Yarden Garzon didn’t get off to the start many Maryland women’s basketball fans expected.
The senior — ESPN’s No. 5 ranked preseason transfer and a projected WNBA first round pick in 2026 — turned the ball over six times and made just one shot in her Terps debut. She failed to top 12 points in any of her first six games.
But on Sunday against George Mason, on her birthday, Garzon’s game clicked for the first time as a Terp. The guard shot six of 14 from the field and finished with 16 points, also posting nine rebounds in the win.
Coach Brenda Frese said Garzon’s work on the glass, combined with Saylor Poffenbarger’s, is important for the Terps.
“Yarden and Say[lor] really impact us there,” Frese said Sunday. “It gives you extra opportunities on the offensive end when you can get those rebounds.”
[Maryland women’s basketball ranked No. 7 in AP poll, highest this season]
Garzon averaged 8.6 points in her first five games with Maryland — about half of the 16.4 she averaged at Indiana last year in the same span. Part of that is due to her facilitating role with Maryland.
Garzon is up to a team-leading 23 assists. She said after Maryland’s win over UMBC that she set a goal to do more on the court than just score in her senior season.
She only recorded one assist against the Patriots on a pass to Oluchi Okananwa in the second quarter after a turnover in the paint.
Turnovers have plagued the guard. She has the second-most on the Terps — who rank atop the Big Ten in turnovers. Garzon registered five against George Mason, with most coming from poor passes.
“We are building our chemistry more and more as we get into the season and you can see how we set each other up and find each other more and more,” Garzon wrote in a statement to The Diamondback.
Coming from Big Ten foe Indiana, Garzon was best known for her three-point shooting ability. She set a Hoosiers record for most threes and made 42.6 percent of her attempts from beyond the arc.
[Brenda Frese relies on freshmen point guards to lead Maryland women’s basketball]
Early this season, those same shots haven’t fallen. Garzon has taken a team-leading 43 three-point attempts, but has made only 30 percent. Frese said she wasn’t worried about Garzon’s early struggles because she knows the guard’s capabilities.
Garzon was expected to challenge Kaylene Smikle for Maryland’s points leader and serve as a strong presence under the net. Her outing against George Mason was a hopeful sign that she’s blossoming into that role.
“I’m getting more comfortable every day, but as a shooter, you can go through tough spells,” Garzon wrote in the statement. “I just try to keep helping my team in other ways and know my shots will start falling.”
