Resiliency a highlight of Maryland women’s basketball’s season despite Round of 32 exit
· Yahoo Sports
Head coach Brenda Frese described Maryland women’s basketball’s 2025-26 season in many ways throughout the campaign, but one sentiment stuck out.
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Resiliency.
“When their backs were against the wall, when they’d lost four games in January, a lot of teams wouldn’t have made the tournament,” Frese said. “The beauty of this team is they just continue to fight for one another, fight for this program, and you saw it unfold.”
Maryland fought through one of its worst stretches in Frese’s illustrious tenure. For most teams, that losing streak would have been calamitous, but it gave the Terps fuel. They followed it up with a six-game winning streak, and the season was turned around.
Not only did the Terps make the NCAA Tournament, but they were named a 5-seed, the first team outside of the top 16 hosts.
There was disappointment sprinkled through the season. Prime examples include the season-ending loss to North Carolina and the Big Ten Tournament opening loss to Oregon, in which many players underperformed.
Yet this team had a tough identity, with Frese’s fingerprints all over it.
Those fingerprints were shown especially through Oluchi Okananwa — she was the squad’s motor. Transferring in from Duke, she was expected to be a contributor but not a star.
This season, Okananwa was certainly Maryland’s star. The team went as she did.
Even when she didn’t have her best game, it was clear that something special between her and Frese was brewing.
“There’s really no words to describe how happy I am to be a Terp and how happy I am to be coached by Brenda Frese,” Okananwa said. “This was one of the best decisions I think I ever made.”
In the final game, that relationship was on full display. Okananwa missed seven free throws before Frese pulled her aside for an intense conversation. Frese was heard telling her, “I believe in you, but you have to want this moment.”
Okananwa wanted the moment as she had all season — she led the team in scoring while also being a defensive warrior.
“Coach understands I’m a competitor at heart, and I’ve told her this before, and I’ll keep on telling her this until forever. I love to be coached hard. That’s what she does with me every single day,” Okananwa said.
Okananwa was a main reason the Terps didn’t fully collapse during their tough stretches.
And while she exceeded expectations, the overall team composition featured some unexpected stepbacks.
Coming into the season, Maryland had a very promising roster, with some really talented, experienced players.
Injuries threw a wrench in those plans. Kaylene Smikle opted for season-ending surgery, Bri McDaniel decided to redshirt after extended recovery from an early 2025 ACL tear, and Lea Bartelme and Ava McKennie suffered ACL tears of their own.
Each of their seasons ended before the start of Big Ten play. The Terps had 11 players on their team for the majority of the campaign.
This forced unlikely suspects to step up, and two freshmen did — the growth of Kyndal Walker and Addi Mack kept the team afloat. In the NCAA Tournament, where a good portion of the team appeared flustered by the pressure it faced, Mack and Walker stayed cool. Freshman Rainey Welson also had big contributions.
“Incredibly proud of our freshmen. I know I’m six years older than them, but I’m really proud of them,” Mir McLean said. “I look up to them. They’ve just shown so much grit and growth, and it’s amazing to see as a leader.”
Still, the youth had to rely on senior leadership. Saylor Poffenbarger and Yarden Garzon had their ups and downs throughout the season, but they were consistently present on the court.
McLean had a different story; she was not always on the court, but she blossomed late in the season and looked to be the team’s vocal leader come March.
Isi Ozzy-Momodu was another important contributor, and her energy gave the team a spark.
With the complex nature of everything that transpired over the course of the season, it is hard to characterize what Maryland’s season became. The team’s original goals extended far beyond the Round of 32, yet the Terps showed fight in simply getting to that stage.
While injuries did not completely derail the season — the Terps did still have some success — they capped how far the team could go.
What the team accomplished would not meet Frese’s regular expectations. But in light of everything that happened, the head coach had nothing but pride for her players.
“That’s why we do what we do. It’s all about the journey and just watching these young women. Because it’s not just about basketball,” Frese said. “This adversity they’ll be able to carry into life when hard things happen and see they’ve been able to come through it.”