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Maryland Women’s Basketball: Lady Terps marching into the Madness

By Wesley Brown

Mar 5, 2017; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Maryland Terrapins head coach Brenda Frese reacts after defeating the Purdue Boilermakers during the women's Big Ten Conference tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Maryland won 74-64. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 5, 2017; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Maryland Terrapins head coach Brenda Frese reacts after defeating the Purdue Boilermakers during the women's Big Ten Conference tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Maryland won 74-64. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports /
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For the third year in a row, Brenda Frese and the Maryland women’s basketball team have swept their Big Ten Tournament games and won the title.

The dynasty has had just three losses in their Big Ten history, all of which came at the hands of Ohio State.

The 2017 Big Ten Tournament was a big question mark for the team, as they got walloped 98-87 at Ohio State for their only conference loss. It was looking like a rematch was set for the final tournament game until Purdue upset the Buckeyes in the semifinals.

This outcome actually hurts the team because their biggest flaw this season is their strength-of-schedule. Compared to likes of Connecticut, who had nine game against ranked opponents, Maryland only had four, including Arizona State who finished the season unranked.

With losses to the Buckeyes and Huskies, Maryland basically went 2-2 in games that mattered. ESPN’s Charlie Crème has them as a No. 2 seed after their tournament win, despite them being in the top five of the Associated Press poll for most of the season.

Selection Monday will hold the answers as to where Maryland is seeded, but they are in the tournament for sure.

Other Notes:

  • Brionna Jones, Destiny Slocum, and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough were honored as three of the five All-Tournament players with Jones also receiving the Most Outstanding Player Award.
  • Slocum accumulated spots on the Second and All-Freshman teams. She also received the Big Ten Freshman of the Year Award after averaging 11.5 points, 6.0 assists, and 2.9 rebounds after starting 31 games this year.

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  • Jones and Kimbrough both landed on the First and All-Defensive teams for the Big Ten. Both were unanimous selections for the First Team as Jones averaged nearly 20 points and 11 rebounds while Kimbrough added 19 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.