Takeaways from No. 14 Maryland women’s basketball’s 79-57 win over Northwestern

The Terps handled business at the Xfinity Center on Wednesday night like most would have expected them to, taking down Northwestern, 79-57.

Here are three takeaways from the game.

Maryland’s perfect February rolls on

The Terps entered February with a losing record in conference play, but since then, they have rattled off six straight victories. Maryland has essentially vaulted itself back into the conversation to being among the conference’s elite teams.

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The Terps are one win away from ending the season with a perfect month. However, they do have a tall task in No. 8 Michigan standing in their way on Saturday afternoon.

“Both teams like to push, it’s going to be a battle of wills, a battle of toughness,” head coach Brenda Frese said of the impending matchup. “I’m excited about the opportunity.”

Frese has consistently stated her belief that elite teams separate themselves in the month of February. For all of the strong teams she has put together, she has only finished the month undefeated five times in 23 seasons at the helm.

This team has dubbed the month “February Fresh.”

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“A big emphasis has been our defense and our rebounding,” Saylor Poffenbarger said. “All February, we’ve been emphasizing it.”

The Terps outrebounded Northwestern, 43-35, and held it under 60 points.

While they’ve have benefited from playing a couple of the weakest teams in the conference this month, the Terps also picked up arguably their best two wins of the season.

To start the month and end its losing streak, Maryland took down then-No. 12 Michigan State in East Lansing — a game where its bench stepped up to give it a second-half lift. Shortly after, the Terps pulled out another road thriller over then-No. 9 Ohio State, coming back from down as many as 17 points.

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The Terps’ success in the year’s second month has meant that no matter what happens against Michigan, they are set up for at least one bye in the Big Ten Tournament. They’re…

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Publish date : 2026-02-26 11:50:00

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