Fresh off the thrill of its first double overtime road victory in program history, No. 7 Maryland women’s basketball faces a quick turnaround. In one of their two final nonconference matchups of the 2025-26 season, the Terps welcome Delaware State to the Xfinity Center Wednesday night.
The game will tip off at 6 p.m. and be broadcast on Big Ten Plus.
Delaware State Hornets (3-7, 0-0 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference)
2024-25 record: 5-24, 1-13 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
Delaware State’s 3-7 record is slightly misleading in that all three of the Hornets’ victories
are against teams outside of Division I. In fact, in head coach Jazmone Turner’s two years in charge of the program, the Hornets — who are ranked 351 out of 363 in the NET — have just one Division I win in total.
Maryland will also be by far the best team Delaware State matches up with this season. The Hornets come to College Park riding a three-game losing streak.
Players to watch
Amya Scott, freshman guard, 5-foot-3, No. 1 — As a freshman, Scott is already the Hornets’ best scorer when factoring in efficiency and production. She is second on the team with 9.1 points per game on 40% shooting from the field.
Mahogany Cottingham, junior guard, 5-foot-9, No. 14 — Cottingham was the team’s second-leading scorer last season. Following Kiarra Mcelrath’s departure in the portal, she has slid into the team’s top scoring position.
She averages just under 11 points per game but has struggled with efficiency at 32.1% from the floor. She is skilled at drawing fouls and is a capable free throw shooter at 76.9%. She also leads the team in assists (2.1) and steals (1.6) per game.
Ericka Huggins, sophomore forward, 6-foot-0, No. 10 — Huggins is the team’s best option in the post and leading rebounder, grabbing seven per game. The former All-MEAC rookie team member also has nine total blocks on the season and is almost perfect from the free throw line (11-of-12), averaging a total of 5.7 points per contest.
Strength
Turnover margin. The Hornets have caused more turnovers than they’ve suffered so far this season, with a turnover margin of plus-0.8. Maryland has been prone to bunches of turnovers, so that could be one area of the game where the Hornets can make the Terps uncomfortable.
Weakness
Making shots. Delaware State does not have a very capable offense. As a team, it shoots 37.6% from the field and scores 58.7 points per game. Maryland shoots 49.1% and averages 87.6 points per game — slightly inflated by its double-overtime win over Minnesota. It’s hard to imagine a scenario in which Delaware State keeps pace with Maryland.
Three things to watch
1. Last chances for development. This will be one of Maryland’s last chances to extend all the way into its bench, which seems to be getting smaller by the game most recently thanks to Smikle’s season-ending injury. Guards like Rainey Welson and Kyndal Walker will get more chances to play big minutes, as they get ready for what may be bigger roles than head coach Brenda Frese initially anticipated they would play.
2. Poffenbarger’s success. Saylor Poffenbarger has shown massive strides in her second and final year with Maryland, and is fresh off her biggest game of the season, scoring 30 points against Minnesota. The performance earned her Solomon Eye Terp of The Week. She’ll try to stay hot against the Hornets.
3. Starting five. Frese opted to bring Mir McLean into Kaylene Smikle’s spot in the starting lineup against Minnesota. It will be interesting to see if she opts for that opening five again or replaces Smikle with a guard like Welson or Walker.
