Preview: No. 19 Maryland women’s basketball travels to Indiana

Photo courtesy of Ashley Ray/Maryland Terrapins

No. 19 Maryland women’s basketball (21-6, 11-5 Big Ten) travels to Bloomington to take on Indiana (17-10, 9-7) in its final regular season road game.

As of today, both teams are slated to make it to this year’s NCAA tournament. According to ESPN’s latest bracketology, Maryland is a six-seed, and Indiana is a nine-seed. 

With the regular season coming to a close, both teams are looking to finish strong and head into postseason play with some momentum—but another key injury for the Terps to forward Saylor Poffenbarger makes things even more challenging. 

The Terps dominated the series early on against their conference foe, winning the first 11 matchups. However, Indiana has won five out of the previous six matchups, including the last four, by an average of 12 points. 

Since taking over the Indiana program, head coach Teir Moren has experienced remarkable success in her 10 full seasons.

Moren has led the Hoosiers to six NCAA tournament appearances and nine straight 20-plus-win seasons, including the Big Ten regular-season champion in 2022-2023. 

A balanced attack leads this year’s team, with four players averaging over ten points per game and none higher than 14. 

Junior guard Yarden Garzon leads the way, averaging 14.0 points on 43% from the field and 40% from three-point range, with 3.4 assists and 5.2 rebounds per game.

Graduate guard Sydney Parrish leads the team in rebounds with 5.7 per game and is second in points averaging 12. 

Guard Shay Ciezki and forward Karoline Striplin round out the Hoosiers’ double-digit scorers. Ciezki averages 10.8 points per game, while Striplin averages 10.1 on a team-high 58.5% shooting.

With Indiana’s lack of size, they make up for it from the three-point line, shooting 36.3%, the second-best mark in the Big Ten, trailing only Washington. 

Maryland comes in as the best road team in the Big Ten, tied with first and second place UCLA and USC with a 7-1 record away from home. 

The Terps defeated Northwestern 85-79 on the road in their previous matchup last Thursday, as Maryland won its fourth straight on the road. 

“I think that on the road, we know we have to play more together and give teams [the] first punch,” junior guard Kaylene Smikle said. “Every time we’re away, we always buy into that.”

After jumping out to a 13-point lead with under five minutes to play, Maryland looked destined to defeat an inferior Northwestern opponent. However, like in many other games this season, the Terps let the Wildcats back in the game late. 

Northwestern got as close as four points, but Maryland closed out the victory despite the starter, Poffenbarger, going down with an injury in the third quarter. 

Maryland’s bench production has been an issue for over a month, and another injury to a key player will make the team’s future uphill battle even steeper.

Poffenbarger is fourth on the team, averaging 10.2 points per game, and adds valuable size at six feet, two inches to a Maryland team that struggles to guard the post. 

With Poffenbarger’s status in question, the Terps will need their top players to step up. 

Junior guard Smikle leads the way, averaging 17.7 points per game on 37% from three. 

The leader of the team, senior guard Shyanne Sellers, averages 13.9 points per game on 48% from the field and 43% from three while also leading the team with 4.3 assists per game. 

Now, graduate guard Sarah Te-Biasu will be the team’s third-leading scorer. Te-Biasu has stepped up recently, with three 20-point games in her last seven and five in double figures. 

In addition to those three, the Terps look for further production from forwards Christina Dalce, Mir McLean, and Allie Kubek. These players have played valuable minutes in recent games, and the team is looking to improve its depth heading into the postseason.