Preview: No. 8 Maryland women’s basketball gets set for matchup against Illinois

The end of the regular season is near, and each of the No. 8 Maryland (20-5, 11-3) and Illinois (19-6, 9-5) women’s basketball teams are looking to bolster their momentum as we pick up speed towards the Big Ten tournament. 

The day will be an emotional one for the Terps, who will be having their senior day against the Illini. The Terps will hope to have a proper send off for tenured members of the program Diamond Miller and Faith Masonius, while also saying bye to key new additions Abby Meyers and Elisa Pinzan.

“Our seniors, it’s their day so I know they’re going to be really motivated and setting the tone,” coach Brenda Frese said.

For Masonius, her time at Maryland has been a rocky one, particularly over the course of the last year. The senior guard/forward recovered from a torn ACL suffered versus Indiana last season in time to be a key contributor for a Maryland team that outside of Miller was almost a completely different roster due to the transfer portal. 

“I went through the downs of COVID and then injury so I feel like I’ve been through a lot here at Maryland,” Masonius said. “I’m just excited to be able to…enjoy my senior night with Diamond who I came in [to Maryland] with.” 

As for Illinois, this game marks yet another opportunity to capitalize on a potential upset and boost its seeding come March. The Illini are currently projected as a nine seed by ESPN and already boast one of the most shocking upsets of the year. 

On New Year’s Day, Illinois pulled off a stunner versus Caitlin Clark’s Iowa, winning 90-86 in a game that gave it national recognition. Despite this, the team is still not firmly in position for the tournament and is hungrier than ever to get a statement win with only four games — including this one — remaining on the schedule.

Each team is entering on a two-game win streak, albeit Maryland has won its past two games with an average margin of 30.5 points, with one being against No. 13 Ohio State. 

That — paired with the Terps playing with the emotion of a senior night — should only make things more difficult for the Illini, though with their depth they know their stars can step it up in a big game. 

Junior guard Makira Cook, the Big Ten’s current fourth leading scorer (18.0 points per game), will certainly be the main Illini player to watch out for in this one. The guard has averaged 21.5 in the Illini’s last two outings and will certainly prove to be dangerous for the Maryland defense.

One headline the Terps will surely be paying attention to will be the status of junior Genesis Bryant, who suffered an ankle injury in Illinois’ last game against Nebraska. The guard has averaged 14.8 points this season serving as the partner in crime to Cook. 

Her status — however in doubt it is after her being seen in crutches after the game — will be a key factor in how Maryland plans defensively.

Regardless of Bryant’s status Maryland will hope to counter the play of Cook with the outstanding two-way play of Miller, who has been a force on the biggest of stages this season.

The pressure of Sunday’s senior day game obviously will be a new feeling for the star guard, but handling the noise has been one of Miller’s many trademarks this season. 

Averaging 25.4 points in ranked games and nearly 25 over the course of their last three contests, Miller is more than likely to be the player who will step up for the Terps in an emotional high pressure outing as they hope to upgrade on their No. 3 seed projection (ESPN) with the clock on the regular season ticking down. 

Of course, it won’t only be Miller and Masonius looking to make a big mark on their senior day game. 

Meyers, whom this will be the second senior day for, will be looking to help uplift her hometown team to yet another win, as she has countless times this season. 

“She spent a ton of time just really improving her game and for it to kind of have a full circle moment to come back here to Maryland with all of her family and friends and put Maryland on your chest is a really prideful thing and…I think a really cool story,” Frese said.

The former Ivy League player of the year has come into Maryland and made a massive mark in her one year serving as part of the Terps’ big three of her, Miller and sophomore guard Shyanne Sellers, all of whom averaging over 14 points on the season. 

“Even though it’s only been one year, it’s been a magical one year and I’m very lucky to have been able to play and represent this organization,” Meyers said. 

Frese and her seniors hope to pick up a massive momentum-building win at 1 p.m. Sunday versus the Illini on their homecourt in front of family and friends alike.