No. 9 Maryland Overcome Tight First Half To Beat George Mason
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Oluchi Okananwa led the Terps with 23 points and helped Maryland defeat George Mason, 84-62, at Xfinity Center on Sunday afternoon. No. 9 Maryland now moves to 7-0 on the season, while George Mason falls to 4-2, ending their four-game winning streak.
Coming in at No. 7 in this week’s AP poll. #faMily 🐢 pic.twitter.com/kAe6xeXogg
— Maryland Women’s Basketball (@TerpsWBB) November 24, 2025
Okanawa's 23 points are a new career-high, as she shot a sensational 10-of-15 from the field, hitting all three of her free throw attempts to go along with four rebounds, five assists, one steal, and one block.
Yarden Garzon chipped in a season-high 16 points and nine rebounds in 37 minutes of action. Garzon continues to be a steady presence on the offensive end, providing scoring from outside and inside through every game so far.
Yarden for 3! 👌
— Maryland Women’s Basketball (@TerpsWBB) November 23, 2025
📺 BTN x #faMily 🐢 pic.twitter.com/5SZhbLfkgZ
Freshman Addi Mack added 12 off the bench, shooting 4-of-7 from the field and 4-for-4 at the free throw line. Mir McLean scored eight points, grabbed six rebounds, and had a steal as a reserve.
The first quarter was tight, with neither team letting the other gain any real separation. In the second quarter, the Patriots, led by Zahirah Walton and two key three-point jumpers from Jada Brown, would take their largest lead of the game, 34-27, at the 5:36 mark.
Walton finished the game as the leading scorer for George Mason, finishing with 27 points, shooting 55% from the field, and two steals.
However, the Terps closed the second on a key 9-2 run, holding the Patriots to one field goal and a buzzer-beater jumper at half by Saylor Poffenbarger tied things up 36-36.
Saylor ties it at the halftime buzzer ‼️
— Maryland Women’s Basketball (@TerpsWBB) November 23, 2025
📺 BTN x #faMily 🐢 pic.twitter.com/ncSentNxF4
Entering the third quarter, Maryland erupted on an 11-0 run to open the quarter, which carried them through the rest of the game. The closest George Mason would cut the lead down to was nine, but couldn't establish a run of their own or slow down the Maryland offense.
Poffenbarger provided the Terps with key energy on both sides of the floor, grabbing six rebounds, dishing out four assists, with five steals, and two blocks.
As stated on the Maryland Athletic website, the Terps have started the season 7-0 in back-to-back seasons, and for the eighth time under Frese. While also scoring 80+ points in all of its games this season.
Terps Key Team Stats
- Maryland shot 45% from the field and 86% at the free-throw line.
- Maryland outrebounded George Mason 46-28. Eighteen of the Terps' rebounds were offensive.
- The Patriots had 21 turnovers and the Terps 20. However, the Terps turned the 21 turnovers they forced into 32 points.
- The Terps had double the paint points than the Patriots (48-28).
Against George Mason of All-Time
Maryland now moves to 10-0 all-time against George Mason, with eight wins coming in the Brenda Frese era.
Jaden's sports journalism career began at the College of Southern Maryland from 2022-2023, where he was brought in to cover baseball, softball, basketball, soccer, and volleyball at CSM. In late 2023, he began interning at the University of Maryland Athletics Department as a contributing writer to help develop feature stories and game recaps. He also creates his own sports media content on professional Washington teams with LegacyMaker Sports Network.