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COLUMBUS, OHIO - FEBRUARY 15: Saylor Poffenbarger #6 with Kyndal Walker #8 of the Maryland Terrapins celebrate a 76-75 win over the Ohio State Buckeyes at Value City Arena on February 15, 2026 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images) | Getty Images
After an improbable comeback on Sunday, No. 20 Maryland women’s basketball needed to survive one last stop.
A 15-point halftime deficit to No. 8 Ohio State meant that didn’t look likely. The Terps stormed back, though, leading by as much as nine points in the fourth quarter.
But the Buckeyes’ late 6-0 run meant that, with five seconds left, Kyndal Walker needed free throws to extend the lead past one point. She missed both, giving Ohio State a chance to win it.
Buckeyes guard Jaloni Cambridge received the ball, but she couldn’t get around Maryland’s defense. She was forced into a deep contested heave and missed — the Terps survived with a 76-75 win in Columbus.
The Terps’ survival came after their leading scorer controversially fouled out. Oluchi Okananwa tied up Change Gray and was shoved before the two started jawing at each other. Both were assessed with technical fouls, but Okananwa had already four infractions; her night was done. The Terps needed to survive the final minute without her.
The Buckeyes got the ball and immediately hit a 3-pointer. Then, they had four free throw attempts in that stretch and made all but one.
Despite the late scare. Maryland’s biggest and last bucket came from Saylor Poffenbarger.
Across the first half, the Terps’ leaders had relatively lackluster performances — especially Poffenbarger. She had five turnovers in the first half and looked a little lost on the court.
But Poffenbarger ended up being one of the biggest contributors to Maryland’s comeback. She hit a ridiculous step-back 3-pointer from the logo as the shot clock expired with over two minutes remaining. It was the difference in the win. She finished with her second consecutive double-double, recording 13 points and 11 rebounds.
At the start of Sunday’s game, Maryland looked set for a blowout loss. It trailed by as many as 19 points. Ohio State was rolling.
In the first half, the TV broadcast showed head coach Frese telling her team, “You either want the smoke right now or you don’t.” In the first half, it was clear that the Terps didn’t, but that changed in the second half.
“[Frese] always says, who wants to smoke and we came in that second half with a complete shift in our mentality,” Addi Mack said. “They kind of took it to us in the first half, and we came out and we wanted to show everyone who we are, what our true identity is, and you saw that throughout our offense.”
Maryland’s comeback was aided by its work on the glass. The Terps had 22 offensive rebounds and 17 second-chance points compared to Ohio State’s eight rebounds and six second-chance points.
“I’m really proud of the fact that we were able to do that on the glass,” Frese said. “We needed to be able to have those extra opportunities and be able to get those kinds of looks.”
A Maryland win seemed completely improbable when the Buckeyes jumped out to an early 15-point lead. The Terps responded with a show of life — a 12-2 run cut the lead to five — but the Buckeyes struck right back with nine consecutive points.
In the last game between the two teams, head coach Brenda Frese called Ohio State’s 11 3-pointers “uncharacteristic.”
On Sunday, it was the norm. Ohio State came into the game ranked 15th in the Big Ten with a 33% 3-point percentage. But against Maryland, the Buckeyes shot 9-of-14 from beyond the arc in the first half; highlighted by Chance Gray’s 5-of-6 showing.
Gray controlled the pace in the first half with 19 points. She finished with 25 and was mostly silenced in the second half.
It wasn’t just her doing damage early; Cambridge also had 15 points in the first half after dropping 28 on the Terps in the teams’ first matchup.
The first half was a poor defensive effort by Maryland, and it didn’t come close to making it up offensively. It missed too many makeable shots — going 28.6% from the field in the half — and went into halftime trailing by 15 points.
Whatever Frese told the Terps at halftime worked. The script flipped in the third quarter.
Maryland returned to how it had played through the three-game winning streak, displaying balance and an improved defense. Cambridge had 10 points in the third quarter, but the rest of the team had two.
The Terps shot 9-of-22 from beyond the arc in the second half after going 2-of-8 in the first. They’ve gone as Yarden Garzon goes this season from deep, and she got going with four second-half 3-pointers on 12 attempts.
“You go through ups and downs throughout a season, and we did a really good job of staying connected,” Mack said. “In these last couple of games that we had and even at halftime today, we were down. But you saw throughout the second half how much trust we have in each other.”
Three things to know
1. Ozzy-Momodu injury. The Terps lost a key contributor almost immediately when Isi Ozzy-Momodu left the game after four minutes. Frese said postgame that the forward suffered an injury but did not specify what it was.
“Hopefully we get Isi back, that’s a huge blow,” Frese said. “We need to make sure that we’re able to have that. Luckily, we go into a bye week, so that timing is perfect for us.”
2. Addi Mack impact. Addi Mack also had a key effort in the comeback, helping to change the pace during the third-quarter run. She shot 3-of-6 from deep and finished with 14 points in the game.
3. A statement win. The Terps had some big wins this season. But against the best competition, it had fallen flat. It lost by 13 to Ohio State earlier in the year; this was the bounce-back Maryland needed. Frese will look to make that effort inspire belief heading into the season’s end.
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