The Longhorns (17-2, 4-1) play the Terrapins (16-1, 6-1 Big10) at "neutral site" Newark today in the Coretta Scott King Classic. These 2 teams last squared off in the Sweet 16 during the 2020-2021 NCAA tournament when Texas was supposed to be blown out by Maryland's #1 ranked offense. In his 1st season with the Horns, Vic's defense clamped down on a Terps team averaging 91.8 ppg, holding them to a season low 61 points with the offense scoring just enough (64) to advance to the Elite 8.
Maryland almost turned over their entire roster from last season, bringing in 7 transfers and 3 freshmen. Among the adds were:
The Terps' leading scorer is Smikle at 18.0 ppg followed by 6' 2" G Shyanne Sellers (14.9). Sellers doesn't shoot many but she is currently hitting 44.8% (13/29) of her 3s. She also averages 4.9 assists per game but can be prone to turnovers against good teams (20 combined in her last 4 games, another 7 against MSU 6 games ago). Their 3rd leading scorer, 5' 10" G Bri McDaniel (10.6), was heavily recruited by Vic in the 2022 class and had Texas in her list of finalists.
Maryland's top 2 rebounders, Poffenbarger (9.3) and Dalce (8.4), are not traditional post players and Brenda Frese's roster only has 1 player taller than 6' 2" available - DeBerry averaging 9.7 minutes in just 9 appearances this season.
Texas has a definitive size and physicality advantage in the paint and expect them to go into Taylor and Kyla a lot. Considering that and Frese's team length on the perimeter, I'll be very surprised if we don't see a lot of zone from them today. If at least 2 Longhorns can make a few 3s and Vic's defensive game plan is executed effectively, Texas should be able to notch their 2nd win over a Top 10 opponent (at game time) this season.
@mln59 @thar0902 @icdb17 @wb3032 @BrownHorn
Maryland almost turned over their entire roster from last season, bringing in 7 transfers and 3 freshmen. Among the adds were:
- 6' 2" F Christina Dalce: Big East Co-Defensive Player of the Year (Villanova)
- 5' 5" G Sarah Te-Biasu: Atlantic 10 Player of the Year (VCU)
- 6' G Kaylene Smikle: All Big 10 1st Team (Rutgers)
- 6' 2" G Saylor Poffenbarger: All SEC Freshman Team (UCONN/Arkansas)
- 6' 6" F Amari DeBerry: 60 game appearances for UCONN
- 5' 11" G/F Mir McLean (UCONN/Virginia)
The Terps' leading scorer is Smikle at 18.0 ppg followed by 6' 2" G Shyanne Sellers (14.9). Sellers doesn't shoot many but she is currently hitting 44.8% (13/29) of her 3s. She also averages 4.9 assists per game but can be prone to turnovers against good teams (20 combined in her last 4 games, another 7 against MSU 6 games ago). Their 3rd leading scorer, 5' 10" G Bri McDaniel (10.6), was heavily recruited by Vic in the 2022 class and had Texas in her list of finalists.
Maryland's top 2 rebounders, Poffenbarger (9.3) and Dalce (8.4), are not traditional post players and Brenda Frese's roster only has 1 player taller than 6' 2" available - DeBerry averaging 9.7 minutes in just 9 appearances this season.
Texas has a definitive size and physicality advantage in the paint and expect them to go into Taylor and Kyla a lot. Considering that and Frese's team length on the perimeter, I'll be very surprised if we don't see a lot of zone from them today. If at least 2 Longhorns can make a few 3s and Vic's defensive game plan is executed effectively, Texas should be able to notch their 2nd win over a Top 10 opponent (at game time) this season.
@mln59 @thar0902 @icdb17 @wb3032 @BrownHorn
