Huskers Battle No. 7 Terps Thursday

#8 Nebraska Cornhuskers (12-11, 9-10 Big Ten)

vs. #1 Maryland Terrapins (21-2, 17-1 Big Ten)

Thursday, March 11, 2021, 10 a.m. (CT)

Bankers Life Fieldhouse – Indianapolis, Indiana

Live TV: FS2 (Mike Hall, Meghan McKeown)
Live Radio: Husker Sports Network (9:45 a.m.)
Matt Coatney (PBP), Jeff Griesch (Analyst)
Lincoln (B107.3 FM), Omaha (ESPN 590 AM), Huskers.com, Huskers App, TuneIn

Huskers Battle Big Ten Champ Terps Thursday

The Nebraska women’s basketball team shoots for an upset of Big Ten regular-season champion Maryland in the conference tournament quarterfinals in Indianapolis on Thursday.

Tip-off between the No. 8 seed Huskers (12-11, 9-10 Big Ten) and the top-seeded and No. 7/8 nationally ranked Terrapins (21-2, 17-1 Big Ten) is set for 10 a.m. (CT) at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

The game will be televised live by FS2 with Mike Hall and Meghan McKeown on the call, while fans can also follow Nebraska with the Husker Sports Network call of Matt Coatney and Jeff Griesch across the radio network stations, the Huskers App and Huskers.com.

Nebraska advanced to the quarterfinals with a 72-61 second-round win over No. 9 seed Minnesota on Wednesday, while Maryland will be opening tournament action after earning a double-bye.

Second-team All-Big Ten guard Sam Haiby led the Huskers with 19 points and eight rebounds against Minnesota. She is the only Big Ten player to rank among the top 12 in the conference in scoring (17.0 ppg, 11th), rebounding (6.8 rpg, 12th) and assists (4.4 apg, 8th). The 5-9 junior from Moorhead, Minn., owns eight 20-point efforts on the year, but was held to just seven points in the only previous meeting with Maryland this season – a 95-73 Husker loss on Feb. 14 in Lincoln.

Haiby needs seven points to become the 35th Husker in history to reach 1,000 career points.

Three-time Big Ten All-Defensive selection Kate Cain leads the Big Ten as one of the best shot-blockers in conference history. The 6-5 Cain ranks No. 6 in Big Ten history and holds the Nebraska record with 349 career blocks. The No. 2 active NCAA Division I player in blocks, Cain earned honorable-mention All-Big Ten accolades in 2021 and is the 10th Husker in history to achieve the combined milestones of 1,000 points and 750 rebounds. Cain opened the tournament with 16 points, six rebounds and two blocks in the win over Minnesota.

Sophomore Isabelle Bourne joined Cain as an honorable-mention All-Big Ten pick in 2021. Bourne ranks sixth in the Big Ten in rebounding (7.9 rpg) and 25th in scoring (13.9 ppg) while adding 2.3 assists and 1.0 block. Bourne notched a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds against Maryland this season and opened Big Ten Tournament play with 14 points and seven boards versus Minnesota.

Scouting the Maryland Terrapins

• Coach Brenda Frese brings top-seeded Maryland into the Big Ten Tournament after capturing the conference regular-season title. The No. 7/8 Terrapins are 21-2 overall after going 17-1 in the Big Ten. The Terps have won 10 straight games, beginning with a 92-52 win over Michigan State (Jan. 28).        • Maryland’s streak included a 95-73 win over Nebraska in Lincoln (Feb. 14).

• First-team All-Big Ten sophomores Ashley Owusu (18.7 ppg, 5.8 rpg) and Diamond Miller (17.5 ppg, 6.2 rpg) lead a Maryland starting five that all averages in double figures.

• Graduate transfer Katie Benzan is a lights-out shooter who has connected on 82-of-159 (.516) of her three-point attempts. The three-time first-team All-Ivy League pick at Harvard is a second-team All-Big Ten choice while leading the nation in three-point field goal percentage this season.

• Mississippi State transfer Chloe Bibby has contributed 13.0 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. The 6-1 forward/guard from Warracknabeal, Australia has scored in double digits 17 times this season and ranks second among the Terps with 44 threes (.344). She had 16 points and knocked 4-of-7 threes in the first meeting with Nebraska.

• Redshirt sophomore Mimi Collins has stepped into the starting lineup to average 10.1 points and a team-best 6.4 rebounds on the season. Collins does not shoot many threes but is 9-for-20 (.450) on the season and is a 75.6 percent free throw shooter.

• All five Maryland starters hit at least 75 percent of their free throws, led by Benzan’s 93.5 percent (21-23) success rate and 88.5 percent 54-61) shooting by Bibby.

• Reserve point guard Channise Lewis is out with a season-ending knee injury suffered in a win over Michigan State (Jan. 7), but the Terps have seen the recent return of freshman Angel Reese from injury. Reese is averaging 11.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game on the season. She is averaging 9.2 points per game since returning to action over the past five games to end the regular season. She averaged 13.3 points and 7.0 boards before suffering a broken foot in a win over Towson (Dec. 3).

• The 2020-21 version of the Terps bring the highest powered offense in the Big Ten into the tournament, averaging 91.3 points per game. As a team, Maryland is shooting 49 percent from the field including a scorching 41.2 percent from three-point range and 79 percent at the free throw line. UMD also controls the boards (+8.0 rebound margin) and a +3.8 team turnover margin and both those numbers have been on the rise since playing the Huskers on Feb. 14.

• Sophomore Faith Masonius has been Maryland’s most consistent contributor off the bench, averaging 6.6 points and 5.2 rebounds as one of six Terps to play in all 23 games. 

• Maryland’s bench was bolstered by midseason graduate transfer Alaysia Styles. A former teammate of Husker MiCole Cayton at California, Styles is averaging 4.2 points and 2.9 rebounds since making her debut against Purdue (Jan. 10).

• Freshman Taisiya Kozlova has added 2.3 points and 0.9 rebounds while redshirt freshman Zoe Young completes the Maryland roster.

Nebraska vs. Maryland Series History

• Maryland leads the all-time series with Nebraska 13-0, including a 95-73 win over the Huskers in Lincoln (Feb. 14).

• Australians Ruby Porter and Isabelle Bourne led Nebraska in the first meeting with Maryland. Porter scored a career-high 19 points and knocked down a trio of threes, while Bourne produced a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Kate Cain pitched in 17 points of her own.

• Ashley Owusu led Maryland with 25 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, while Diamond Miller contributed 24 points. Mimi Collins added 19 points and seven boards while Chloe Bibby gave the Terps four players in double figures with 16 points and seven rebounds of her own.             • Thursday’s game will mark the eighth time in 14 meetings that Maryland will enter the Nebraska game ranked in the top 10. It will be the 12th time the Terps have been in the top-15. 

• Nebraska took No. 13 Maryland to the wire at the Xfinity Center in College Park before falling 77-75 (Feb. 25, 2018). The Huskers trailed by 14 points in the third quarter before rallying to take a 75-74 lead with 48 seconds left. A Hannah Whitish three-pointer from the right wing in the closing seconds caught back iron and caromed off as Maryland survived. 

• One week later, No. 17 Maryland eliminated Nebraska from the Big Ten semifinals with a 66-53 win in Indianapolis (March 3, 2018). 

• Nebraska’s first meeting with Maryland came in the 2008 NCAA Tournament second round in College Park – a 76-64 Maryland win. NU is 0-10 against the Terps as Big Ten foes.