Huskers Meet Maryland on Play4Kay Day

Nebraska Cornhuskers (9-8, 7-7 Big Ten)

vs. 9/10 Maryland Terrapins (13-2, 9-1 Big Ten)

Sunday, Feb. 14, 2021, 4 p.m. (CT)

Pinnacle Bank Arena – Lincoln, Nebraska

Live TV: FS1 (Kevin Kugler, Meghan McKeown)
Live Radio: Husker Sports Network (3:45 p.m.)
Matt Coatney (PBP), Jeff Griesch (Analyst)
Lincoln (B107.3 FM), Omaha (ESPN 590 AM)
Huskers.com, Huskers App, TuneIn

Huskers Meet No. 9 Maryland on Play4Kay Day

• The Nebraska women’s basketball team completes its two-game home stand by battling No. 9  Maryland on Play4Kay Day Sunday at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Tip-off between the Huskers (9-8, 7-7 Big Ten) and the Terrapins (13-2, 9-1 Big Ten) is set for 4 p.m. (CT) in the FS1 telecast of a Big Ten regular-season women’s basketball game.

• Kevin Kugler and Meghan McKeown will be on the call for FS1 in Nebraska’s ninth nationally televised game of the season. 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 is coming off a narrow 88-81 loss to Iowa at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Thursday night. Sam Haiby led the Huskers with 28 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter to help Nebraska cut a 17-point Hawkeye lead with less than five minutes left to just four points in the final two minutes.

• Haiby is making a strong case for first-team All-Big Ten honors as the only player to rank among the top 15 in the conference in scoring (18.1 ppg, 9th), rebounding (7.2 rpg, 11th) and assists (4.1 apg, 14th). The 5-9 junior guard from Moorhead, Minn., owns seven 20-point efforts and three double-doubles this season and is a four-time Big Ten Weekly Honor Roll selection.

• Maryland has not played since an 84-48 win over Wisconsin on Feb. 4. The Terps had their Sunday, Feb. 7 game against Michigan in Ann Arbor postponed by the Wolverines’ COVID-19 shutdown. Maryland has not played a road game since losing at then-No. 17 Ohio State (88-86) on Monday, Jan. 25 and has played just three games overall since Jan. 18.

• Nebraska will take aim at its fourth win over an AP Top 25 foe at game time. The Huskers knocked off then-No. 15 Northwestern, 65-63, in Lincoln (Dec. 31). They followed with a 68-64 road win at then-No. 23 Michigan State (Jan. 10), before beating then-No. 15 Ohio State, 63-55, at Pinnacle Bank Arena (Jan. 16). Overall, Nebraska is 3-2 against AP ranked opponents at game time.

• Maryland is also 3-2 against top-25 foes at game time with wins over No. 14 Arkansas, No. 18 Indiana and No. 23 Michigan State to go with losses to No. 24 Missouri State and Ohio State.

• In addition to Sam Haiby, Nebraska features the versatile Isabelle Bourne. The 6-2 forward has produced a breakout sophomore season, averaging 13.1 points and 7.2 rebounds, despite missing four games with an ankle injury. Bourne is still working her way back to 100 percent, but had 16 points and five rebounds in her second straight start against Iowa on Thursday.

• Senior Kate Cain anchors Nebraska’s defense. The 6-5 center leads the Big Ten with 3.2 blocks per game and ranks No. 6 in Big Ten history with a Nebraska-record 334 career blocks. She is one of 15 candidates for the Naismith National Defensive Player of the Year Award.

Scouting the Maryland Terrapins

• Coach Brenda Frese brings No. 9 Maryland to Lincoln for just its third game in 20 days, when the Terps tip against the Huskers on Valentine’s Day at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

• Frese will be shooting for her 500th win at Maryland on Sunday. Two seasons ago, she collected her 500th career win as a head coach with an 81-63 win over Nebraska in Lincoln on Jan. 8, 2019.

• Maryland will not have an active player on their roster Sunday who participated in the 2019 game in Lincoln. Reserve point guard Channise Lewis had nine points and six assists in 33 minutes in the 2019 Maryland win, but she suffered a 2021 season-ending knee injury at Michigan State (Jan. 7).

• In her 18 seasons at Maryland, Frese has led the Terps to the 2006 NCAA title, three NCAA Final Four appearances and 15 NCAA Tournament bids.

• The 2020-21 version of the Terps comes to Lincoln with the highest powered offense in the Big Ten, averaging 91.5 points per game. As a team, Maryland is shooting 47.7 percent from the field including a scorching 40.4 percent from three-point range and nearly 80 percent (.798) at the free throw line. UMD also controls the boards (+7.2 rebound margin) and a +2.5 team turnover margin.

• Sophomore Ashley Owusu leads a balanced Maryland attack, averaging 18.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and a team-best 6.1 assists per game. 

• Fellow sophomore Diamond Miller adds 17.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. The 6-3 guard also leads Maryland with 13 blocks on the season.

• Graduate transfer Katie Benzan is a lights-out shooter who has connected on 59-of-111 (.532) of her three-point attempts. The three-time first-team All-Ivy League pick at Harvard is also 21-of-23 (.913) at the free throw line this season. 

• Mississippi State transfer Chloe Bibby gives Maryland a fourth starter averaging in double figures at 14.2 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. The 6-1 forward/guard from Warracknabeal, Australia has scored in double digits in 10 straight games and ranks second among the Terps with 33 threes. 

• The Terps suffered a blow with the loss of starting guard Angel Reese just four games into the season with a broken foot. The 6-3 freshman averaged 13.3 points and 7.0 rebounds before sustaining the injury in a win over Towson (Dec. 3).

• Redshirt sophomore Mimi Collins has stepped into the starting lineup to average 9.5 points and a team-best 7.0 rebounds on the season.

• Sophomore Faith Masonius has been Maryland’s most consistent contributor off the bench, averaging 6.5 points and 5.7 rebounds as one of only six Terps to play in all 15 games. 

• Maryland’s bench has also been bolstered by midseason graduate transfer Alaysia Styles. A former teammate of Husker MiCole Cayton at California, Styles is averaging 3.4 points and 3.1 rebounds in seven games at Maryland since making her debut against Purdue (Jan. 10).

• Freshman Taisiya Kozlova has added 2.3 points and 1.3 rebounds while redshirt freshman Zoe Young completes the Maryland roster.

Nebraska vs. Maryland Series History

• Maryland leads the all-time series with Nebraska 12-0, including an 87-69 loss in College Park last season (Jan. 16, 2020). Four of the last five games in the series have been away from Lincoln prior to this coming Sunday’s game at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

• The only returning Huskers to score in last season’s game are Isabelle Bourne (8 points, 4 rebounds) and Sam Haiby (5 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists), while Kate Cain added eight rebounds and three assists.

• None of Maryland’s starters return from last season, but Ashley Owusu (16) and Diamond Miller (13) each scored in double figures off the bench. Faith Masonius also scored two points in four minutes.

• Sunday’s game will mark the seventh time in 13 meetings that Maryland will enter the Nebraska game ranked in the top 10. It will be the 11th 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.