Maryland Women’s Basketball dominates Purdue in wire to wire Victory

Christian Jackson
Maryland Terrapins Women's Basketball vs Purdue Boilermakers at Xfinity Center in College Park, Maryland on Sunday, February 22, 2026. (Courtesy of Grayson Belanger/Maryland Terrapins)

The No. 14 Maryland Terrapins dominated the Purdue Boilermakers, leading the entire 99-66 win on Sunday afternoon at the Xfinity Center at the University of Maryland.

The Terps (22-6) pushed their win streak to five in style while debuting their new “Script Shift” uniforms, a sleek all white look with iridescent numbers and lettering. The Boilermakers (12-15) looked to bounce back against another ranked opponent following a loss to then No. 13 Iowa.

For Maryland Head Coach Brenda Frese, the Terps’ momentum at this point in the season was expected.

This win streak comes on the heels of a four game skid for the Terps in January.

“Our teams tend to peak in March, and that’s where you want to be,” she said. “It only happens if your players are the ones that understand and believe and put that work in, and that’s who they’ve been.”

Although it was senior night for the Terps, it was the redshirt freshman guard and hometown hero, Kyndal Walker, who put up a career high 18 points.

Walker said after the game that it felt nice to play in the new uniforms and that it felt good to continue their streak. The game came after a loss last year on senior night, so she wanted to make sure she did everything she could to get a win. 

Junior guard Oluchi Okananwa put up 26 points and five rebounds. She emphasized the importance of her captains

“Saylor [Poffenbarger] just being the headstrong personality, she’s able to walk into any room and just brighten everyone up and bring everyone together,” she said. “Mir [McLean], we need her energy, we need her fire. She’s always the one that’s getting us riled up. And then you see Yarden [Garzon] and she’s so steady and she’s so neutral and calm and that really helps us center ourselves and come back together.”

The three senior captains, Poffenbarger, McLean, and Garzon, provided valuable minutes. They affected all phases of the game: Garzon with six points and seven assists, McLean with 11 points and a block. Poffenbarger finished the game with 11 points and nine rebounds.

Walker and Okananwa were causing havoc on both ends of the court to begin the game. The duo combined for 18 of the Terps’ 22 first-quarter points. Walker had three steals off the bench in just the first quarter, while Okananwa provided unreal defensive pressure on Purdue ball handlers. The Terps led 22-17 after the first quarter. 

Walker said it’s big for them as guards to step up and take on that role, piggybacking off each other’s energy and trying to energize the squad.

The Terps were running the Boilermakers out of College Park by the third quarter. Purdue guards Nya Smith and Kiki Smith (no relation) were essentially the only offense for Purdue. Maryland outscored the Boilermakers 26-16 in the third quarter and led 77-48 by the end of the frame.

Poffenbarger added 11 points in the second quarter as Maryland began to intensify their defensive pressure.  The Terps forced 13 turnovers in the first half, leading to 14 points for Maryland. They finished the game with 21 points off 20 Boilermaker turnovers.

Maryland Guard Addi Mack put in three free throws to close the first half and put the Terps up 51-32 at halftime. Maryland dominated the paint in the first half, outscoring Purdue by 10 points. Okananwa led all scorers with 16 points, with a lot of damage coming at the rim.

The Terps will look to extend their win streak to six against Northwestern (8-19) on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in the Xfinity Center.