Maryland women’s basketball needed another one of its late game heroic moments against Illinois down by one with under 30 seconds to go. Yarden Garzon thought she’d be the one to provide it.
She caught the ball in the paint and tried to dish out a behind-the-back bounce pass to Kyndal Walker, who she expected to cut to the rim. But Walker stayed stationary and the pass went straight into Illinois’ hands.
Advertisement
That play was one of a series of late blunders for the Terps, who scored just two points in the games last two minutes and lost a nailbiter to the Fighting Illini, 73-70. Berry Wallace led Illinois with 22 points to help hand Maryland its first loss of the season.
Maryland hasn’t had to go into many hostile environments this season. That’s where it found itself early against the Fighting Illini. A rowdy Champaign crowd and high-energy press disrupted Maryland’s rhythm out of the gate as they racked up six quick turnovers. Fortunately for the Terps, the Illini’s offense didn’t immediately click either.
Head coach Brenda Frese was quickly forced to pivot to some unexpected lineups, as Walker and Addi Mack both got hit with two quick foul calls.
Maryland went a lot bigger, and found some success. 6-foot-4 Marya Boiko came in and put together her best stretch of the season, drawing fouls, cutting to the rim and grabbing rebounds. Playing through her and Oluchi Okananwa, Maryland overcame its first-quarter sloppiness to grab a slight lead, one it held for the rest of the half.
Advertisement
Foul trouble continued to pester the Terps early on, with four players accumulating two fouls before halftime. Frese rolled out some seldom-used double-big lineups, playing with only one real guard — Okananwa — for most of the time.
Luckily for her, Okananwa is not just any guard. She continued her fine form, pressing Illinois’ guards in the back court grabbing steals, and getting to the rim relentlessly. The Duke transfer led Maryland with 12 first-half points.
On the other end, a familiar foe in Berry Wallace kept Illinois close behind. As a freshman last year, she hit four 3-pointers in a win against Maryland. This year, she was even better — Wallace logged 16 points in the first half, knocking down jumpers and getting to the rim.
Besides Wallace, Maryland did a good job limiting the Fighting Illini’s offensive options, taking a 39-34 lead into halftime.
Advertisement
Illinois threw one of its biggest punches out of the break. It rattled off a 12-4 run to take its first lead of the evening as Maryland’s offense stalled out. A well-timed timeout by Frese helped Maryland regain some momentum, but the offense’s flow became a lot less natural.
This was partly due to the fact that the Terps had no outside shooting threat and repeatedly forced their way inside, where Illinois was walling up to prevent easy looks. Often enough, they were able to finish tough lay ups or get to the line to keep themselves afloat.
The Terps headed to the fourth quarter clinging to a two-point lead. In the fourth, Maryland’s only reliable source of offense was the previously-struggling Poffenbarger attacking the rim to convert layups or draw fouls.
Garzon wasn’t able to get anything going from range, shooting 1-of-6 from beyond the arc. Illinois shut down Okananwa in the second half, too, holding her scoreless entirely.
Advertisement
Maryland made Illinois’ life difficult on the other end as well, but the Illini were just able to generate a few more timely buckets than the Terps late to grab a late advantage.
After Garzon’s turnover, Maryland had another chance down a point, but a Poffenbarger layup got rejected. Then, it had a chance to knot things down three — and the whistle blew for an illegal screen by Garzon.
Still, the Terps fought, forcing an Illinois travel and getting one more look for Poffenbarger to send the game to overtime. Her three was just long, ending Maryland’s 14-game winning streak to open the 2025-26 campaign.
Three things to know
1. New coaching battle. Frese often has the tactical upper hand when she matches up with her coaching adversaries. However, since Illinois head coach Shauna Green joined the Big Ten from Dayton, she has given the tenured Frese fits. Throughout the game, she played her cards right to disrupt Maryland, and her team executed more successfully down the stretch.
Advertisement
2. Free-throw misses. In a game decided by razor-thin margins, Maryland missed six free throws, including some crucial ones late in the game. Illinois missed just three, and Berry hit a clutch pair to extend the lead to three late.
3. Uncharted territory. Maryland hadn’t suffered a single loss through the first three months of the season. This will be the first opportunity to see how the team responds to a taste of adversity in a conference as tough as the Big Ten. Maryland will have to put the loss behind it quickly, as it hosts Indiana on Sunday.
