The No. 10 Maryland Women’s Basketball are looking for one of their best wins of the season last Thursday with a 72-64 win over No. 13 Michigan State. The win cemented her Terps’ place in the top four of the conference, with Iowa and Ohio in her second spot. Indiana leads the Big Ten with a conference record of 9-1.
The Terps have won 10 of their last 11 games and have a 12-11 chance against Penn State on Monday. Maryland has won all 12 of his matchups in the series since entering the Big Ten.
Days of back-to-back matches after Monday’s games against No. 10 Iowa and No. 2 Ohio State are looming large, but the Terps will first have to deal with the Nittany Lions at the XFINITY Center.
Tip-off is set for 6:30pm and the game will air on the Big Ten Network.
Pennsylvania State Nittany Lions (12-9, 3-7 Big Ten)
Despite the growth seen in the meantime Head coach Carolyn KiegerDuring his four-year tenure, the Nittany Lions have failed to climb out of the bottom of the Big Ten. Sledding has been tough since then after a pretty encouraging non-conference slate where they finished his 9-2.
After an impressive 10-point win over Purdue earlier this month, Penn State has found itself looking for a conference win again.
They have lost four of their last five games, including a tough overtime loss to the Rutgers last Thursday. Despite scoring near-average in most statistical categories, he struggles to turn his outstanding individual talents into victories.
Players you should know
Makena Marisa, Senior Guard, 5’11, No. 20 — Marissa leads Penn State in every aspect of the game, and has done so for the past four years. The team’s top scorer and assist is having a great season after earning First-Team All-Big Ten honors last year, and she’s averaging nearly 20 points per game in conference play this year, making her the league’s She is one of the most aggressive players in the
Leilani Kapinus, Redshirt Sophomore Guard, 5’10, No. 5 — Kapinus is defensive while Marisa coordinates her attacks. She’s finishing an outstanding freshman campaign being named to the All-Big Ten Freshman Team, where her 33 blocks, 59 steals and 165 rebounds were all top 10 for a freshman in program history. She is averaging a staggering 4.3 points per game, giving her 11.3 points per game on offense.
Tanya Thompson, Senior Guard, 5’11, No. 23 — As this listing suggests, size is not Nittany Lions strong point. But their guard made it, and Thompson seems to have Kiger’s favor, as she played heavy in her second straight game after being off the bench for most of her season. The senior brings a lot of experience from her three years in East Carolina where she was one of the best players in the AAC. She has scored her 10 or more in four of her last five games.
strength
Steal. Penn State is a small team that likes to be in transition, but they’ve had a lot of success changing teams this season. The Nittany Lions averaged nearly 13 steals per game, ranking him second in the conference behind Ohio State. Kapinus is leading with 71 steals this season.
weakness
road play. Penn State has not won a trip this season. 12-9 overall but 0-6 on the road. That streak was nearly broken when he took Rutgers to overtime recently, but lost in Thriller. In his five conference games at Pennsylvania State, the defense gave up an average of 90.8 points per game.
3 things to watch
1. Maryland can’t miss a “tune up” game. Much of the attention on the Terps has centered on their upcoming matchups against Iowa State and Ohio State, but the Terps have to deal with overthrowing Penn State. The Nittany Lions maintained relatively competitive games against Michigan and Indiana, so strong competition should be expected on Monday night.
2. Diamond Miller and Terps once cut up Penn State University. As previously mentioned, Maryland hasn’t dropped a game to Penn State since joining the Big Ten. Last year, Maryland won both competitions with a total of 188 points. Miller led in both games, with his 24 points and his 19 points respectively.
3. Can ‘X Factor’ build on her best performance this season? Senior guard Lavender Briggs discovered a stroke in recent weeks. Her Clutch Her 14-point performance helped the Terps down Michigan State. Head her coach Brenda Freese has referred to Briggs as the “X Factor” of the upcoming team. Since her time in Florida, it has been known that she is a talented scorer, and having her as a secondary threat off the bench will help Maryland maintain one of the toughest schedules in the country. It will help you with what you have.
