By: Brinkley Smith
In her 23rd season at Maryland, coach Frese secured her 600th career win tonight in Matthew Knight Arena with a 79-61 victory over Oregon. Coach Frese is the winningest coach in Maryland basketball history. Currently, she has a winning percentage of 77%, which is the highest in all of the Big Ten among men’s and women’s head coaches in their Division 1 careers. She also ranks 10th in Division 1 coaches all-time.
Out of the 22 postseasons she’s had with the Terps, she led the team to 20 NCAA tournament appearances. She also has secured 14 conference win titles.
Coach Frese reflected on her 23 seasons with Maryland and all the incredible wins. “Those don’t happen without great players, great staff, great support staff, being able to put that together, and great families,” Frese said. She recalled when she first got to Maryland, questioning whether she would be good enough. Now, she has an impressive 600-166 record at Maryland.
Coach Frese’s mother and brother made the trip to Oregon, witnessing this accomplishment.
“Everyone knows how important family is to me, and so many different times and wins that they’ve been a part of it and that kind of support. So definitely, to be across the country and to have your mom here and take that flight and my brother is, you know, makes it even more of a special time,” Frese said.
After a disappointing 1-point loss at home against Illinois, Maryland got a fresh start on the West Coast.
It was all Maryland from start to finish. The Terps pushed the pace throughout the game. On both sides of the ball, the Terps were explosive. Maryland guard Sarah Te-Biasu got things started with 2-points off a jumper.
Entering the half, Maryland sat comfortably with a 17-point advantage, 39-22, over Oregon. Out of those 39 points, though, 17 came from Te-Biasu. The Terps were shooting 57% from the field, while the Ducks saw signs of struggling with just 26%.
Throughout the game, Maryland became more effective in executing corner pocket three shots, an area that Oregon had a hard time defending.
Despite being 5-foot-5, Te-Biasu’s impact on the game was anything but small. She capped off her night with an impressive season-high 26 points and four assists. This is now her fifth consecutive game scoring double-digits.
Te-Biasu said her biggest adjustments from these last stretch of games come from believing and confidence.
“I think it’s just believe in yourself. You know the coaching staff, my teammates, they say we need you to be aggressive. We need you to be confident. And that’s what I’m doing right now, and them pushing me to be better every day and then staying confident, ” Te-Biasu said.
However, Te-Biasu wasn’t the only Terp who played an impressive game. Guard Kaylene Smikle also continued her streak of putting up double-digits. She contributed 21 points in tonight’s game and got nine rebounds. This also marked Smikle’s eighth 20-point game.
Guard Saylor Poffenbarger got herself into the double-digits for the 10th time this season, scoring 13 points and 11 rebounds.
As March steadily approaches, coach Frese is still testing variations of the starting lineup, especially as guard Shyanne Sellers attempts to recover from an injury.
“At this point, we’re in February. We have an experienced group. So, you know, these games are really valuable to be locked in. So it really is a day-to-day right now of consistent practices, consistent games as we go through the stretch,” Frese said.
Going into the series, the Terps were 2-0 against the Ducks. The last time these two teams met was in 2017 in Bridgeport, Conn., when the Ducks defeated the fourth-ranked Terps 77-63, sending the Ducks to the Elite Eight.
Maryland wraps up on the West Coast Sunday when they take on Washington. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. and can be streamed on Big Ten Plus.
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