Takeaways from Maryland women’s basketball’s 81-62 win over George Mason
· Yahoo Sports
No. 20 Maryland women’s basketball got into the win column in its home opener against George Mason on Sunday.
Maryland played all 12 active players as it beat George Mason for the fifth straight season.
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Just like last year’s matchup, George Mason kept it close in the first half, only for Maryland to run away with it in the second half.
Here are three takeaways from Sunday’s win.
Maryland made an effort to get length on the court
When the Terps faced No. 1 South Carolina in their season opener, their forwards combined for just 28 minutes. They were outrebounded, 44 to 36, and allowed 20 offensive rebounds and 52 points in the paint.
Both senior Nunu Agara and freshman Mimi Thiero faced foul trouble against South Carolina, and sophomore Marya Boiko was not with the team.
The forwards combined for 50 minutes against George Mason. Boiko led the way with 19 minutes, Agara played 18 minutes, Thiero had 12 minutes and freshman Eva-Grace Yebila played the last minute.
Maryland was still out-rebounded, 43 to 41, in Sunday’s win against George Mason, a team comparable in size to the Terps.
“That was probably what I was most disappointed with. When you talk about discipline, rebounding is a discipline. It’s an effort,” head coach Brenda Frese said.
Agara finished with just seven points on seven field goal attempts. The Stanford transfer and two-time All-ACC second-team member once again found herself in foul trouble, forcing her to spend 22 minutes on the bench.
“I think she’s kind of trying to force it right now,” Frese said. “The last two games, she’s been in foul trouble…she’s got to be more disciplined for us and not put herself in that position and go sit on the bench.”
The backcourt carried the scoring load
Maryland’s five leading scorers were all guards, combining for 66 of the Terps’ 82 points.
Senior Oluchi Okananwa led the team with 24 points on an efficient 9-for-13 shooting from the field and 2-for-4 on 3-pointers.
Senior Bri McDaniel logged double figures for the second game in a row, finishing with 12 points on 4-for-9 shooting.
Okananwa and McDaniel are two of the more aggressive guards in the country and are relentless when attacking the rim. The two shot 16 of their 22 shots inside the arc and combined for 10 free-throw attempts.
“Yeah, it’s huge…With a lot of other players that are young in this rotation that we’re leaning on, we’ve got to be able to have that consistency from your top players,” Frese said.
Sophomore Addi Mack gained national attention after scoring 31 points in the second half against South Carolina to open the season. She followed her career-high with an efficient 15-point outing on Sunday.
She shot 6-for-12 from the field and 3-for-6 on 3-pointers and led the team with five assists. Mack is now 9-for-16 on 3-pointers this season, which she said can help her be that playmaker.
“Just working on my three-point shooting. I think if teams have to guard me tight, that just allows so many more opportunities for me to set other people up as well,” Mack said.
Redshirt freshman Lea Bartelme led all players off the bench with eight points on 2-for-3 shooting, including a 3-pointer and three free throws. Sophomore Rainey Welson added seven points in her 20 minutes off the bench.
Maryland’s press was suffocating
Maryland outscored South Carolina by 20 points in the second half of its season-opening loss, having implemented a press that helped with their second-half success.
Maryland used that same press through most of Sunday’s victory.
“It’s an area that we’ve got to be able to get better at, and you only get that through reps, right, and film that you’re able to have,” Frese said. “But we don’t play another game for a week, so for us, it’s just improving in that area because defensively, we want to be able to throw a lot of different looks.”
The press worked wonders against George Mason, who entered College Park averaging 19.5 turnovers a game. The Terps forced the Patriots to commit 28 turnovers.
Bartelme led the Terps with a career-high five steals in her 25 minutes. She suffered a torn ACL in her fourth game last season.
“She’s working herself back in… getting those game legs; I like the fact that she can give us a lot of different stuff when you talk about defensive rebounding, commanding the offense,” Frese said.
Freshman guard Trinity Jones also added three steals, and 2025-26 All-Big Ten Defensive Team honoree Okananwa added two.
With the lack of size for the Terps, they might opt to further implement the press this season, which gives their fast and athletic frontcourt a chance to make defensive stops rather than their undersized backcourt.
Okananwa said their length, athleticism and connectivity let them run the press for so long.
“As good as it looks. It’s only going to look better the deeper we get into the season. We’re just going to continue to look like we’re playing on a string. So I’m really excited for that,” Okananwa said.