The Maryland Terrapins women's basketball are an American basketball team. The team represents the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Division I competition. Maryland, a founding member of the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

(ACC), left the ACC in 2014 to join the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

. The program won the

2006 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament The 2006 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament was held from March 18 to April 4, 2006, at several sites, with the championship game held in Boston. The Maryland Terrapins, coached by Brenda Frese, won their first National Championshi ...

championship and has appeared in the NCAA Final Four five times (1982, 1989, 2006, 2014, 2015); Maryland also appeared once in the

AIAW The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was a college athletics organization in the United States, founded in 1971 to govern women's college competitions in the country and to administer national championships (see AIAW Cham ...

Final Four (1978). As members of the ACC, the Terrapins won regular season conference championships (1979, 1982, 1988, 1989, 2009) and an ACC-record ten conference tournament championships (1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1989, 2009, 2012). The program won the Big Ten Conference regular season and tournament championships in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2020, and 2021. Since 2002, the team has been led by head coach Brenda Frese. Over her 23 season tenure, she has led the Terrapins to 20 NCAA tournament appearances, ten NCAA Sweet Sixteens, six NCAA Elite Eight, three NCAA Final Fours, and the 2006 NCAA National Championship.

History

Women's basketball was first organized to play on campus in 1923. The early teams participated solely in intracollegiate competition, with classes or sororities competing against each other for a trophy. The team was officially recognized as a varsity sport in 1971, and was led by coach Dottie McKnight during its first four seasons. The Terps were successful from the start, winning their first state championship in the 1972–73 season. They went on to win ten ACC championships and one NCAA title. On January 26, 1975, the Terps played host to Immaculata in the first nationally televised women's college basketball game. The game took place in Cole Field House. Some sources report that Immaculata won 80–48, while others report 85–63. On March 9, 2019, Maryland won its 1,000th game, becoming the 14th (unsure, based on 2017 data) team to win 1,000 games. It did so at home against Michigan in the Big Ten Semifinals, which it won by a score of 73–72. The team has been led by three head coaches: Dottie McKnight (1971–1975), Chris Weller (1975–2002), and Brenda Frese (2002–present). Although McKnight only coached four seasons of Terps basketball, she quickly led her new team to success. She left with a record of 44–17 (.721). Weller, a University of Maryland alumna ('66) and former Terps player, took over the head coaching position in 1975. She led the Terps to numerous national championship appearances and a total of eight ACC championship titles. When she retired, Weller left with a 499–286 record (.636). At the end of the 2018–19 season, current coach Brenda Frese has a record of 458–124 (.787). She has also led her team to a national championship title, eight national championship appearances, and two conference championship titles. Frese is known for her recruiting skills, with Shay Doron being credited as her first major recruit.

Notable players

Many Terps have gone on to national prominence, appearing in the Olympics and playing in professional leagues. * Diamond Miller (born February 11, 2001), basketball shooting guard for the

Minnesota Lynx The Minnesota Lynx are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Lynx compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference (WNBA), Western Conference. The team won the WNBA ...

* Christy Winters-Scott, Basketball

Color Analyst A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The person may also be referred to as a summariser (outside North America) ...

for college basketball games for

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

, FSN, The

Big Ten Network Big Ten Network (BTN) is an American sports network based in Chicago, Illinois. The channel is dedicated to coverage of College athletics, collegiate sports sanctioned by the Big Ten Conference, including live and recorded event telecasts, news ...

(BTN),

Monumental Sports Network Monumental Sports Network, formerly NBC Sports Washington, is an American regional sports network owned by Ted Leonsis through Monumental Sports & Entertainment. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the channel broadcasts regional coverage of sport ...

, and

Raycom Sports Raycom Sports is a Charlotte, North Carolina–based producer of sports television programs owned by Gray Media. It was founded in 1979 by husband and wife, Rick and Dee Ray. In the 1980s, Raycom Sports established a prominent joint venture wi ...

Crystal Langhorne Crystal Allison Langhorne (born October 27, 1986) is an American former basketball player of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played for the University of Maryland Terrapins. In 2008 she was drafted by the Washington Mysti ...

, 2x WNBA champion (2018, 2020) who played for the

Washington Mystics The Washington Mystics are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Mystics compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference. The team was ...

(2008–2013) and

Seattle Storm The Seattle Storm are an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The Storm compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference (WNBA), Western Conference. The team was founded by Gi ...

(2014–20) *

Kristi Toliver Kristi Renee Toliver (born January 27, 1987) is an American-Slovak professional basketball coach and former player who is the associate head coach for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). During her rookie se ...

, played for the WNBA's

Chicago Sky The Chicago Sky are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Sky compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The franchise was founded prior to the 2006 season. Th ...

(2009),

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. The team plays its home games at Crypto.co ...

