IOWA CITY, IA – No. 8 Maryland women's basketball continued its undefeated start to the season while earning its third-ranked win of the season with its 74-66 win over No. 23 Iowa on Sunday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
The win advanced Maryland to 14-0 overall and 4-0 in conference action, their best unbeaten streak to begin a season since starting 16-0 during the 2011-12 season. At 14-0, it's the fourth-best start in program history. The win also snapped the Hawkeyes' 20-game win streak at home, dating back to last season.
Iowa scored the game's first bucket, but Maryland responded with a 13-0 run. The Terps used red-hot 3-point shooting to start the game and led by as many as 25 less than a minute before heading into the locker room. In the second frame, they held the Hawkeyes without a field goal for 8:20. Maryland held the lead for the remainder of the game, going a season-high 12-25 (48%) on triples for the game. Brenda Frese, an Iowa native, now has 98 victories over ranked teams as Maryland's head coach.
Kaylene Smikle led Maryland with a season-high 26 points. Shyanne Sellers scored 17 points, bringing the duo's combined total to 43 points. Sellers added six rebounds and four assists. Smikle scored 20 or more points for the seventh time this season. She also set a new career high with six steals.
Smikle went 8-of-17 from the floor, including 4-of-5 from three. Overall, six different Terps made a 3-pointer. Saylor Poffenbarger impacted both ends of the court, collecting eight points, six rebounds, two assists, two blocks and three steals.
Bri McDaniel added 13 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals off the bench.
Iowa (12-3, 2-2) was led by Lucy Olsen's 19 points.
Frese's Take
"What a fun game," head coach Brenda Frese said. "Just really impressed with this group's poise and composure withstanding Iowa's run to get a really great road win in a really tough environment. It was a tough stretch for us, and we're just trying to stack days with all these conference games that we have in a row. But I thought this group just found different ways to win."
From The Girls
"We built ourselves a great lead in the first half," Sellers said. "[We] got to come out a little bit stronger in the third, but I think overall, even when we started losing the momentum, we kind of got it back in our favor. This is a tough place to play, and I think we played really hard, and we pulled it out."
Breaking Down The Action
The win advanced Maryland to 14-0 overall and 4-0 in conference action, their best unbeaten streak to begin a season since starting 16-0 during the 2011-12 season. At 14-0, it's the fourth-best start in program history. The win also snapped the Hawkeyes' 20-game win streak at home, dating back to last season.
Iowa scored the game's first bucket, but Maryland responded with a 13-0 run. The Terps used red-hot 3-point shooting to start the game and led by as many as 25 less than a minute before heading into the locker room. In the second frame, they held the Hawkeyes without a field goal for 8:20. Maryland held the lead for the remainder of the game, going a season-high 12-25 (48%) on triples for the game. Brenda Frese, an Iowa native, now has 98 victories over ranked teams as Maryland's head coach.
Kaylene Smikle led Maryland with a season-high 26 points. Shyanne Sellers scored 17 points, bringing the duo's combined total to 43 points. Sellers added six rebounds and four assists. Smikle scored 20 or more points for the seventh time this season. She also set a new career high with six steals.
Smikle went 8-of-17 from the floor, including 4-of-5 from three. Overall, six different Terps made a 3-pointer. Saylor Poffenbarger impacted both ends of the court, collecting eight points, six rebounds, two assists, two blocks and three steals.
Bri McDaniel added 13 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals off the bench.
Iowa (12-3, 2-2) was led by Lucy Olsen's 19 points.
Frese's Take
"What a fun game," head coach Brenda Frese said. "Just really impressed with this group's poise and composure withstanding Iowa's run to get a really great road win in a really tough environment. It was a tough stretch for us, and we're just trying to stack days with all these conference games that we have in a row. But I thought this group just found different ways to win."
From The Girls
"We built ourselves a great lead in the first half," Sellers said. "[We] got to come out a little bit stronger in the third, but I think overall, even when we started losing the momentum, we kind of got it back in our favor. This is a tough place to play, and I think we played really hard, and we pulled it out."
