No. 7 Maryland women’s basketball’s dominant first half leads to 74-66 win over No. 16 Kentucky

After a relatively easy seven-game home slate, No. 7 Maryland women’s basketball needed to be tested in its first Top-25 matchup of the season.

The Terps weren’t phased.

Maryland hit the ground running and got out to a lead that it never gave up, defeating No. 16 Kentucky, 74-66, in Puerto Rico.

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The Terps relied on playing small ball prior to Wednesday. Head coach Brenda Frese opted to continue a relatively small lineup, despite Kentucky having a massive size advantage. The Wildcats capitalized on their rim protection, with six blocks on the evening.

Despite being outmatched inside, the Terps’ defense kept them in the driver’s seat, only losing the rebound battle by two, 38-36.

Kentucky had the second-best scoring defense in the nation entering Wednesday, but the Terps’ offense had the better outing in Puerto Rico. They scored 39 points in the first half alone against a unit allowing just 46.1 per game on the season.

Maryland forced 14 turnovers in the first half and only gave the ball up seven times. The Terps knew that they would need to capitalize on Kentucky’s mistakes — in the end, they posted 20 points off turnovers.

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Saylor Poffenbarger was once again Maryland’s strongest defender. Her intangibles have shone all season, and she compensated with strong defense against Kentucky’s size. Poffenbarger banked in a step-back 3-pointer with the shot clock expiring to put the dagger in Kentucky’s chances in the closing minutes.

Kaylene Smikle and Yarden Garzon controlled most of Maryland’s offensive production. Entering the season, they were expected to be Maryland’s biggest offensive contributors. But before this game, they had been far from it.

Against a better opponent on Wednesday, Smikle finished with 22 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Meanwhile, Garzon was a sharpshooter from deep, making five of her 10 attempts from beyond the arc en route to 17 points.

Garzon finally put together her breakout performance after struggling through…

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Publish date : 2025-11-27 00:39:00

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