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No. 7 Maryland looks to overcome season-ending injuries to three key players
Maryland has been snake-bitten by injuries as of late, losing three players to season-ending surgeries already this season.
Guards Lea Bartelme, Ava McKennie and Kaylene Smikle all are out with knee injuries for the undefeated seventh-ranked Terrapins.
“Yeah, really impactful. Obviously, when you have two starters go out — and KK (Kaylene Smikle), I mean, we’re really sorry, really sad for KK now that she’s gonna have to endure another surgery,” Maryland coach Brenda Frese said. “I know it was a really hard decision for her and we appreciate her trying to play through and do it for her teammates.
“But, clearly, the injury bug has not been kind to us. But I will say that the resiliency in this locker room, as you just witnessed, is something I haven’t seen in a really long time. Just the understanding that we can’t control those (injuries) and just be prepared and ready for the next player up.”
Smikle announced on Sunday before Maryland beat Minnesota in double overtime that she was going to have surgery.
“I have been fighting through an injury and playing through some pain since preseason. After a lot of prayer and many conversations with my family, coaches and medical staff, I have decided to undergo knee surgery that will end my season,” said Smikle, who averaged 13.1 points this season in seven games.
She missed the first three with the knee injury. Last season, Smikle led the Terps with 18.2 points per game, and was named All-Big Ten first team by the media and All-Big Ten second team by coaches.
There is some good news for the Terrapins as veteran Bri McDaniel is expected back at she recovers from her own ACL tear she suffered last January.
Maryland has two weeks to figure out life without Smikle as the Terrapins’ next Big Ten game isn’t until Dec. 29 against Wisconsin. The Terrapins play Delaware State and Central Connecticut before that.
The Big Ten had nine teams ranked in the AP Top 25 on Monday, matching the most ever in the poll that the conference set last year.
NET ratings
No. 1 UConn holds the top spot in the NET ratings Monday. The Huskies are followed by LSU, Michigan, UCLA and Texas. Princeton is the highest mid-major program in the rankings, coming in at 31. The NET is just one tool the NCAA selection committee uses to figure out which teams make the NCAA Tournament and where they are seeded. It has predicted the winner pretty accurately since it first was used in 2021. Four of the five national champions were No. 1 in the NET on Selection Sunday
Taking a break for exams
With most schools heading into an exam period, the schedules are mostly light. There are a couple of quality games this week with No. 11 Iowa playing 10th-ranked Iowa State on Wednesday. The top-ranked Huskies head to Los Angeles to play No. 16 USC on Saturday. No. 22 Louisville visits 12th-ranked North Carolina on Sunday.
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Freelance writer Patrick Donnelly contributed to this story.
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