Kaylene Smikle is off to quite a start to her Maryland career. She's leading the eighth-ranked Terrapins in scoring, the team is undefeated -- and now she can celebrate reaching the 1,000-point mark.
Smikle surpassed 1,000 on Thursday in a 107-57 victory over William and Mary. The Rutgers transfer scored 14 of her 21 points in the first half after needing only 11 to arrive at the milestone.
"I think it's just a blessing," Smikle said. "It's a blessing to be here, it's a blessing to accomplish this one milestone here at Maryland."
The Terrapins also have three other players who have reached 1,000 points. Shyanne Sellers has been a Terp her whole college career, but Allie Kubek is in her second season playing at Maryland after two years at Towson, and Sarah Te-Biasu arrived this season from Virginia Commonwealth.
The Terrapins went through some uncharacteristic struggles last season, bowing out in the first round of the NCAA Tournament as a No. 10 seed in their region. After remaking the roster, they've rolled to an 11-0 start in 2024-25.
Smikle, who averaged over 16 points per game in both her seasons at Rutgers, is at 17.7 for the Terps. She reached 1,000 points with a 3-pointer that gave Maryland a 44-21 lead in the second quarter, capping a 21-2 run that broke open a close game.
"It feel like it just made the accomplishment better being in such a great program, with people around me who genuinely care for me and want to push me every day and want to help me grow," Smikle said.
Now the Terps get a break before facing No. 15 Michigan State on Dec. 29 in what could be a matchup of unbeatens.