Preview: No. 10 Maryland women’s basketball prepares for battle against Penn State

No. 10 Maryland women’s basketball (17-4, 8-2 Big Ten) looks to keep its momentum rolling in a home matchup against Penn State (12-9, 3-7 Big Ten) Monday night. 

Maryland’s most recent performance against No. 13 Michigan was a good one, outlasting the Wolverines, 72-64. The Terps further asserted themselves as one of the Big Ten’s toughest opponents, and the win was their fourth in a row.

The Terps are 10-1 in their last 11 outings, a stretch that dates back all the way to their buzzer-beater win over Purdue in early December.

Senior guard Diamond Miller has played a key role in the Terps’ success, as she can’t seem to be stopped right now. In their last outing, the Big Ten’s third-leading scorer added to her already impressive resume, posting 23 points against the Wolverines while leading the Terps to their fourth win versus a ranked opponent this season.

Miller hasn’t scored under 17 points in the Terps’ last six games, and will be a key to the outcome of this one. Three out of the four Terps’ losses have come either when Miller hasn’t played (South Carolina) or when she was held to less than 14 points.

Despite forcing the second most turnovers in the Big Ten, Penn State sits in the bottom-half of the conference in opponent points per game (69.5), which should bode well for Maryland’s star. 

Although Maryland and Penn State rank similarly in the Big Ten in scoring offense and defense — the Terps have a slight edge in both categories — the difference is the games where its best performances have come. 

The Terps have shined most when the lights were the brightest, posting wins over tremendous teams with high-scoring offenses alongside above-average defenses. This includes No. 7 Notre Dame and then-No. 17 Baylor, who typically allow around 57 points per game, whereas Maryland beat the two opponents scoring 74 and 73 points, respectively. 

Some of the nation’s best offenses have also been held to subpar performances by the Terps, including No. 5 UConn and No. 6 Indiana, despite their loss to the Hoosiers. Both teams regularly score upwards of 80 points, but the Terps held them both in the 70s during their contests. 

Penn State, on the other hand, has faltered in the big games, starting 3-7 in conference play in large part due to its inability to neutralize the strengths of other teams. One of its biggest weaknesses has been its inability to force bad shots, as it ranks dead last in the Big Ten in opponent field goal percentage (42.9%)

Despite the Nittany Lions’ recent losing spell, the Terps will still have to be wary of senior guard Makenna Marisa. Marisa leads Penn State with 18.2 points per game, which places her right behind Miller at fourth in scoring among players in the Big Ten. 

Marisa is a threat behind the arc, shooting at a 38.3% clip from three this season. 

“Makenna is such a great player,” coach Brenda Frese said. “She can score it at all three levels, and I think that is what makes her so difficult. She can shoot the three, she can pull up, she can get to the rim.”

Marisa’s co-star, guard Shay Ciezki, might be even more of a threat from behind the arc herself, where she shoots a prolific 40.8% this season. Ciezki’s freshman season has been highlighted by great performances against No. 13 Michigan and No. 10 Iowa, whom she scored 21 and 20 points against, respectively. 

Marisa and Ciezki will especially need to have big games from behind the arc for Penn State to pull off the upset. The good news for them is that Maryland ranks last in the Big Ten in opponent three-point percentage on the year (34.2%). 

The Terps will look to counter this weakness as they have all season, hoping to force as many turnovers as possible out of the two guards with their high pressure defense, which forces 19.6 turnovers per game. 

“We are undersized but that doesn’t really matter to us because we can dictate on the defensive end in other ways,” Frese said. “You’re seeing that by how hard we’re defending, our aggressiveness, or you know, ability to change defenses to be able to turn people over.” 

Playing at home, Maryland has home-court advantage, especially considering the Terps will play in their traditional gold-out against the Nittany Lions. Yet multiple Terps feel even more fans can show up.

“It definitely makes it that much more fun … it definitely is like our sixth man,” senior guard/forward Faith Masonius said. “[We’re] hoping that people start to realize once you come to our games they’re fun. We’re going to work hard. We’re going to entertain you.”

Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. at the XFINITY Center.