As the start of 2019-20 women’s college basketball season looms closer, ESPN released its rankings of the top 25 players in the country. 

Maryland’s star senior guard Kaila Charles was ranked as the fourth-best player in women’s college basketball and was the only Terp featured in the rankings. The only three players ahead of Charles were Oregon’s Sabrina Ionescu, Baylor’s Lauren Cox and Texas A&M’s Chennedy Carter.

Charles averaged 17 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game last season as she helped lead the Terps to another Big Ten championship. While Maryland was knocked out early in the NCAA Tournament last season, they have a good chance to go far this season with Charles leading the fourth-ranked Terps team once again. 

Charles has steadily improved in each of her three seasons in College Park. The 2019 preseason All-American and Big Ten Player of the Year has established herself as Maryland’s go-to scorer and has increased her assists per-game and free throw percentage each season.

ESPN’s Charlie Creme, who wrote the brief paragraph about Charles, cited her scoring, leadership and confidence and described her as a “relentless attacker of the basket and finisher in transition.”

The Terps open their season on Tuesday, November 5, at 11 AM in the Xfinity Center against Wagner.