Indiana Women's Basketball Resumes Big Ten Play With a Top 10 Matchup Versus Maryland

To bring in the new year, the No. 8-ranked Hoosiers will partake in another top 10 matchup in No. 6 Maryland at home. Both teams have similar paths up until this point including losses to Stanford and NC State.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — In 2021, things got off to a great start for the Hoosiers as they cruised through their nonconference schedule with only two losses to now No. 2-ranked Stanford and No. 5 NC State.

Now in 2022, the Hoosiers will get their first test of the new year with No. 6-ranked Maryland on Jan. 2, the top team in the Big Ten right now. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

Last season, the Hoosiers were defeated by the Terrapins 84-80 in College Park, Md. 

The Terrapins went on to earn the Big Ten Championship handedly defeating Nebraska, Northwestern and Iowa all by double digits.

Maryland made it through the first and second rounds in the NCAA tournament defeating Mount St. Mary's by 53 points and Alabama by 36 points.

The then-No. 2 seed Terrapins saw their season come to a dramatic end when Texas defeated them 64-61 in the Sweet Sixteen round sending the Longhorns to their first Elite Eight since 2016.

Fast forward to 2022, and the Terrapins have built up a strong resume of their own this season.

Like the Hoosiers, the Terrapins also have a difficult nonconference schedule. They too fell to Stanford and NC State in the Bahamas. 

The No. 1-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks also added a loss to the Terrapins' schedule on Dec. 12.

It will have been 12 days since the Terrapins took the court since their matchup with Illinois was postponed. Similarly, the Hoosiers are coming off a 10-day break after the postponement of the Rutgers game.

Maryland is led by sophomore guard/forward Angel Reese who's averaging 18.1 points and 10.5 rebounds per game. Junior guard Ashley Owusu is adding 16.5 points per game.

All five starters are totaling double digit averages placing eighth in the country for highest scoring offense, averaging 82.8 points per game.

The Hoosiers are averaging 72.8 points per game led by junior forward Mackenzie Holmes who's leading the team with 18.3 points per game. Senior guard Grace Berger is averaging 14.8 points while graduate student guard Ali Patberg adds 11.7 points.

Sunday's game will be the Hoosiers' third top 10 matchup of the season and fifth ranked opponent of the season. 

The Hoosiers have held their last five opposing teams to under 40 percent shooting from the field and hasn't let any opponent get above 70 points on the board. 

How to watch Maryland at Indiana

• Who: Maryland Terrapins (10-3) vs. Indiana Hoosiers (10-2)
• When: 3 p.m. ET, Thursday, Jan. 2
• Where: Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, Bloomington, Ind.
• TV: ESPN2
• Radio: WHCC 105.1 FM

Related stories on Indiana women's basketball

• INDIANA VS. RUTGERS POSTPONED: Due to positive COVID-19 tests within the Scarlet Knights' organization, the game will be postponed, and the Big Ten conference will determine the next steps for possibly rescheduling the game later in the season. CLICK HERE.
• HOOSIERS HOLD ONTO NO. 8 RANK: The Hoosiers stay comfortably in the top 10 sitting at No. 8 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll for the second week in a row. The top 13 teams didn't budge either. There were minor shifts in rank from the remaining top 25 teams. CLICK HERE.
• INDIANA FINISHES NONCONFERENCE WITH WIN OVER SALUKIS: The Hoosiers celebrate their tenth win of the season following a 70-37 victory over the Southern Illinois Salukis. Indiana finished its nonconference schedule with just two losses and will transition into Big Ten play next week. CLICK HERE.