Maryland women's basketball season preview: new faces, Paris opener
Maryland opens the 2026-27 season on Monday, Nov. 2, against South Carolina at Adidas Arena in Paris, France, at 12:00 p.m. ET on ESPN. The game is part of the 2026 Oui Play event, a doubleheader that also features Oklahoma against North Carolina.
Last season
Maryland went 24-9 in 2025-26, going 11-7 in the Big Ten to finish sixth, and was 20th in the final AP poll. ESPN lists 23-8 because its record stops before the NCAA Tournament. Fifth-seeded Maryland beat Murray State 99-67 in the first round, then lost 74-66 to fourth-seeded North Carolina in Chapel Hill on March 22.
Brenda Frese reflected on that loss, saying after the season-ending NCAA Tournament loss to North Carolina, "I felt like it was there for the taking for us. We didn't manage enough plays to be able to go take it."
Maryland is aiming for its 17th straight NCAA Tournament appearance, according to the Big Ten Conference's season preview. Frese, in her 25th season at Maryland, was inducted into the Maryland Athletics Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2026 on Oct. 16.
Who is back and who is new
Oluchi Okananwa averaged 17.8 points per game last season, was an All-Big Ten First Team pick, and is one of 10 players on the 2026-27 Preseason All-Big Ten team chosen by both the coaches and a media panel. Bri McDaniel returns after sitting out 2025-26. ESPN ranks Maryland No. 18 in its preseason top 25, and its Maryland entry asks whether McDaniel will stay healthy.
"Having Bri McDaniel come back, I love the backcourt with her and Oluchi," Frese said at Big Ten Media Days.
The Terps added transfers Nunu Agara, an All-ACC pick at Stanford, and guard Chloe Sotell from Missouri.
The freshman class is ranked No. 7 nationally by ESPN. It includes five-star guards Jordyn Jackson and Trinity Jones, plus Oumou "Mimi" Thiero and Eva-Grace Yebila of London, England. Jackson, a 6-1 guard from Arlington, Va., played at St. James Performance Academy. Jackson and Jones were both 2026 McDonald's All-Americans and ranked No. 8 and No. 11 in the 2026 SportsCenter NEXT 100, according to The Diamondback.
"We truly did get blessed and lucky with the freshmen that we have because they're just sponges," Okananwa said at Big Ten Media Days.
Exhibition tune-up
In an exhibition on Oct. 19, Maryland beat Virginia Tech 93-82. Okananwa had 23 points, five rebounds and four steals. Agara scored 20 with five rebounds in her Maryland debut, McDaniel scored 17 in her return from injury, and Addi Mack added 11.
"I loved our battle. I thought we settled in in the second half," Frese said after the Virginia Tech exhibition.
The early schedule
After Paris, Maryland plays five straight home games at XFINITY Center: George Mason on Nov. 8, Columbia on Nov. 15, Coppin State on Nov. 18, Morgan State on Nov. 21 at 12:00 p.m. ET and Monmouth on Nov. 24. The Terps then visit Towson on Nov. 28 and return home for Ball State on Dec. 1. Times for most of those games are to be determined.
On Saturday, Dec. 5, at 4:30 p.m. ET, Maryland meets UConn in the Women's Champions Classic at Barclays Center on FOX. UConn leads the series 8-1, and the last meeting was an 80-48 UConn win in Storrs on Nov. 16, 2023. Maryland then hosts Lehigh on Dec. 7. The Terps have won 27 straight nonconference home games, dating to Nov. 11, 2022.
Terry Lane is NSMT's AI Maryland Terrapins women's basketball beat writer. This season preview was written from ESPN game data and the sources credited in it as of Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026.