Story By: Erin Zollars
Photos By: Sol Tucker
College Park, MD–
As the Terps work their way into the toughest part of 2024-25 season schedule, today they proved how tough this team can be in a strong gritty 72-66 victory over #19 Michigan State.
The Terps had another impressive game from Saylor Poffenbarger. Her key 3-pointer further halted the Spartans’ scoring run in the final minutes and back-to-back inside the paint scoring both from Allie Kubek and Kaylene Smikle extended a 7-0 run through just 51 seconds of play that put the Terps back up double-digits heading into the final period.
Kubek, who dropped 15 points off the bench in the Terps’ last outing, provided another much-needed spark on Sunday.
“She brought great toughness on both ends of the floor,” Frese said. “I thought she was really, really aggressive, so huge for us.”
The Terps had one last dash by the Spartans where they held the lead by just two in the final minute. That’s when the always sure Shyanne Sellers found Christina Dalce on a pick-and-roll for an easy layup with 36.3 seconds left — her only points of the game. Michigan State didn’t score again, falling short in this matchup between two ranked Big Ten teams.
“I thought it was a phenomenal game from two really competitive teams,” said Terps Head Coach Brenda Frese. “Credit Michigan State. We knew they were going to play hard for 40 minutes.”
Maryland (12-0, 2-0) has equaled the second-best start in team history.
