-0 for the second straight season and the fifth time in school history. The best start in program history was 18-0 in 2006-07.
\n\tYarden Garzon<\/a> was named Big Ten Player of the Week on Dec. 22 for her second career weekly honor.
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\n\tOluchi Okananwa<\/a> and Saylor Poffenbarger<\/a> are third and fifth in the Big Ten in steals with 30 and 29 on the season. Yarden Garzon<\/a> is leading the Big Ten and No. 15 in the country in threes made with 39. Addi Mack<\/a> is No. 2 in the league in free throw percentage (91.2%).
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\n\tThe Terps were picked to finish second in the Big Ten, behind just UCLA. USC, Michigan and Ohio State rounded out the predicted top five.\u00a0
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\n\tHead coach Brenda Frese<\/a> and her staff signed two transfers in All-Big Ten honoree Yarden Garzon<\/a> (Indiana) and 2025 ACC Tournament Most Outstanding Player Oluchi Okananwa<\/a> (Duke). The Terrapins also welcome freshmen Lea Bartelme<\/a>, Addi Mack<\/a>, Rainey Welson<\/a>, Nicole Fritea<\/a> and Marya Boiko<\/a> to the roster.
\n\tMaryland will play six teams ranked in the AP preseason poll – No. 3 UCLA, No. 13 Michigan, No. 18 USC, No. 21 Iowa, No. 23 Michigan State and No. 24 Kentucky. The Terps will also play six teams receiving votes in Washington, Ohio State, Princeton, Minnesota, Illinois and Nebraska.
\n\tMaryland women’s basketball is its 55th season and owns a record of 1,163-472 (.711). The Terrapins are No. 11 all-time in NCAA Division I history in winning percentage and No. 9 in all-time victories.
<\/p>\n![\"2025-26](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Players_Coaches.jpg\")
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\n\tMaryland owns the series over Illinois, 17-1.
\n\t\u00a0The Illini took their only meeting last year, 66-65, in College Park on Feb. 2, 2025.
<\/p>\n![\"#7](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20251229_am_WBB_vs_Wisconsin_0105.JPG\")
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\n\tMaryland has won the rebounding battle in 12\u00a0of 14\u00a0games this season. The Terps are 12-0 this year and 35-2 over the last two years when winning the rebounding battle.
\n\tOver the last seven seasons, the Terps are 122-7 (94.6%) when they score 80 points or more. \u00a0
\n\tOver the last five seasons, the Terrapins are 89-8 when leading at the half. They are 31-3 over the last two years when leading at halftime.
\n\tThe Terrapins have won 42\u00a0straight games when leading at the start of the fourth quarter. They are 78-1 over the last four seasons and 264-3 since they moved to quarters in 2015-16.\u00a0
\n\tThe Terps are 107-4 over the last five seasons when leading with 5:00 to play.\u00a0
\n\tMaryland has won 27\u00a0straight non-conference games at home, dating back to Nov. 11, 2022.\u00a0\u00a0
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<\/p>\n![\"Maryland](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20251109_GB_WBB_vs_Georgetown_1697.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n\tThe Terps are 225-70 (.763) all-time against their Big Ten opponents.
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\n\tIn the 24 years under Frese, the Terps are 194-44 (.815) against their Big Ten opponents.
\n\tFrese is 208-49 (.809) all-time vs. Big Ten opponents, which includes her time at Minnesota and at Ball State.\u00a0
\n\tSince joining the league in 2014, Maryland is 84-13 (.866) against Big Ten teams at home.
\n\tSince their first year in the Big Ten, the Terps are 138-6 (.958) when holding their league opponents to 70 points or less. The Terrapins are also 163-18 (.901) when they score 70 points or more.
\n\tIn her one season at Minnesota, Frese led the Gophers to a record of 22-8 overall, 11-5 in Big Ten play and an NCAA Tournament berth. She was named AP National Coach of the Year in April 2002.\u00a0
<\/p>\n![\"Head](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20251203_GB_WBB_vs_MountStMarys_0256.jpg\")
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\n\tHead coach Brenda Frese<\/a> is in her 24th season in College Park. She’s led the Terrapins to a record of 621-169\u00a0(.786), 14\u00a0conference titles, 21\u00a0NCAA Tournament bids\u00a0in\u00a023\u00a0postseasons, three Final Fours, seven Elite Eights, 12\u00a0Sweet Sixteens and the 2006 NCAA Championship.\u00a0
\n\tFrese owns a career record of\u00a0678-199\u00a0(.773) over her 27\u00a0years as a head coach.
\n\tFrese was named National Coach of the Year by the AP, The Athletic and ESPN at the end of the 2020-21 season. In\u00a0October 2021, Frese was the first woman inducted into the Washington DC Metro Basketball Hall of Fame.
\n\tWith the Terrapins’ win at Nebraska on Feb. 14, 2021, Frese picked up win No. 500 at Maryland, which makes her the winningest coach in Maryland basketball history. Hall of Fame women’s basketball head coach Chris Weller<\/a> won 499 games in her 27 seasons (1975-02).
<\/p>\n![\"Brenda](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/_47A5665.jpg\")
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\n\tMaryland is one of the most consistent winning programs in the country.\u00a0
\n\tMaryland has been ranked for 330\u00a0weeks in the last 22\u00a0seasons, with 240\u00a0of those weeks in the AP top 10 and 94\u00a0in the AP top 5.
\n\tOverall, the Terps have been ranked in 601\u00a0AP polls, which puts them at fifth-most poll appearances all-time.
\n\tBrenda Frese<\/a> has had a team ranked in 382\u00a0weeks in her career (374\u00a0at Maryland), which is 10th among coaches all-time.
\n\tMaryland has started the season ranked in the last 16\u00a0seasons straight and 21\u00a0of head coach Brenda Frese<\/a>‘s 24\u00a0seasons in College Park. The Terps have been in the AP Preseason Top 10 12 times under Frese and in the top five six times.
<\/p>\n![\"Fans](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/240203_rmf_wbb_iowa-47.jpg\")
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Story Links
#7\/6\u00a0Maryland (14-0, 2-0)\u00a0at\u00a0Illinois (12-1, 2-0) January 1, 2026 4 PM ET State…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":213129,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-213128","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-il","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=213128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213128\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/213129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}