SYRACUSE, NY – Facing a 10-point deficit early in the second quarter, No. 11 Maryland women's basketball sparked a 15-point run to take control of the game and defeat Syracuse, 84-73, on Wednesday at JMA Wireless Done.
The Terps advanced to 4-0, with back-to-back wins against ACC opponents. The last time they started the year with four consecutive wins was during the 2021-22 season when they earned a trip to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.
Kaylene Smikle (22) Allie Kubek (16), Bri McDaniel (13) and Christina Dalce (10) all scored 10 or more points. Smikle led with a game-high in points. It was her third straight 20-point game.
Overall, Maryland outscored Syracuse 28-11 in the second quarter. Its offense was on fire from the floor, shooting 12-of-17 (70.6%), including 4-of-6 (66.7%) from beyond the 3-point line in the frame. The Terps remained in control the rest of the way, never relinquishing their lead.
Saylor Poffenbarger also added a strong performance with nine points, nine rebounds, four assists and a block. Shyanne Sellers provided eight points, six assists and four rebounds. The Terps scored more than 80 points for the second game in a row and improved to 95-7 when scoring that many over the last six seasons.
Syracuse was led by Georgia Woolley's 17 points but faltered to 1-2 on the season. Maryland remained a perfect 7-0 all-time in matchups against Syracuse.
Frese's Take "Road wins are precious, and it's really hard to win on the road, especially against a really good team like Syracuse," head coach Brenda Frese said. "We knew rebounding was going to be a huge piece to this game. I thought Syracuse was really extra motivated from the last game. They came out hot shooting the ball, and made us really have to kind of put us on our heels in that first quarter, but proud of our response."
Smikle On The Team's Chemistry "I think we have great chemistry because we play for 40 minutes hard every time, no matter if we get down by 10, we're still we're all going to come out," Smikle said. "Just having 15 people who have such great energy and such competitiveness that they don't want to give up just makes us come back every time."
Breaking Down The Action
Double-Figure Factors
Sellers On The Charts
Series History
On The Call
Numbers To Know
Up Next
The Terps advanced to 4-0, with back-to-back wins against ACC opponents. The last time they started the year with four consecutive wins was during the 2021-22 season when they earned a trip to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.
Kaylene Smikle (22) Allie Kubek (16), Bri McDaniel (13) and Christina Dalce (10) all scored 10 or more points. Smikle led with a game-high in points. It was her third straight 20-point game.
Overall, Maryland outscored Syracuse 28-11 in the second quarter. Its offense was on fire from the floor, shooting 12-of-17 (70.6%), including 4-of-6 (66.7%) from beyond the 3-point line in the frame. The Terps remained in control the rest of the way, never relinquishing their lead.
Saylor Poffenbarger also added a strong performance with nine points, nine rebounds, four assists and a block. Shyanne Sellers provided eight points, six assists and four rebounds. The Terps scored more than 80 points for the second game in a row and improved to 95-7 when scoring that many over the last six seasons.
Syracuse was led by Georgia Woolley's 17 points but faltered to 1-2 on the season. Maryland remained a perfect 7-0 all-time in matchups against Syracuse.
Frese's Take "Road wins are precious, and it's really hard to win on the road, especially against a really good team like Syracuse," head coach Brenda Frese said. "We knew rebounding was going to be a huge piece to this game. I thought Syracuse was really extra motivated from the last game. They came out hot shooting the ball, and made us really have to kind of put us on our heels in that first quarter, but proud of our response."
Smikle On The Team's Chemistry "I think we have great chemistry because we play for 40 minutes hard every time, no matter if we get down by 10, we're still we're all going to come out," Smikle said. "Just having 15 people who have such great energy and such competitiveness that they don't want to give up just makes us come back every time."
Breaking Down The Action
- At the first quarter media timeout, the Terps trailed 8-7 with a 3-pointer by Sarah Te-Biasu and Kaylene Smikle adding a layup and two shots from the charity stripe.
- The Orange sparked a 7-0 run to lead, but Bri McDaniel ended the run with a 3-pointer. Syracuse closed out the quarter with a 3-pointer of its own and led 20-14.
- After trailing by 10 points to begin the second quarter, the Terps sparked an 11-0 run by making their last five shots from the floor. They took a 25-24 lead at the midpoint of the quarter, led by McDaniel's two points and two assists during the run.
- Maryland outscored Syracuse 28-11 in the second period to take a 42-31 lead into the half. Smikle and McDaniel both led the Terps with nine points.
- The Terps controlled the third quarter, maintaining their double-digit lead, with Syracuse only cutting the lead to as close as six points.
- Maryland led 70-62 at the fourth quarter media break. Despite many efforts, the Terps wouldn't let the Orange trail by less than two possessions. They were just over four minutes away from the victory.
Double-Figure Factors
- Kaylene Smikle netted 22 points for her 41st career game in double figures. After transferring from Rutgers, it was her third game netting double-digit points as a Terp.
- Allie Kubek scored 16 points and earned her 50th career game in double figures. She has scored in double-figures twice this season.
- Bri McDaniel scored 13 points for her 24th game scoring in double figures. She has scored double figures in two games this season.
- Christina Dalce provided 10 points for her 27th career game in double figures. She has scored in double-figures in three games this season.
Sellers On The Charts
- Shyanne Sellers is 31st on the program's all-time scoring list, with 1274. She's nearing Belinda Pearman (1981-84), who scored 1,284.
- The point guard also moved up to 12th on the all-time assists list with 414. She passed Shay Doron (411 from 2004-07) and is nearing Anesia Smith (416 from 2002-05).
Series History
- Wednesday's matchup was the seventh all-time between Maryland and Syracuse. Maryland is 7-0 in the series.
- Most recently, Maryland won 83-81 in College Park on Nov. 19, 2023.
- Head coach Brenda Frese is 4-0 vs. Syracuse.
On The Call
- Former Terp Aja Ellison was on the call as a color analyst for ESPN.
- Ellison played for the Terps as a forward from 2014-18. She was part of Maryland's 2014 Big Ten title and Final Four squad. She was also part of Maryland's 2016 and 2017 Big Ten championship teams.
Numbers To Know
- 2: The Terps are 2-0 this season against ACC teams with wins over Duke and Syracuse.
- 3: Maryland is 4-0 on the season.
- 3: Kaylene Smikle scored 20 or more points for the third game this season.
- 4: Head coach Brenda Frese is 4-0 vs. Syracuse in her career.
- 7: The Terps are 7-0 all-time against the Orange.
- 11: Maryland is ranked No. 11 in the Associated Press poll.
- 28: The Terps outscored the Orange 28-11 in the second quarter to build their lead.
- 50: Allie Kubek scored in double figures for the 50th time in her career.
- 95: The Terps are 95-7 when they score 80 points or more over the last six seasons.
- 574: The Terps have been ranked in 574 AP polls, which puts them at the fifth-most poll appearances of all time.
Up Next
- The Terps return to XFINITY Center to host Towson in an in-state matchup on Sunday, Nov. 17. The game will tip-off at 7 p.m. and air on Big Ten Plus.
