Preview: No. 9 Maryland women’s basketball prepares for matchup against Rutgers

After being dealt its first road loss of the season at the hands of No. 6 Indiana on Thursday, No. 9 Maryland women’s basketball (13-4, 4-2 Big Ten) looks to bounce back at home against Rutgers (8-10, 2-4 Big Ten).

The Terps’ six-game win streak was cut short as a result of the balanced offense of the Hoosiers, displayed alongside their excellent defense.

“It felt like a Sweet 16 matchup in March,” coach Brenda Frese said. “A lot of great lessons for us to be able to learn from … and now we’re eager and looking forward to really putting a consistent four quarters together against Rutgers.”

The Terps already beat the Scarlet Knights 78-67, a win part of their previous six-game streak, just under two weeks ago. Despite the interesting scheduling, Frese and her team will look to pick up a much needed second win against Rutgers in order to rebound from Thursday’s loss.

“It is ironic with the scheduling how we’re already playing a team twice before we have even played others at all,” Frese said.

During the aforementioned six-game streak, star guards Abby Meyers (senior) and Shyanne Sellers (sophomore) averaged 17.2 and 17 points per game, respectively. However, Meyers and Sellers will look to improve upon their previous performance after each scored just nine points against Indiana. 

Despite the loss, senior guard Diamond Miller continued the dominance she’s displayed this season. Miller put up 19 points and six rebounds versus the Hoosiers, getting to the free throw line with ease throughout the game.

Now, the Terps will have to switch focus quickly as they only have a one day break before playing the Scarlet Knights.

“It’s good to be able to learn from [the loss] and [quickly] move on to the next,” senior guard/forward Brinae Alexander said.

Despite the latest loss, the Terps certainly have had a season to be proud of, already posting many big wins that shape up to be helpful entering the postseason.

However, for Rutgers, this season hasn’t gone quite to plan. The Scarlet Knights haven’t seemed to be able to hang on to momentum, as their largest win streak of the season is just two — a mark they have tied entering the game this Sunday. 

The Scarlet Knights look to turn things around after picking up two pivotal Big Ten wins over Nebraska and Minnesota. With a win on the road versus Maryland, the Scarlet Knights would finally reach the long sought after win streak of three that has eluded them so far this season.

In order for Maryland to prevent this, the Terps will need to keep an eye out for Rutgers’ star freshman guard Kaylene Smikle, who’s averaging 16.9 points and 4.7 rebounds per game to start the year. 

Smikle will certainly be an emphasis in the scouting report following the two teams’ previous matchup, in which Smikle dropped 29 points and nine rebounds on 52.4% shooting. Smikle’s individual play forced the Terps to have to work for a win that would have otherwise been an easy blowout.

“There’s a lot of respect for her just given the fact that she did score on us so easily,” Frese said. “I think it’s obviously going to be a defense by committee.” 

Offensively, the Terps hope to notch yet another great shooting performance against a Rutgers squad that has struggled to keep teams from knocking shots down around the perimeter this season. The Scarlet Knights have allowed over seven threes per game so far this season, something Meyers capitalized in the teams’ last contest, canning four of her own.

Meyers will surely hope to replicate that performance, as she dropped 22 points with efficient shooting splits.

Each team looks to gain important momentum at 1 p.m. Sunday when they face off at the XFINITY Center in College Park.