By Holliday Woodard and Faith Harris
Coach Brenda Frese trotted out 11 players across the entire 2024-25 Maryland women’s basketball season. Her team lacked depth as two freshmen redshirted and two others spent the season recovering from injury.
In the Terps’ season opener against Loyola on Monday, 13 players took the court. When senior guard Kaylene Smikle returns from a leg injury, Frese will have 14 players at her disposal — an apparent increase in depth from a season ago.
The stark contrast highlights the skilled youth throughout a retooled Maryland roster, with the Terps’ freshman and transfer classes at the helm.
Four of Maryland’s five true freshmen — Addi Mack, Marya Boiko, Lea Bartelme and Rainey Welson — saw minutes in the first quarter against Loyola. They tallied 21 points, which was over 25 percent of the Terps’ production.
While it’s unlikely all five true freshmen play significant minutes in conference play, Frese said Monday offered those players “valuable game experience.”
“A lot of good things to be able to go back on, and then some areas to improve,” Frese said.
Bartelme and Boiko are not only new to the Maryland court but also to the country. For both players, the season-opener marked their first games in the United States. Bartelme said she’s settling in nicely.
[Maryland women’s basketball allows the fewest points under Brenda Frese, beats Loyola 80-26]
“It’s been great, because I’m surrounded by people [who] trust you. They’re always positive and they’re so welcoming. So just being around those people helped me make those transitions faster and easier,” Bartelme said.
Bartelme is the first freshman to start a season opener for Maryland since Angel Reese against Davidson in 2020. The Slovenia native slotted in at point guard and played 19 minutes — tied for Maryland’s second-highest total. Frese highlighted Bartelme’s skills at preseason media day, calling the point guard “wise beyond her years.”
Four of the Terps’ five freshmen played double-digit minutes. Having young depth is a benefit that could help keep veterans rested, Frese previously said. Boiko came off the bench to replace Isimenme Ozzy-Momodu, who is still rehabilitating an ACL injury from 2024, in each quarter.
Boiko snagged five rebounds, matching the totals of veterans Saylor Poffenbarger and Mir McLean. The 6-foot-4 forward helped fill the void at center on Monday that Maryland lacked last year.
[The Diamondback Sports Digest: Maryland basketball is back]
Boiko was one of three freshmen, including Mack and Welson, that helped Maryland keep Loyola scoreless in the final five minutes of the first half. Bartelme and Welson combined for three steals while the freshman class only produced three of Maryland’s 18 turnovers.
“They’re really trying to play the right way,” Frese said about her new players. “We have a lot of options.”
The biggest strength of Maryland’s freshman group is perhaps the versatility they offer. Frese will continue to mess with the freshman rotation throughout the nonconference schedule to find where they help best.
With Smikle and Bri McDaniel still sidelined from injuries, Maryland will rely heavily on its first-year players to pull out wins before Big Ten play in December.
“It’s early, first game, but it is nice to be able to have some of these games where we are able to provide that depth right now,” Frese said. “First game of the season, I just like that we never took our foot off the gas.”