(2010–16) and

(2017–2019, and 2023) * Laura Harper, played for the WNBA's

Sacramento Monarchs The Sacramento Monarchs were a professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. They played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) from 1997 until folding on November 20, 2009. They played their home games at ARCO Aren ...

(2008–09) and is head coach of the

Towson University Towson University (TU or Towson) is a public university in Towson, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1866 as Maryland's first training school for teachers, Towson University is a part of the University System of Maryland. Since its foundin ...

Women’s Basketball Team * Shakira Austin (born 2000), basketball center for the Israeli Elitzur Ramla * Vicky Bullett, Olympian in 1988 and 1992; played in Italy for

Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...

(1990–93) and

Cesena Cesena (; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy; and - with Forlì - is the capital of the Province of Forlì-Cesena. Served by Autostrada A14 (Italy), Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine M ...

(1993–97), in Brazil for the Data Control/ Fluminense professional team, and for the WNBA's

Charlotte Sting The Charlotte Sting were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Charlotte, North Carolina, one of the league's eight original teams. The team disbanded on January 3, 2007. The Sting was originally the sister organization ...

(1997–99) and

(2000–02) * Marissa Coleman, played for the WNBA's Washington Mystics (2009–11),

(2012–13) and

Indiana Fever The Indiana Fever are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Fever compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) a member of the Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference. The team was founded for ...

(2014–17) * Katrina Colleton, played for the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks (1997–98) and

Miami SOL The Miami Sol were a professional women's basketball team that was based in Miami and entered the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) in 2000. They played their games at American Airlines Arena as the sister team to the Miami Heat of the ...

(2000–01) * Shay Doron, Israeli, played for the WNBA's

New York Liberty The New York Liberty are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Liberty compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Confer ...

(2007–2008), the Romanian League's Municipal MCM Târgovişte (2010), and the Israeli leagues' Elitzur Ramla (2007–08, 2010–present) *Kelley Gibson, played for the WNBA's

Houston Comets The Houston Comets were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Houston. Formed in 1997, the team was one of the original eight WNBA teams and won the first four championships of the league's existence. They are one of two ...

(2000–03) * Lea Hakala, Olympian in 1984 (Finnish team) * Tianna Hawkins, played for the WNBA's

(2013) and

(2014–20) * Tara Heiss, Olympian in 1980 * Jessie Hicks, played for the WNBA's

Utah Starzz The Utah Starzz were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Salt Lake City. They began play in the 1997 WNBA season as one of the league's eight original teams. History One of the eight original WNBA teams, the Starzz ...

(1997–98),

Orlando Miracle The Orlando Miracle were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Orlando, Florida. It began play in the 1999 WNBA season. The Miracle relocated, in 2003, to Uncasville, Connecticut, where the team became the Connecticut ...

(2000–02),

Connecticut Sun The Connecticut Sun are an American professional basketball team based in Uncasville, Connecticut. The Sun compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference. The team i ...

(2003), and San Antonio Silver Stars (2004) * Kris Kirchner, Olympian in 1980 * Abby Meyers, plays for the WNBA's

Dallas Wings The Dallas Wings are an American professional basketball team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Wings compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. The team is owned by a group ...

(2023–present) * Limor Mizrachi, Israeli, played for the ABL's New England Blizzard (1998) * Jasmina Perazić, Olympian in 1984 (Yugoslavian team); played for the WNBA's New York Liberty (1997) *Deanna Tate, played for the ABL's New England Blizzard (1997–98) and the Chicago Condors (1998) *

Alyssa Thomas Alyssa Thomas (born April 12, 1992) is an American professional basketball Forward (basketball), forward for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for the Maryland Terrapins wome ...

, played for the WNBA's

(2014–present) * Shatori Walker-Kimbrough (born 1995), player for the Israeli team Maccabi Bnot Ashdod, and the Washington Mystics of the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. The league comprises 13 teams (scheduled to expand to 15 in 2026). The WNBA is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. The WNBA w ...

Roster

2007–08 season

Head coach Brenda Frese announced during the pre-season that she was pregnant. Because of this, she was unable to coach from the sidelines for most of the regular season. Newcomer assistant coach Daron Park would take on the role of acting head coach. With the coaching changes, the Terps improved to a 30–3 record, and ranked 5 and 6 in the AP and Coaches polls respectively. Key returning players include Marissa Coleman, Laura Harper, Crystal Langhorne, and Kristi Toliver, all of whom were on the 2006 NCAA Championship team. With the loss of Shay Doron, whose #22 jersey was honored this season, Frese brought in 5 recruits. Two weeks after giving birth to twin boys, Frese returned to the sidelines during the ACC women's basketball tournament. Maryland eventually lost to Duke in the semifinals.

Year by year results

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Postseason results

NCAA Division I

AIAW Division I

The Terrapins made four appearances in the AIAW National Division I basketball tournament, with a combined record of 13–1.

External links

*
Maryland Talk Show – Women's Basketball

References

{{Big Ten Conference women's basketball navbox