No. 7 Maryland women’s basketball at No. 16 Ohio State preview (game two)

Not many individuals believed No. 7 Maryland girls’s basketball would maintain its personal towards Caitlin Clark and the No. 6 Iowa Hawkeyes on Tuesday. The Terps had maybe certainly one of their most dominant wins of the 12 months, defeating Iowa 96-68.

The Terps have made a number of assertion wins all year long, however Maryland has an opportunity to finish a sweep of the Buckeyes within the remaining sport of the common season on Friday, which might ship shockwaves all through the Huge Ten. Maryland wants a win and an Iowa loss to No. 2 Indiana on Sunday to safe the No. 2 seed within the convention event.

Tipoff is about for six p.m. and shall be streamed on Huge Ten Community.

What occurred final time

Ohio State had been trending downward because the final time these two applications met. However when Maryland defeated the Buckeyes 90-54, followers began opening their eyes and seeing the deep potential that this retooled Maryland roster had.

It was a sport that featured all the most effective elements of what Maryland has to supply. Fifteen steals highlighted the Terps’ defensive technique, in addition to holding Jacy Sheldon to 5 factors after she returned from damage.

Taylor Mikesell took 19 shot makes an attempt and completed with simply 12 factors, turning the ball over six instances for the Buckeyes.

Maryland senior guard Diamond Miller had a double-double with 29 factors and 10 rebounds.

What’s occurred since

The win over Ohio State kicked off Maryland’s latest win streak, the place it has scored 80-plus factors in three of its final 5 video games.

Towards Northwestern, it nearly compelled the crew to put a goose egg within the second quarter when it held it to 2 factors.

However the largest win of all of them was defeating Iowa. There was an environment within the XFINITY Middle that rivaled a Closing 4 sport. With the Terps and Hawkeyes’ collection cut up, there might even be a 3rd assembly within the Huge Ten Match in a number of weeks.

Maryland has prioritized its offensive rebounding, particularly graduate guard Abby Meyers, who had a season-high 9 whole boards towards Iowa. This system has additionally positioned a heavy emphasis on producing high quality first halves.

Whereas that didn’t occur towards Michigan State, the Spartans gave Maryland a run for its cash when the sport got here all the way down to free throws.

Since falling to Maryland, Ohio State has gone 3-1, defeating Minnesota and No. 12 Michigan however shedding to Huge Ten regular-season champion Indiana. The Buckeyes are locked into the fourth seed within the Huge Ten Match — decrease than they might’ve hoped for once they had been competing for the league crown in January, however sufficient to warrant a strong seed within the NCAA Match.

Three issues to look at

1. Can Maryland full the season sweep? The Terps had an imposing 36-point victory over Ohio State earlier within the season. They recorded a 52.3% mark from the sphere, 50% common from three, and went 88.9% on the free throw line. This time round, Ohio State will host the season finale in Columbus, the place it’s 11-3 this season. Maryland is in search of its first season sweep of Ohio State since 2018-19, a 12 months the place it defeated the latter en path to a Huge Ten Championship.

2. Will the Terps protection include Mikesell? When these two groups met earlier this month, Maryland’s protection performed with a singular focus of limiting the effectiveness of Ohio State guard Taylor Mikesell. The previous Maryland guard struggled to the tune of 12 factors on 5-for-19 capturing and two of seven from distance. Maryland sophomore guard Shyanne Sellers faceguarded Mikesell for a lot of the sport and crowded her house when driving to the rim. Mikesell is seventh within the Huge Ten with 17.3 factors per sport and has confirmed to be an electrical scorer for Ohio State. The Terps have the blueprint to stifle Mikesell, however it’s going to should be replicated to choose up their eleventh street victory of the season.

3. What’s going to Brinae Alexander and Lavender Briggs do for an encore? In Tuesday win over Iowa, reserve guards Brinae Alexander and Lavender Briggs exploded for a mixed 43 factors and 9 three-pointers. Alexander and Briggs are adorned SEC guards which have flashed their offensive potential of their first seasons with Maryland. The final time they met Ohio State, they solely mixed for 13 factors and one three-pointer. It’s going to price monitoring how they comply with up an explosive night time.