Preview: No. 20 Maryland women’s basketball looks for first conference win against Purdue

The early season has been a story of peaks and valleys for No. 20 Maryland women’s basketball (7-3, 0-1 Big Ten). 

In the second game of the season, Maryland got crushed at home by No. 1 South Carolina on Nov. 11, before defeating then-No. 17 Baylor on the road just nine days later. A few games after, the Terps defeated then-No. 7 Notre Dame with a thrilling Diamond Miller buzzer beater on Dec. 1, but proceeded to lose to Nebraska at home their next time out.

The Terps will look for a bounce back performance following that loss, as they travel to West Lafayette to take on Purdue (8-1, 1-0 Big Ten) on Thursday in a conference clash.

Maryland knows of its inconsistencies that have plagued the Terps this season, which was front and center in its most recent 23-point loss to Nebraska.

“After that loss we were talking about consistency and communication,” senior forward/guard Faith Masonius said. “How do we get a win at Notre Dame and then we lose to Nebraska on our home floor, that should not be happening.”

Maryland is in for another tough test in its first Big Ten road game of the season, as Purdue is off to a hot start to its 2022-23 campaign. The Boilermakers defeated Michigan State in overtime last time out, and are riding a three game win streak. Their lone loss was just a one-point defeat to Florida State in late November. 

Purdue projects to threaten Maryland in multiple areas of weakness that have plagued the Terps early on, including guarding the three-ball. Nebraska shot a stunning 48% from beyond the arc, as junior guard Jaz Shelley shot 6-10 from deep en route to 29 points against the Terps.

Purdue will look to exploit Maryland’s porous three-point defense. The Boilermakers are an elite three-point shooting team early on, as they’ve shot 38% from deep, putting up just over eight a game. Meanwhile, Maryland’s 33% opponent three-point percentage is tied for No. 270 among all Division One schools.

“They go inside-out to shoot the threes, which was an area that gave us some problems that we are really trying to clean up,” coach Brenda Frese said.

Fifth-year guard Lasha Petree has experience playing Maryland, albeit for a different Big Ten team. The Rutgers transfer leads the Boilermakers in scoring, averaging 18.3 points per game.

Petree only scored seven points when Rutgers and Maryland clashed in 2021, but has looked much more dangerous player in a Boilermakers uniform.

“They got six seniors and she has clearly been their best player,” Frese said. “But if you focus on just her solely, they have got three point shooters, they are a very unselfish team.”

One of those shooters is fifth-year guard Cassidy Hardin, who is shooting at a 41% clip from three to start the season. Hardin had 11 points last time on the floor, shooting 3-9 from deep against Michigan State.

Purdue’s offense isn’t bulletproof, as the Boilermakers have struggled with turnovers this year, an area Maryland believes it can potentially exploit.

“We want to be able to slow them down like we did with Notre Dame, because they were a great transition team,” Frese said. “We also want to be able to get back to our transition and be aggressive.”

Additionally, Purdue lacks the size that gave Maryland trouble in losses to South Carolina and Nebraska. The Boilermakers’ tallest starter is redshirt senior forward Caitlyn Harper, who is listed at 6-foot-2. 

“I think a key to this game is that [Purdue] does not have the size that Nebraska had,” Masonius said.

On the other side of the ball, look for Maryland to run in transition and try to get senior guard Abby Meyers going. Meyers started the year off strong, but has just eight points in the last two games, and has shot the three-ball at just a 28% clip in Maryland’s three losses.

After a poor 13-point, 25% from the field performance against Nebraska, Miller will look to rebound against Purdue. The senior guard has stepped up on the road, scoring over 25 points in games at Baylor and Notre Dame.

The game on Thursday will start at 6:30 p.m. and will take place at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette.