Welcome to The Diamondback Sports Digest. Every week, we send you a rundown of the latest Maryland athletics news.
This week was mostly strong for the Terps, though slightly soured by men’s basketball’s blown 17-point lead on Thursday.
In this week’s newsletter, we’ll talk about men’s basketball’s split week, a much-needed successful road trip for women’s basketball and men’s lacrosse’s comeback victory.
Men’s basketball bounces back
The newly-ranked Terps looked great in three of their four halves this week. Their second-half performance on Thursday was the outlier.
Maryland shot a horrid 25 percent after halftime at Ohio State and had no answer for junior guard Bruce Thornton, who willed the Buckeyes back from a 17-point deficit. The Terps fell, 73-70, snapping a four-game winning streak.
The second half’s offensive woes briefly carried over into Maryland’s Sunday bout versus Rutgers, but quickly washed away. The Terps scored 90 points in a nine-point win over the Scarlet Knights despite missing their first seven shots.
Freshman center Derik Queen scored a career-high 29 points along with 15 rebounds and five assists. Queen was the best player on the floor against a Rutgers team that may have two of the top three picks in the NBA draft.
Women’s basketball regains momentum
No. 16 Maryland women’s basketball was far from peak form and desperately needed some wins this week. After losing four of its last five games entering the week, coach Brenda Frese’s team got back on track.
Maryland won both of its games on the West Coast. First, Maryland gave Frese her 600th win with the Terps at Oregon and later rounded out the trip with an eight-point victory at Washington.
The Terps wouldn’t have left with a pair of wins if it wasn’t for Kaylene Smikle. The junior scored a career-high 36 points and helped her team overcome a 15-point first quarter deficit.
Maryland faced five ranked teams in a grueling January, but is now on a lighter part of its schedule without any ranked opponents this month.
A dramatic 2-0 start
Maryland men’s lacrosse was in a precarious position Saturday, facing a three-goal deficit against unranked Loyola entering the fourth quarter.
But after a sloppy start, the Terps looked much more like the country’s No. 4 team in the late stages. They outscored the Greyhounds 5-2 in the fourth quarter before sealing the win in sudden-death overtime.
Maryland hasn’t found a go-to scorer yet and seems to have a balanced attack, much like last year.
Four Terps have at least three goals, with fifth year attacker Daniel Kelly leading with five. Binghamton transfer Matthew Keegan has four — including Saturday’s game-winner — and a team-high three assists.
Best Bits
- Maryland baseball aims to return to the postseason in 2025, and thinks its new leadership council will help.
- Maryland men’s basketball’s bench has found ways to be effective despite its scoring deficiencies.
- A large factor in Maryland men’s lacrosse’s success is coach John Tillman’s tactical recruiting.
- Natalie Martin has been one of Maryland gymnastics’ top performers in 2025. Her mentality — and ability to reset — are big reasons why.
- In her second year at helm of Maryland softball, coach Lauren Karn thinks the Terps can become competitive in the Big Ten.
- Maryland wrestling’s Seth Nevills has proven to be one of the best heavyweights in the country, but has struggled to beat other wrestlers of his caliber.
Stat of the week
Maryland men’s lacrosse has won its last five overtime matches dating back to 2023.
Quote of the week
“Does everyone know there’s a Super Bowl? I mean, what the fuck,” men’s basketball coach Kevin Willard said Sunday when reporters had more questions than expected. “Jesus, no one’s got a party to go to?”
