Brenda Frese, Maryland women's basketball land first two transfer portal commits

Maryland women's basketball head coach didn't waste much time reloading in the transfer portal after landing her first two portal commitments this week. Former Indiana Hoosiers starting guard Yarden Garzon and former Penn State Nittany Lion center Gracie Merkle went public with their decisions on Sunday and Monday.

Garzon, a junior 6-foot-3 guard from Ra’anana, Israel, spent her past three seasons as the Hooisers’ full-time starting guard. She capped off her 2024-25 season by averaging 14.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 3.2 assists. Garzon was also 43.1% in field goal percentage.

Her season high of points scored this season came against Washington, where she recorded 35 points. Garzon was also 40.7% from the three and 90.1% from the free-throw line. Garzon is leaving Indiana after setting an all-time record with 220 career 3-pointers made.

Garzon will look to replace Shyanne Sellers or Sarah Te-Biasu’s guard position, both players who made a career for themselves and left their mark as a Terp.

Sellers became the first player in program history to record 1,500 points, 500 rebounds, and 500 assists. She also earned All-Big Ten First Team for her third consecutive season. Sellers scored double figures in 23 of 27 games in her senior season alone.

Meanwhile, Te-Biasu, a transfer graduate student from VCU, had an impactful single season as a Terp. Te-Biasu recorded 340 career points at Maryland and shot 45% from the three-point line and 94.6% from the free-throw line.

But Garzon isn’t the only transfer portal commit the Terps picked up. Merkle looks to become the Terps’ true center in 2025-26, something Maryland has seemed to lack this past season.

As of now, the 6-foot-6 sophomore will be the tallest Terp for the 2025-26 season. Merkle spent her freshman year at Bellarmine University before transferring her sophomore year to Penn State. During her time as a Nittany Lion, Merkle recorded 433 points, averaging 15.5 points per game. Merkle also shot 60.2% from the free throw and averaged 8.6 rebounds per game.

With Merkle, the Terps finally have a better picture of who will be their true center. During the 2024-25 season, Maryland never found itself a center. The closest thing the Terps had to a center was forward Christina Dalce.

So far one Terp, guard Emily Fisher, has officially entered the transfer portal. Fisher leaves Maryland after two seasons. During her time as a Terp, Fisher averaged 2.3 points per game and 2.3 rebounds per game.

With time still left, Maryland hopes to recruit another guard this off-season to play alongside Garzon.

The Terps closed out their 2024-25 season with an impressive 25-8(13-5 Big Ten) record, ending their run against South Carolina in the NCAA Regional Semifinals.

By: Brinkley Smith

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