Maryland women’s basketball remained perfect on the season after defeating Duke, 85-80, inside Xfinity Center on Sunday afternoon.
Maryland jumped out to an early 9-0 lead and never looked back after leading the entire game and by as many as 15 points. Kaylene Smikle led the way with a game-high 23 points, one of four Terps to finish in double figures as Maryland shot nearly 50% from the field and 6-of-9 from three. Sun
“We really felt like rebounding and turnovers were going to be big keys for this game and knowing that they're a really strong defensive team as well,” head coach Brenda Frese said after the win. “These games early, you're really trying to learn about your team. And I know for us going in, there were a lot of questions with a lot of new players, and they just continue to show us what they've shown in practice that they're really, really competitive, very confident and very consistent in their work.”
While Sunday marked the second consecutive 20-plus point outing for Smikle, she was far from alone after Christina Dalce poured in her second double-double of the season after posting 12 points and 14 rebounds, including seven on the offensive glass.
“She was huge, and she's a monster on the glass,” Frese added. “That is why we knew recruiting her, that she was going to be an elite rebounder, shot blocker, high motor, and you just saw – what I loved about Chris was she was just so confident. She didn't fear the moment. She was really aggressive and confident. And we needed to have every one of those rebounds.”
Shyanne Sellers stepped up with seven assists alongside her 17 points, while Bri McDaniel adding 15 points while shooting 50% from the field.
Maryland also turned to their defense as their full-court press stifled the Blue Devils, turning 16 turnovers into 19 points while holding Duke to under 41% shooting from the field and 35% from three.
“We always want to be a pressing team and be able to give different looks. I just saw that it was speeding them up from our defense, even though, at times they were breaking the press, but it was speeding them up so it allowed us to get those rebounds and go,” Frese added.
Sunday marked the first meeting between the two teams since the Sweet 16 matchup on March 28, 2015.
“I had to explain the history to a few of our girls leading up to this game which dates me, I'm afraid to say, but I just loved how they responded. They understood the legacy, the history piece, and you could see it was a really proud moment for them,” Frese said.
Maryland women’s basketball returns to action on Wednesday, Nov. 13 to take on Syracuse for their first road game of the season. Tipoff is set for 7 PM on the ACC Network.
Full postgame transcript:
On renewing an old ACC rivalry in College Park
“That was a lot of fun. What a great battle of two really talented teams, special to be able to bring this rivalry back for our fans and women's basketball fans in general. I thought we came out with a really strong start with that 9-0 run. I thought you saw the confidence and just fearless. We really felt like rebounding and turnovers were going to be big keys for this game and knowing that they're a really strong defensive team as well. These games early, you're really trying to learn about your team. And I know for us going in, there were a lot of questions with a lot of new players, and they just continue to show us what they've shown in practice that they're really, really competitive, very confident and very consistent in their work. So I thought [Christina] was huge. She gave us a great presence on the glass. Shy [Sellers] brought senior big game leadership on both ends of the floor, setting the tone for us early. [Kaylene Smikle], as you can see, just elite scorer and competitor. Bri [McDaniel] was just a huge spark for us, especially in the second half continuing to battle, and it could go on and on. Sarah [Te-Biasu], Saylor [Poffenbarger], Alli [Kubek], everyone had really big plays that you have to be able to have within your team.”
Shyanne Sellers on what impressed her most about the win
“I wish I could say I’m surprised, but I'm not. One of the most fearless groups I've ever been a part of in my four years here. It's just amazing. We've bought into the process. We've bought into each other. I don't think many people would be able to pull this off [with] ten new people on their team and their team. We just did a hell of a job in this offseason of getting the right people.”
Bri McDaniel on her scoring stretch before halftime
“Staying the course. Shot wasn't falling in the beginning. Still had to come ready to play, be ready when my numbers was called, still bringing that defensive intensity. That's one thing I know I can bring to the team and just staying the course.”
McDaniel on the third quarter
“If they off me, then just take it. That's really what it was. Just being aggressive and I know my team needed me to be aggressive, so I had to keep attacking and getting open looks for everybody else. But if I had it, I would take it.”
Kaylene Smikle on the competitive edge vs. Duke
“I think we know coming into this game where we had to bring the intensity. I mean, there's so much history in this game so I just like we were all on the same page coming out, playing hard. We wanted to give them the first punch and I feel like we did that.”
Sellers on 12 turnovers in the first half and whether it was because of Duke’s defense
“I think we are being aggressive. They're obviously a great defensive team. They want to speed you up. We made some silly turnovers, but I don't feel like it was because of them. I feel like it was mainly because of us. I don't think, yeah, in my opinion.”
