Preview: No. 3 Iowa WBB at Maryland

WHO: Maryland Terrapins (12-9 overall, 4-6 Big Ten)
WHEN: 7:00 PM CT (Saturday, February 3)
WHERE: XFINITY Center (College Park, Maryland)
TV: FOX
RADIO: Hawkeye Radio Network
ONLINE: https://www.foxsports.com/live
MOBILE: https://www.foxsports.com/live
FOLLOW: @IowaAwesome | @IowaWBB | @IowaonBTN

For the last several off-seasons, Maryland has lost major pieces from its teams, either through graduation or the transfer portal. Despite those seemingly annual losses, head coach Brenda Frese has always managed to reload and be right back at the top of the Big Ten the next year competing for a conference title.

The departures happened again this off-season. The Terrapins lost Diamond Miller (2nd overall) and Abby Meyers (11th overall) to the WNBA Draft. Despite Miller and Meyers' absence, everyone expected Maryland to reload and compete with Iowa, Ohio State, and Indiana for the Big Ten title.

For the first time since Maryland joined the Big Ten, the reload never materialized. Maryland sits just 12-9 overall and a stunning 4-6 in conference. The Terps are closer to the NCAA Tournament bubble now than they are to a Big Ten title.

Warning signs of Maryland's downfall started in the non-conference season. The Terps lost big at South Carolina (114-76) and at UConn (80-48). Even more concerning was Maryland's 87-67 loss against unranked Washington State in Cancun.

Things seemed to improve marginally in conference play. After a January 20 victory over Illinois the Terps were 4-3 in conference with close losses at Nebraska, at Michigan State, and at Ohio State. That's not up to Maryland's usual standard, but fine in an off year.

In the last week and a half, though, the bottom has fallen out. Maryland blew a 15=point halftime lead last Wednesday at Michigan and lost by two in overtime. The Terps then lost 112-76 last Sunday at Penn State. And on Wednesday, they lost 87-73 against Indiana.

All stats from this preview are from HerHoopStats.

Maryland's leading scorer is 6'2" guard/forward Shyanne Sellers. She averages 15.4 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 5.3 apg, and 1.6 spg. Sellers isn't a particularly efficient shooter, though, as she shoots 47.0% from 2-point range and 29.2% from 3-point range. Sellers' status for the game is also in question. She went down early in the game against Penn State and never returned. She did not play against Indiana on Wednesday.

6'0" guard Jakia Brown-Turner has picked up some of the scoring load in Sellers' absence, scoring 21 against Penn State and 22 against Indiana. She averages 12.7 ppg, 5.4 rpg, and 1.8 apg. Like Sellers, she isn't an overly efficient shooter, as she shoots 49.4% on 2-point attempts and 26.8% on 3-point tries.

5'10" guard Bri McDaniel is Maryland's final player averaging in double figures. She averages 12.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 3.2 apg, and 1.7 spg. McDaniel is a much better shooter from 3-point range (45.0%), though she attempts fewer than two per game on average.

Maryland's style is a lot like Iowa's. The Terps like to play fast and are much better offensively than they are defensively. The Terps average 77.3 possessions per 40 minutes, which ranks 17th nationally.

Offensively, Maryland averages 80.1 points per game, which ranks 20th. The Terps shoot better from three (35.9%, 33rd) than they do from two (48.2%, 91st). Sellers and Brown-Turner don't shoot the three well, but most of their teammates do. Maryland averages 16.8 assists per game (34th), but struggles somewhat with turnovers (15.4 per game, 140th).

Defense is Maryland's big issue. The Terps surrender 75.2 points per game, which ranks 340th nationally out of 360 teams. A big factor in those defensive struggles is that opponents are shooting very well on 2-point attempts (47.8%, 281st) and decently well from behind the arc (30.8%, 171st). Maryland also doesn't generate a lot of steals (8.1 per game, 137th), or blocks (2.5 per game, 234th). Finally, the Terps aren't great at closing out stops. Their 67.1% defensive rebounding rate ranks 247th.

Last year in Iowa's game at Maryland the Terps used a box-and-1 defense where the single man defender guarded Caitlin Clark. That often resulted in Clark being doubled on the perimeter when she entered a player's zone. Maryland might try to implement the same strategy this year, at least until Clark proves she can beat it.

Conquer the XFINITY Center. Maryland joined the Big Ten for the 2014-2015 season. Since then, the XFINITY Center has been a house of horrors for Iowa. The Hawkeyes have played at Maryland six times since 2014. Here are the results:

2015: Lost 93-88
2017: Lost 100-81
2018: Lost 80-64
2020: Lost 93-59
2021: Lost 111-93
2023: Lost 96-68

It's not just that Iowa lost all of those games. Many of them have been blowouts. Last year's result was particularly baffling. From February 12 to March 31 the Hawkeyes went 12-1 and beat Maryland in the Big Ten Tournament. The only loss they suffered in nearly two months was at Maryland and it was by 28 points.

This year's Maryland's team is the weakest the Terps have had since they joined the Big Ten. If ever there was a time for Iowa to break its XFINITY Center curse, it's now.