Despite Loss To Michigan, Terps Are Must-watch This March

Super-sophomore Olivia Olson started 8-for-8 from the field en route to 28 points that led her No. 8 Michigan Wolverines to an 87-69 statement win over the streaking No. 14 Maryland Terrapins Saturday afternoon in Ann Arbor. 

The Terps had won six in a row, including road wins over No. 13 Ohio State and No. 15 Michigan State. Their sights were set on a regular-season finale victory over a team that is just a notch better than those teams, a win that could have pushed them up to the No. 2 line in ESPN’s Bracketology.

But the Wolverines shut down any ideas Maryland had.

Seemingly all game long, Maryland had opportunities to keep it closer than it was, but poor play at key moments prevented them from doing so. Still, Michigan helped their own cause as well. Syla Swords hit a difficult 3 to close the third quarter and make it a 15-point lead. Maryland had been on a 6-0 run before Swords made two free throws throws and then that 3 to ensure that the Terps gained absolutely nothing in frame—the Wolverines had been up 15 at the break.

Maryland was unable to pull off another one of their miraculous comebacks. Looking at the box score and realizing you only lost the second half by three points isn’t much of a consolation prize.

Super shooting from sophomore stars spurred Michigan

Michigan was 2-for-2 from 3 in the first 7:33 of the game and 3-for-3 over the final 5:08, while going 5-for-11 in between. Treys from Te’Yala Delfosse at 5:08 and 3:38 remaining gave them leads of 15 and 18, respectively. A Mila Holloway 3 with 2:14 to go pushed the advantage to 19. The Wolverines made sure to deliver three daggers to ensure the miraculous Terps had no chance of coming back.

Michigan won field goal percentage 56.7 to 44.1. They shot 10-for-13 (76.9 percent) in the opening frame.

Olson was phenomenal, finishing 11-for-18 from the field and 3-for-4 from 3, with eight rebounds, four assists and three steals. Swords added 17 points (2-for-4 from 3), five boards and four helpers. Holloway was out for part of the game due to an apparent injury, but returned and gave the Wolverines 12 points (2-for-3 from 3) and six dimes. Delfosse managed to be a fourth Michigan player in double figures (10 points on 2-for-3 from 3) despite playing just 14 minutes.

All four of those players are sophomores. Even if Michigan doesn’t win the national championship this year, they should have two more pretty good shots at it with that core group. Of course that’s only if no one transfers, which we know is never a given these days.

Familiar issues—too many turnovers, too few 3s—emerged for Maryland

Isi Ozzy-Momodu returned from a lower leg injury that had kept her out for nearly three full games. She had 12 points on 5-for-9 shooting, five rebounds and two steals, but also five of Maryland’s 21 turnovers. Saylor Poffenbarger, the Terps’ fourth-leading scorer at 9.9 points per game, was held scoreless with just one shot attempt in 23 minutes.

Maryland only attempted 13 3s, making six. More 3s might have been nice, though I’ve gotten comfortable watching the Oluchi Okananwa show, where Maryland uses stellar 2-point efficiency to pile on points. As comforting as 2-point shots feel, today’s game usually requires a decent volume of 3-point attempts to win. Maryland has only attempted less 3s once in 2025-26, when they went 1-for-12 vs. Illinois in what was their first loss of the season.

Yarden Garzon, as usual, fulfilled her duty of firing away if she sees even a little daylight, going for 4-for-10.

That means the Terps only tried three other treys. Okananwa was 0-for-1. Poffenbarger, who attempts 4.8 per contest, didn’t try her hand at any. Addi Mack showed no hesitation on her two attempts, which both went in, as her season percentage continues to creep closer to the 30 percent line.

It is important that Mack become a bigger threat from distance both this year and next. Capable 3-point shooting recruits in Jordyn Jackson and Mimi Thiero will join the team, and Kaylene Smikle will return, but Garzon and Poffenbarger will be gone. It will be particularly difficult to replace Garzon’s volume and efficiency, and must be done by committee unless the Terps get another elite sniper out of the transfer portal.

One big positive for Maryland jumps off Saturday’s box score: They were 11-for-11 from the free throw line, including Okananwa going 7-for-7. Across her otherwise spectacular performances in the Terps’ two previous games, she was actually 5-for-11 from the stripe. She’s at 76.6 percent on the season with 3.7 makes per game. Because she gets to the line so frequently, her free throw shooting is an X factor for the Terps. If she’s knocking down her freebies, she’s that much more dangerous.

The Terps’ Big Ten Tournament will begin in the 2nd round

Even if the Terps had defeated Michigan, a double bye would not have been guaranteed, but now they know they will have to play in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament and will not automatically advance to the quarterfinals. 

A loss in the second round would be a big hit to their resume. Though they are almost guaranteed to host the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament regardless, Maryland wants to stay above the No. 4 seed line for the Big Dance so that they can avoid playing one of the top-tier No. 1 seeds (right now it’s projected to be UConn, UCLA, South Carolina and Texas) in the Sweet 16. That could be the difference between a Sweet 16 exit and an Elite Eight exit, and Maryland wants to advance as far as possible to increase the level of pride and honor they achieve for the program.

With that being said, the ultimate goal is still a national championship.

If the Terps can take care of business in the second round of the Big Ten tourney, they will likely enter the quarterfinals fighting to move from the No. 3 line to the No. 2 line in the NCAA Tournament bracket. As a No. 2 or No. 3 seed in the Big Dance, they can use the first three games to prepare, and then put it all on the line against one of those feared No. 1s.

Not much changes about the team’s outlook with Saturday’s loss. The final margin of 18 was a bit more than expected, but it wasn’t as bad as the 27 points that last year’s Big Ten Tournament loss to Michigan came by—and that was when the Terps were favored. That just proves that anything can happen.

Head coach Brenda Frese was even-keeled as usual in her reaction to the defeat:

I think we always understand the perspective. Hopefully it’s kind of a wake-up call for us. There are a lot of great teams. Michigan’s a top 10 opponent, and this is what it’s gonna look like when we go to the Big Ten Tournament, as well as the NCAAs. So if we can learn some valuable lessons out of this game and be able to move on through it, I think great things are in store for this group.