For the first time in four years, Maryland women’s basketball is ranked as a top-10 team in the Associated Press Top 25 preseason poll. The Terps will start the season as the No. 10 team in the nation.
Coach Brenda Frese’s team lost its top player, Shyanne Sellers, in the offseason to graduation, but reloaded in the transfer portal. Maryland added forward Yarden Garzon from Indiana and guard Oluchi Okananwa from Duke, and both are expected to factor heavily into the rotation. The Terps also return leading scorer Kaylene Smikle, forward Saylor Poffenbarger, guard Bri McDaniel (who missed most of last season because of injury) and guard Mir McLean.
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Garzon and Smikle were named to the 10-player All-Big Ten Preseason Team, according to the media and coaches polls. The conference featured six teams in the preseason poll: No. 3 UCLA, No. 13 Michigan, No. 18 Southern California, No. 21 Iowa and No. 23 Michigan State. Maryland will play all six of those teams, as well as No. 24 Kentucky and six teams that received votes in Washington, Ohio State, Princeton, Minnesota, Illinois and Nebraska.
No. 1 UConn headlined the poll. The reigning national champions return guard Azzi Fudd and forward Sarah Strong, who both scored more than 20 points in the Huskies’ 82-59 national championship win over South Carolina last season. The Gamecocks return as the No. 2 team, while the No. 3 Bruins, No. 4 Texas and No. 5 LSU round out the top five.
The Terps are expected to compete for the Big Ten championship. While they have opened the season ranked in the AP poll the past 16 years, they have not won the conference since 2021. With as deep and talented a roster as they’ve had in years, this could be Frese’s best opportunity in some time.
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