After a thrilling victory at the buzzer on the road against No. 7 Notre Dame, No. 20 Maryland women’s basketball (7-2) looks to continue its momentum in its first Big Ten battle this season, taking on Nebraska (5-3) on Sunday.
In a back-and-forth battle all throughout against Notre Dame, the Terps came out on top. Backed by Diamond Miller’s 32, the senior guard’s game-winning jumper at the buzzer gave Maryland the 74-72 win.
“We can live on that excitement of that win for maybe a day, and then we have to turn around and just put our head down and get back to business,” senior guard/forward Faith Masonius said postgame. “Nebraska has all the capability of coming in here and getting a win.”
Miller has been the engine of the Maryland offense this season, averaging a team-high 19.3 points per game. However, Miller isn’t alone as an offensive threat for the Terps, as senior guard Abby Meyers (14.2) and sophomore guard Shyanne Sellers (12.4) average in double figures as well.
The Cornhuskers entered the season ranked No. 22, but have dropped three of their first eight games, two of which against ranked opponents.
That said, Nebraska is still a dangerous team, returning all three of its top scorers a season ago.
Nebraska’s latest outing was a 31-point loss to No. 9 Virginia Tech on Thursday.
“We know what that feeling is like when we’ve taken losses this year,” coach Brenda Frese said. “We have to be really, really prepared.”
Like the Pittsburgh squad Maryland faced last week, Nebraska has no clear first option on offense. Instead, the Cornhuskers’ offense is split between their top three scorers — each averaging over 11 points per game.
Sophomore forward/center Alexis Markowski was named Big Ten Freshman of the year a season ago and has continued her impressive play this season. Markowski is averaging 12.6 points and 9.3 rebounds per game to start the year, and is a member of the Lisa Leslie Award Watch List. Markowski’s 6-foot-3 frame wreaks havoc on the interior, while also maintaining the ability to stretch teams out with her shooting ability.
“[Markowski’s] got great size, super skilled … and could get us in a lot of foul trouble,” Frese said.
Junior guard Jaz Shelley, who led the Cornhuskers in scoring a season ago with 13.1 points per game, is averaging 11.6 points per game to start this season. Shelley is a part of the 2023 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Watch List, which recognizes the best shooting guard in the country.
Shelley is a willing three point shooter, with at least double the attempts from deep of any other Cornhusker. Shelley can be a difference maker defensively, as she was named to the Big Ten All-Defensive team by the media last season.
Rounding out the three offensive threats is 6-foot-2 junior Isabelle Bourne.
The forward has been very efficient inside the three point line, using her size to great effect. Bourne averages 11.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.
Maryland has experience playing teams with more size due to its difficult early season tests, but between Markowski and Bourne, the undersized Maryland defense may have fits.
On the other side of the floor, Nebraska’s defense has been on a rollercoaster thus far. The Cornhuskers hold opponents to an average of 61 points per game and 38% shooting from the field, but have found themselves unable to step up against high profile opponents this season.
In their three losses, the Cornhuskers defense allowed an average of just over 50% from the floor and almost 44% from the three, something Maryland will look to exploit.
The return to College Park for the Terps on Sunday will start at 1 p.m. and will take place at the XFINITY Center.
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