No. 5-seed Maryland women’s basketball enters the NCAA Tournament with a first round matchup against 12-seed Murray State in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Coming out of the Missouri Valley Conference, the Racers went 31-3 for the season, winning the Missouri Valley Conference championship over Louisiana Tech to make their way into the tournament.
Halli Poock and Sharnecce Currie-Jelks lead the Racers. Poock leads the conference in scoring with 22.4 points per game and powers Murray State to one of the nation’s top offenses. They play fast and put up a lot of points.
A walking double-double, Currie-Jelks leads the conference in rebounding with 11.8 rebounds per game and averages 17.7 points per game alongside that. She shows shades of Oregon’s Ehis Etute, who was a problem for the Terps in their last two meetings with the Ducks. Her combination of size and rebounding ability made her difficult to stop for Maryland.
In their previous matchup in the Big Ten tournament, though, the player who had the best time against her was Mir McLean. McLean barely played in the second half against Oregon, though, which contributed to the loss. If the Terps want to shut down Currie-Jelks, they will need McLean to play similarly.
On top of that, Murray State’s last loss was on January 23 and they are on a 15-game winning streak. With that, they are one of the hottest teams in the nation.
Despite Murray State’s phenomenal resume, the big difference between the two teams is the strength of schedule. They are the Mountain Valley Conference’s lone bid to the tournament. On the other hand, the Big Ten has 12 bids competing in the big dance.
The only Big Ten team Murray State has matched up against is Illinois, which handed them a 20-point loss. Although the Terps also lost to Illinois, it was their first loss of the season, and it was by only three.
“We see a lot of these styles in our conference,” said head coach Brenda Frese. “That does prepare us for a roster like this.”
With that, the major thing the Terps need to do to advance to the second round is stay true to their identity. This is what pushed them into a strong winning streak in the Big Ten in February.
Murray State has great rebounders, but Maryland is one of the top rebounding teams in the nation. Maryland is phenomenal defensively and is great in transition. These have been core values throughout the season, and the Terps need to stick to them to pick up the victory.
“I would just say getting back to the Maryland identity: Defending, rebounding, and running,” Saylor Poffenbarger said. “When we go to our core values and play Maryland standard, we look great and play really well together.”
Maryland also comes in after a long break following their early exit from the Big Ten Tournament, which has given them time to rest and prepare for what is to come.
With a victory, Maryland would advance to the second round, where it would face the winner of North Carolina and Western Illinois.
“It’s been a season with a lot of highs and lows to be honest, when you talk about just a lot of injuries that we’ve had to endure,” Frese said. “This roster has stayed super resilient and connected.”
