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There’s a really important game in College Park Thursday. Maryland women’s basketball is hosting UConn, the nation’s top team and the four-time defending national champion.
The No. 4 Terps have wins over No. 8 Louisville and No. 18 Arizona State, but winning this would define the team’s whole regular season. UConn hasn’t lost since November 2014. The Huskies beat Maryland by 10 last year in Madison Square Garden; the rematch will be in front of a sellout Xfinity Center crowd.
Maryland can actually win this game. Center Brionna Jones is an incredibly tough matchup for Geno Auriemma’s slightly undersized team, and he said as much last year after she scored 24 points at the Garden. The Terps also have one of the nation’s best all-around players in Shatori Walker-Kimbrough and a talented supporting cast that can give teams fits.
What I’m saying is, you should watch.
The numbers
Maryland: 12-0
UConn: 11-0
All-time series: UConn leads 4-0
How to watch
Thursday, Dec. 29, 6 p.m. ET, College Park
TV: ESPN2
Streaming: WatchESPN
Radio: Maryland Sports Network - 1300 AM (Baltimore), 570 AM (Washington)
In other news
UConn has a football team, too. Randy Edsall coached that team for 11 seasons before coming to Maryland. He was truly, actually hired back by the Huskies on Wednesday.
The Terps look to be in the running for four-star athlete Markquese Bell.
Turns out the Quick Lane Bowl was the highest-rated bowl game to date, and was essentially the second-highest cable program Monday behind the Cowboys-Lions Monday Night Football game.
Remember the Quick Lane Bowl with Maryland and BC? It had cable's 4th biggest audience Monday (3.019M viewers) to MFN, MNF pre and MNF post.
— John Ourand (@Ourand_SBJ) December 28, 2016
Maryland basketball beat Illinois with small-ball after centers Damonte Dodd and Michal Cekovsky missed the game with injuries.
Sung Min Kim was there to take some great photos for us. He’s back from Korea for a while, and we’re thrilled to have him around.
Maryland commits Dazz Newsome and Andrew Park were named to USA Today’s All-USA Virginia team. Newsome was a first-team defensive back selection, while Park was the second-team tight end.