Maryland women’s basketball clapped their hands together — “Addi, Addi, Addi” — chanting the true freshman’s name.

Addi Mack’s bubble braid whipped behind her as she waved her hands in the air and danced with teammates — her smile explained the moment. After the Terps trailed for 30 minutes against Georgetown on Sunday, Mack engineered an explosive fourth-quarter comeback to lead Maryland to a 19-point win against the Hoyas.

Despite playing in only three games and fewer than 55 minutes in College Park, Mack has already established herself as a premier scorer. The Minnesota native scored 17 of her 23 points against Georgetown in the fourth quarter.

“Addi, with her own 17 points to single-handedly put the team on her back, was just huge,” coach Brenda Frese said.

Sunday’s game did not start as planned. Maryland recorded 15 turnovers across the first three quarters, showing shaky ball handling. Georgetown’s defense was aggressive out of the gate.

Despite the team’s slow start, Mack played well to open the game. Curiously, Frese turned away from the freshman in the game’s middle portions, as Mack played only four minutes in the next two quarters.

“We saw how close of a game they’re calling it in terms of fouls. And you know, if we’re gonna get a lot of fouls called on us, then we should try to draw fouls on the other team as well,” Mack said. “Everyone just did a good job of trying to keep that attack-first mentality.”

[Addi Mack leads Maryland women’s basketball to comeback win over Georgetown, 85-66]

But after scoring just 31 first half points, Maryland turned to Mack to run its offense. She was all over the court throughout the frame, converting Maryland rebounds into points.

“I just wanted to come in, you know, bring some energy. I think we’re such a close-knit group, we all really feed off of each other well … so just kind of feeding off everyone really helped me,” Mack said.

Mack has always been able to push the ball and play really fast, she told The Diamondback in an interview before the season.She was a multi-sport athlete as a kid and believes that competitive swimming has helped her endurance and athleticism, allowing her to play at a high level.

This type of scoring was somewhat expected out of Mack. The highly touted recruit was the No. 2 scorer in Minnesota women’s high school basketball history, and during her senior season, was the No. 1 active career leader in scoring across the country.

Without Bri McDaniel, who remains out with an injury, there’s a void in the Terps’ rotation for perimeter scoring. While Frese does not typically play freshmen guards, Mack’s scoring talent is a natural fit for Maryland’s needs.

After the freshman helped the Terps capture their lead, the energy shifted in the Terps’ direction. Maryland played a full-court press, as Saylor Poffenbarger, Yarden Garzonand Lea Bartelme initiated transition plays, feeding the ball to Mack and Oluchi Okananwa.

[Maryland women’s basketball’s energetic youth could provide extra depth this season]

Bartelme and Garzon each earned two assists. Poffenbarger recorded five assists, three steals and 12 rebounds – a major contributor to the defensive prowess that pushed the Terps to win. 

“[Poffenbarger] is just a glue, a connector for us. And I love the fact that if her shot isn’t falling, she can still keep herself on the court because of how many valuable things she does for us,” Frese said. “You’re always going to have a spot if you can keep your poise and composure.”

Mack capped the game with five points in the final two minutes. A triple from beyond the arc and a fadeaway in the paint closed out a successful quarter for the Terps, as they made their final eight shots. Maryland finished with 85 points, the first time the Terps have scored 80 or more in their first three games since 2021-22.

“I’m so incredibly proud of this team,” Okananwa said. “This being the third game, this was obviously our first take of adversity. So, I mean, the way we handled, the way we responded, I’m just so happy to be a part of it.”