No. 10 Maryland women’s basketball vs. Penn State preview

No. 10 Maryland ladies’s basketball is coming off certainly one of its greatest wins of the season, taking down No. 13 Michigan, 72-64, this previous Thursday. The victory solidified the Terps’ place within the high 4 of the convention, with Iowa and Ohio State tied for second. Indiana leads the Large Ten with a 9-1 convention document.

The Terps have received 10 of their final 11 video games and have an opportunity to make that 11-of-12 with a bout towards Penn State on Monday. Maryland has received all 12 matchups within the collection since getting into the Large Ten.

Consecutive matchups within the days after Monday’s sport towards No. 10 Iowa and No. 2 Ohio State loom giant, however the Terps have to maintain enterprise towards the Nittany Lions at XFINITY Middle first.

Tipoff is about for six:30 p.m. and the sport will likely be televised on Large Ten Community.

Penn State Nittany Lions (12-9, 3-7 Large Ten)

Regardless of having seen development throughout head coach Carolyn Kieger’s four-year tenure, the Nittany Lions have been unable to dig themselves out of the underside a part of the Large Ten. After a reasonably encouraging nonconference slate wherein they completed 9-2, it’s been powerful sledding since.

Exterior of a formidable 10-point victory towards Purdue earlier this month, Penn State has discovered itself looking for convention wins but once more.

It’s misplaced 4 of its final 5, together with a troublesome time beyond regulation defeat at Rutgers this previous Thursday. Regardless of positing near-average marks in most statistical classes, it has struggled to show some good particular person expertise into wins.

Gamers to know

Makenna Marisa, senior guard, 5-foot-11, No. 20 — Marissa leads Penn State in all sides of the sport, and has performed so for the previous 4 years. The staff’s high scorer and assister is having one other excellent season after receiving First Staff All-Large Ten honors final 12 months. She’s averaging shut to twenty factors per sport in convention play this 12 months, and is among the league’s greatest offensive gamers.

Leilani Kapinus, redshirt sophomore guard, 5-foot-10, No. 5 — Whereas Marisa orchestrates the offense, Kapinus is a drive on protection. She’s coming off a standout freshman marketing campaign the place she was named to the All-Large Ten freshman staff. Her 33 blocks, 59 steals and 165 rebounds have been all high 10 for a freshman in program historical past. She’s averaging a formidable 4.3 takeaways per sport whereas additionally chipping in on the offensive finish with 11.3 factors per sport.

Taniyah Thompson, senior guard, 5-foot-11, No. 23 — As proven by this record, measurement just isn’t a power of the Nittany Lions. Nonetheless, their guards get it performed, and Thompson appears to be discovering the favor of Keiger. After coming off the bench for a lot of the season, she’s performed heavy minutes in two straight video games. The senior brings a ton of expertise from her three years at East Carolina, the place she was among the best gamers within the AAC. She’s scored over 10 factors in 4 of her final 5 outings.

Power

Steals. Penn State, a small staff that likes to get out in transition, has had a number of success turning groups over this season. The Nittany Lions common near 13 steals per sport, which ranks second within the convention behind solely Ohio State. Kapinus leads the way in which with 71 steals on the season.

Weak spot

Highway play. Penn State hasn’t received on the highway this season. It’s 12-9 general, however 0-6 on the highway. It virtually broke that streak when it introduced Rutgers to time beyond regulation not too long ago, however misplaced in a thriller. In Penn State’s 5 convention video games, its protection has surrendered a median of 90.8 factors per sport.

Three issues to look at

1. Maryland can’t overlook a “tune up” sport. Whereas a lot of the concentrate on the Terps is centered round upcoming matchups towards Iowa and Ohio State, the Terps have to maintain downing Penn State. The Nittany Lions stored their video games towards Michigan and Indiana comparatively aggressive, so there must be an expectation that they’ll compete laborious Monday evening.

2. Diamond Miller and the Terps have sliced by way of Penn State earlier than. As beforehand talked about, Maryland hasn’t dropped a sport to Penn State since becoming a member of the Large Ten. Final 12 months, Maryland cruised to victory in each conferences, scoring a mixed 188 factors. Miller led the way in which in each video games, scoring 24 and 19 factors, respectively.

3. Can the “X-factor” construct on her greatest efficiency of the season? Senior guard Lavender Briggs has discovered her stroke over the previous few weeks, and her clutch 14-point efficiency helped the Terps down Michigan, with head coach Brenda Frese calling Briggs the staff’s “X-factor” going ahead. It’s identified from her time at Florida that she’s a gifted scorer, and having her as a secondary risk off the bench will likely be instrumental with Maryland having one of many hardest remaining schedules within the nation.