The Terps (7-1, 3-0 B1G) will ride a six-game win streak into East Lansing as they take on No. 23 Michigan State (8-0, 3-0 B1G) on Thursday at 5 p.m.
The No. 12-ranked Terps are coming off a tight, 84-80, victory over Big Ten preseason favorite Indiana on Monday night. The Terps took an early lead before the Hoosiers fought back in the second half to make it a closely contested affair. Guards Diamond Miller and Ashley Owusu each scored 20 points to lead the Terps to the win, while forward Chloe Bibby contributed 15 points of her own.
Maryland is putting up historical offensive production eight games into the season. Head Coach Brenda Frese’s squad is averaging 95.6 points per game thus far, second in the nation and first in the Big Ten. No team in Maryland’s history has averaged more than 90 points per game throughout an entire season. The team’s scoring record is held by the 1977-78 team, which averaged 89.6 points per game, according to Maryland Athletics.
As for Thursday’s matchup, both teams enter the game tied for first place in the Big Ten. The Spartans are off to a tremendous start, undefeated through eight games for the first time since the 2012-13 season.
The Spartans are led by guard Nia Clouden, who is averaging 14.5 points per game. Maryland is 13-2 all-time against Michigan State and has won two straight meetings against the Spartans, including a 94-53 blowout in College Park last February.
“They’re a much improved team from a year ago,” Frese said. “They’re undefeated right now, I think playing some of their best basketball. It’s a really unselfish team. They share the basketball extremely well, so for us, we’re going to have to come out and play both ends of the floor.”
A new mid-season addition to Maryland’s roster is graduate transfer Alaysia Styles from Cal. Styles will make the trip to East Lansing. She is a 6-3 forward from San Diego who averaged 8.4 points per game during her junior season at Cal.
Maryland will look to extend its winning streak to seven games and hand the Spartans their first loss of the season in a ranked showdown.
