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No. 15 Maryland Women’s Basketball vs No. 4 South Carolina: Game Preview

By Anthony Brown

TAMPA, FL - APRIL 05: Head coach Brenda Frese of the Maryland Terrapins reacts in the second half against the Connecticut Huskies during the NCAA Women's Final Four Semifinal at Amalie Arena on April 5, 2015 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images)
TAMPA, FL - APRIL 05: Head coach Brenda Frese of the Maryland Terrapins reacts in the second half against the Connecticut Huskies during the NCAA Women's Final Four Semifinal at Amalie Arena on April 5, 2015 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images) /
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The No. 15 Maryland women’s basketball team has their first test of the season tonight against the defending champion South Carolina Gamecocks.

The No. 15 Maryland women’s basketball team (1-0) has their first test of the new college basketball season going up against the defending national champion No. 4 South Carolina Gamecocks (1-0). Game time is tonight at 7 p.m. EST on ESPN 2.

Maryland women’s basketball cruised past the Albany Great Danes 91-58 in College Park at the Xfinity Center Friday. This game saw six players have double figure point totals. Sophomore Guard Blair Watson led the team with 16 points, five rebounds, two steals, a block and she was 50 percent from behind the tree point line (4-8).

Their next matchup with the Gamecocks will not be that easy. It will be exciting, however, to see two teams with great coaches go head to head in Maryland’s Brenda Frese and South Carolina’s Dawn Staley.

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On the court, Maryland women’s basketball is going to have their hands full with forwards A’ja Wilson and Mikiah Herbert Harrigan who each play well in the post and can also pose problems for the Terps defensively.

Despite only a game being played for both of these teams, statistically, South Carolina bests Maryland in field goal percentage offensively and defensively (51.4 percent off., 20.4 percent def) compared to Maryland’s 37.3 percent and 35.8 percent respectively. Maryland also turned the ball over 21 times against Albany and that’s a big number of lost possessions.

The Terps must take better care of the ball against South Carolina if they want to win this game. Setting the pace early will be key as well.

The Terps can’t afford to be sloppy on either side of the court and let South Carolina get out to an early lead.

Next: Both Maryland Basketball Programs Bring in Top-10 2018 Recruiting Classes

Maryland women’s basketball is back and televised. This should be a good game to watch between two dominant teams in their respective conferences.

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