The Maryland Terrapins are having one of their best campaigns in the 2025-26 NCAA season, with nine consecutive wins. However, with the No. 7 team widely considered a championship contender now, they’ve issued their second unfortunate update: this time, about guard Ava McKennie.

“🙏🏽 for a speedy recovery for Ava McKennie 🫶🐢Ava has suffered a torn ACL and will miss the remainder of the 2025-26 season,” the program confirmed.

They’ve lost a key bench contributor on both offense and defense. But what exactly happened?

How did Ava McKennie get injured?

Maryland’s last win over Hofstra in Puerto Rico came at a very high cost. During the fourth quarter of the game, McKennie stole the ball and pushed through to attempt a fast-break play. But while she was driving toward the hoop for an open layup, she went down in visible pain after being fouled by her opponent.

Because of this incident, the 6-foot-2 star had to be helped off the court. McKennie was unable to put any weight on her right leg. Head Coach Brenda Frese also wasn’t sure about the severity of the injury after the game, leaving the majority of her hopes to the medical team at College Park.

This marks the second key Terrapin to be lost to injury this season. Freshman guard Lea Bartelme also injured her left knee when she went down in the second quarter of the Maryland side’s 88-70 win over Towson on November 13. It was a similar scenario where the player picked up an injury while driving to the rim.

With both players sidelined for the season, they are also leaning on each other through rehab. Shortly after the Terrapins shared the news, Bartelme took to her Instagram stories, posting two candid on-court photos of them together.

“You got this… at least we are together in this 🫂,” Bartelme wrote in the caption.

Ava McKennie was also quick to reshare the post on her page.

“Me and you babes!!!!” she replied to the heartfelt message.

These two key players’ absences will leave a big hole to fill for Frese, and fans will be watching to see how Maryland adjusts.

Who replaces Ava McKennie? What’s next for the Maryland Terrapins?

The Terrapins will face the Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers in their next game, set to take place in just a few hours. With McKennie, who was averaging 3.7 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 0.1 assists per game, out for good, Frese is expected to tweak her rotations, relying on a more collective offensive approach and defensive rotation.

Freshman Kyndal Walker and Rainey Welson, who are collectively averaging 7.3 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game, could see more minutes on the court with a chance to prove themselves. At the same time, more responsibility will fall to Kaylene Smikle until Bri McDaniel’s potential 2026 return.

Smikle started her season late because of a leg injury, but it’s safe to say that she’s hit the ground running with double-digit returns in all but one game.

However, the timing of McKennie and Bartelme getting sidelined couldn’t have been worse for the Terrapins, as starting January 11, the team will face top-25 teams consecutively. The brutal stretch includes facing No. 16 USC, No. 4 UCLA, No. 12 Iowa, and No. 21 Washington.

The road ahead gets tougher, but the Terrapins’ response to adversity may reveal more about this team than their record ever could.