COLLEGE PARK — Kaylene Smikle is off to quite a start to her Maryland career. She’s leading the eighth-ranked Terps in scoring, the team is undefeated — and now she can celebrate reaching the 1,000-point mark.
Smikle surpassed 1,000 on Thursday in a 107-57 victory over William & Mary. The Rutgers transfer scored 14 of her 21 points in the first half after needing only 11 to arrive at the milestone.
“I think it’s just a blessing,” Smikle said. “It’s a blessing to be here, it’s a blessing to accomplish this one milestone here at Maryland.”
The Terps also have three other players who have reached 1,000 points. Shyanne Sellers has been a Terp her whole college career, but Allie Kubek is in her second season playing at Maryland after two years at Towson, and Sarah Te-Biasu arrived this season from VCU.
The Terps went through some uncharacteristic struggles last season, bowing out in the first round of the NCAA Tournament as a No. 10 seed in their region. After remaking the roster, they’ve rolled to an 11-0 start.
Smikle, who averaged over 16 points per game in both her seasons at Rutgers, is at 17.7 for the Terps. She reached 1,000 points with a 3-pointer that gave Maryland a 44-21 lead in the second quarter, capping a 21-2 run that broke open a close game.
“It feel like it just made the accomplishment better being in such a great program, with people around me who genuinely care for me and want to push me every day and want to help me grow,” Smikle said.
Bri McDaniel added 18 points and four assists, Saylor Poffenbarger recorded a season-high 15-rebound performance and Christina Dalce provided 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Terps, who get a break before facing No. 15 Michigan State on Dec. 29 in what could be a matchup of unbeatens.
Takeaways
William & Mary: The Tribe came into the game shooting just 24% from 3-point range and was a bit worse than that Thursday, going 7 for 30 (23.3%).
Maryland: This was part of a 21-day stretch in which the Terps have only one game. They didn’t look too rusty, taking an early 16-7 lead and thwarting William & Mary’s best bid to make a game of it in the second quarter.
School’s out
As part of Field Trip Day at Xfinity Center, Maryland hosted a sold-out crowd of 17,950, including 15,000 students from more than 80 local elementary schools.
“I came to a Maryland game when I was little,” Kubek said. “I think that it’s a full-circle moment for me, just to be able to play for a bunch of little children, and the environment is always great when they come. They’re always screaming and cheering for us, so it was a good game.”
Key moment
Maryland led 23-19 before going on a 21-2 run in the second that turned the game into a rout. Smikle scored seven points during that stretch.
Key stats
Maryland had 26 offensive rebounds to William & Mary’s eight, and the Terps had a 50-6 advantage in free throws attempted.
No. 15 Michigan State at No. 8 Maryland
Sunday, Dec. 29, 1 p.m.
Stream: Big Ten Plus