COLLEGE PARK — Kaylene Smikle scored 10 of Maryland women’s basketball’s first 16 points and ended with 25 in the Terps’ 107-35 drubbing of Saint Francis on Sunday, four points shy of their largest margin of victory in program history.

The result was unsurprising — No. 11 Maryland is unbeaten through six games for the first time in three years and the Red Flash were winless until this week. Smikle’s early season contributions were also expected.

Coach Brenda Frese was intentional about the transfers she brought to College Park. She needed specific roles filled, and a perimeter scorer who could knock down 3-pointers was chief among them.

That became Smikle, a junior guard who averaged 17 points per game over two seasons at Rutgers and leads the Terps in scoring with 19.7 per contest through the first month of the season. She’s energized an offense that’s vastly different from last season and has Maryland clicking at near-historic rates.

“I’m not surprised in the sense of who she is and her abilities,” Frese said. “Where I’m most surprised is how quickly it all came together.”

Maryland raced out to a 33-3 lead after the first quarter Sunday led by Smikle’s 15 points. Frese dipped into her reserves and emptied her bench early as Smikle played sparingly thereafter.

The Terps led 66-9 at halftime, 89-20 after three quarters and won by 72.

It was Maryland’s largest margin of victory since 2019. The record that came close to being toppled was a 76-point win over the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in 2015.

Maryland’s 107 points are its most since last November and marks the fifth time the program has topped the century mark in the past four seasons.Sunday’s records came against an opponent that was outmatched and overwhelmed in all facets, but Smikle still shined brightest. The guard set a season-high in points in just 19 minutes on the court.

“She’s always been an elite-level scorer,” Frese said. “I’m really challenging her to do other things: defensively, this positive assist-to-turnover ratio. She’s really working hard. That’s what’s going to separate her. We know she’s a dynamic scorer. But now, if we can add those other things to her game, that’s going to be huge.”

Smikle was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman team two years ago in her debut season with the Scarlet Knights to first put the conference on notice. An ankle injury stunted her second season in Piscataway, but she has remained one of the conference’s best scorers and settled in faster than any of the Terps’ seven new transfers.

She’s topped 20 points in all but one of Maryland’s first six games. Her 54% field goal and 68% 3-point shooting rates are career highs, and she entered Sunday leading the nation in the latter category.

“I’m extremely proud to be a Terp,” Smikle said.

Saint Francis shot 12-for-54 from the field, including 5-for-28 from beyond the arc. The Red Flash went more than 10 minutes of game time without a field goal in the first half and turned the ball over 23 times.

“I told them we needed to come out and play like we were down 20,” Frese said. “Those are the habits that we want to build.”

Allie Kubek added 20 points for Maryland and Villanova transfer Christina Dalce posted 11 rebounds, her fourth game in double digits. Virginia transfer Mir McLean (Roland Park) played her most minutes of the season and tallied 10 points and 10 rebounds, her first double-double of the year. Eleven Terps took the court.

The Terps took their first lead seconds after the opening tip Sunday in what became one of their most dominant wins ever. Again — and like she has all season — Smikle powered a lineup that no one has yet to slow down. She’s been everything Frese coveted and more.

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