Sellers on Sarah’s passing and how it opens up the offense
“I think Sarah does a great job of just being a great point guard. She's really poised, easy to talk to. I think she does a great job of commanding the offense. And then obviously she didn't score that much tonight, but like, because she is a threat, and especially in the past few games, she's shown that she's a threat from anywhere on the floor, people have played her on us, and that's something that we can really, like, use to our advantage of a point guard that can score and facilitate. And I think Sarah has a lot on her shoulders right now but she does a phenomenal job of handling it all.”
McDaniel on shot selection vs. Duke
“I say we mostly like, found our shots in the flow of the offense, seeing what the defense gave us. Just playing Maryland basketball now, playing defense, letting our defense start everything up because need that defense going to start everything.”
McDaniel on staying aggressive through the game
“I feel like before I was really like pressing everything. I just felt like I was pressing everything. And I think to me, I just learned like you got to be aggressive. Just got to play like how I usually play. So coming in, being ready to take the ball to the hoop, I guess.”
Frese on the rebounding advantage vs. Duke
“I think were able to address it with size, but it's also heart. I mean, there was some late games there by Saylor and the rest of them, kind of tipping them. Tipping them to really get on the floor and be able to secure those and it is encouraging. They're an elite level rebounding team, and as we're continuing to find our identity going into this game, we were plus-20 on the glass, and then to beat them on the glass tonight is big. It's got to be someone when you're missing shots, that you're able to be able to clean those up with extra opportunities.”
Frese on the defensive focus, gameplan vs. Duke
“That's something I really learned about us. I wasn't expecting to play 40 minutes of the press. I wasn't sure what kind of shape we were in. Especially with players right now coming off of injuries, getting back into the fold of things, but credit just the determination and the will. And then our bench depth, we were able to kind of really spot people around media timeouts. But I thought it was a big X factor that we really made them have to work. They weren't getting a lot of their offense until 15, 20 seconds on the shot clock. I mean, some of those dump downs to layups were painful, so I would have wanted to guard their half court the entire game.”
Frese on the offensive efficiency from three, free-throw line
“That's big. Our three point shooting, when you look at that efficiency, 67% giving us an inside-outside game. And then I thought we did a tremendous job stepping up and knocking down free throws. Those are big plays. We clearly had to have that with the amount of turnovers we had. I mean, they had 17 steals so the aggressiveness that they played with, you have to be able to counter that in some sort of way.”
Frese on the depth after Christina Dalce entered foul trouble
“It’s really encouraging, and that's what we've been able to build. I think we can even go further into our bench as time goes on and that's what you need to be able to have. I thought we were able to kind of manipulate some things in the first half when we wanted to see how the game was going to be called. And I thought really, when we went to our bench, I thought we actually got even more elevated. I thought the energy and when you can send waves like that, this is going to help us as a team to be able to separate from other teams with our depth.”
Frese on Kaylene scoring 20+ points in consecutive games
“She's just a competitor and a winner and clearly just an elite level three-level scorer. I love that she doesn't fear the moment, really, really an aggressive attack mentality. Now I got to get her to take some of that to the defensive end, but right now, we'll take the offense and we'll build on the defense.”
Frese on the environment inside Xfinity, impact of playing Duke
“It meant a lot to be able to have our Final Four team here, to our alums. We had them in the locker room to give our athletic director, Damon Evans a nice birthday present. But going back to these ACC days and just the legacy piece of what's been done before us. Prideful moment that I've been a part of that. And just to – I had to explain the history to a few of our girls leading up to this game which dates me, I'm afraid to say, but I just loved how they responded. They understood the legacy, the history piece, and you could see it was a really proud moment for them.”
Frese on the decision to go full-court press
“We always want to be a pressing team and be able to give different looks. I just saw that it was speeding them up from our defense, even though, at times they were breaking the press, but it was speeding them up so it allowed us to get those rebounds and go. I thought, and again, there's a lot of new players. I thought in spurts, we handled it really well. And then, I don't know if it was fatigue based, still learning each other. I thought their defense impacted us and turned us over. But all areas that we can continue to keep improving on, we're still learning that chemistry. Heck, I'm still learning who our best inbounders are against the press break. I haven't figured that out yet. Those things are going to take time as we watch film and have more games like this under our belt with different styles of play.”
Frese on what she learned about her team in the win
“I just love how hard this this team competes and they're going to compete regardless of the score, as well as for an entire 40 minutes. So I was really encouraged because even when a few players had some nerves within the game that I could see and understand, they were able to work themselves out of it. There was a game of a lot of adversity and that response is going to bode really well for us.”
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