Breaking Down The Action
- Iowa scored the first bucket of the game, but Maryland responded with an 8-0 run to lead 8-2 at the first media timeout. Saylor Poffenbarger and Shyanne Sellers each drilled 3-pointers. Six of Maryland's points were off of four Iowa turnovers.
- The Hawkeyes sparked a 7-0 run, but Maryland still led 22-15 entering the second frame.
- Back-to-back 3-pointers by Sellers and Bri McDaniel gave the Terps a 30-17 lead, forcing the Hawkeyes to take a timeout at 6:40.
- Maryland ended the first half with a 48-27 lead. Kaylene Smikle and Sellers led the Terps with 14 points apiece. Their defense also forced 13 turnovers.
- Iowa went on a 12-0 run after Poffenbarger drilled a 3-pointer to begin the second half. Maryland led 51-39.
- Maryland entered the final frame with a 59-43 lead.
- The Hawkeyes cut the lead down to single digits with a pair of free throws by Sydney Affolter at 6:30 in the fourth at 63-55.
- A 3-pointer by Smikle at 3:29 put the Terps up by eight. Iowa knocked down two free throws, and Poffenbarger connected on a jumper to once again put the Terps up by eight. Both were clutch shots down the stretch.
- Maryland closed out the game from the free-throw line and remained undefeated.
- Kaylene Smikle scored 26 points, her 51st career double-figure game. This was her 13th consecutive game netting double-digit points as a Terp. It was also her 28th game scoring 20 or more and her seventh as a Terp.
- Shyanne Sellers scored 17 points, recording her 79th career game in double figures. She has scored double-figures in 12 games this season and 10 games in a row.
- Bri McDaniel scored 13 points for her 30th game scoring in double figures. She has scored double figures in eight games this season.
- Maryland advanced to 14-0 this season. This is Maryland's best unbeaten streak to begin a season since starting 16-0 during the 2011-12 season. That season, the Terps went 31-5, won the ACC Tournament and appeared in the NCAA Elite Eight.
- The Terps have started 16-0 twice in program history, doing so in 2011-12 and 1982-83. The 14-0 start is the fourth-best in 54 years of Maryland women's basketball.
- The Terrapins' best unbeaten streak to begin a season was 18-0 in 2006-07.
- Since Brenda Frese took over in 2002-03, Maryland has 98 wins over Associated Press top 25 teams, including 11 in the 2014-15 season, which set a new school record.
- This season, Maryland beat No. 11 Duke, 85-80, on Nov. 10 and No. 19 Michigan State, 72-66, on Dec. 29 in College Park.
- The Terrapins have a record of 98-83 against ranked teams over the last 23 years, all under Frese. Twenty-seven of those wins were on the road, and 23 were at neutral sites.
- Shyanne Sellers moved to 21st on the program's all-time scoring list with 1409. She passed Laura Harper (1,407 from 2005-08) and Jasmina Perazic (1,396 from 1980-83). Myra Waters is 20th with 1,423 points from 1979-82.
- The point guard is seventh on the all-time assists list, having 470 in her career. Next on the list is Anjalé Barrett (486 from 2008-12).
- 3: This was Maryland's third ranked win of the season.
- 4: Four different players recorded two or more steals.
- 5: This was the fifth time this season that Maryland forced 20 or more turnovers in a game.
- 6: Kaylene Smikle recorded a career-high six steals.
- 7: Smikle has seven 20-point games this season.
- 8: Maryland is ranked No. 8 in the Associated Press poll.
- 10: Shyanne Sellers has scored in double figures in 10 straight games.
- 13: Smikle has scored in double figures in 13 straight games.
- 14: Maryland is 14-0 on the season for the first time since 2011-12.
- 14: The Terps have forced their opponent to commit double-digit turnovers in all 14 games this season.
- 56: Over the last three seasons, the Terps are 56-1 and have won 19 straight when leading at the start of the fourth quarter.
- 71: The Terrapins are 71-5 over the last four seasons when leading at the half.
- 98: The Terps have 98 victories over ranked teams under head coach Brenda Frese.
- 242: Since quarters started in women's basketball in 2015-16, Maryland is now 242-3 when leading after three quarters.
- Maryland returns to XFINITY Center on Jan. 9 to host No. 4 USC. The game will tip off at 8:30 p.m. and air on FS1.
