Maryland women’s basketball to host South Carolina on Nov. 13

Maryland women’s basketball will play South Carolina the next two seasons, the team announced Thursday.

The 2017 national champions will come to Xfinity Center on Monday Nov. 13, and the Terps will travel to Columbia to take on the Gamecocks in 2018.

This will be the fourth straight season Maryland will take on the defending national champion, as the Terps played Connecticut each of the previous three seasons.

Head coach Dawn Staley has established South Carolina as one of the premier programs in women’s basketball, as the Gamecocks have won the last four SEC regular season titles to go along with their national championship this year. After going 42-48 in her first three seasons, Staley has led the Gamecocks to a 179-32 record and six straight NCAA tournaments.

Both teams will have to replace some major talent before next season. South Carolina brings back A’ja Wilson, the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player, and All-SEC Freshman guard Tyasha Harris, but will lose center Alaina Coates and guards Allisha Gray and Kaela Davis to the WNBA Draft.

The Terps will have to replace their top three scorers, as Brionna Jones and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough are both graduating and Big Ten Freshman of the Year Destiny Slocum decided to transfer.

This game will be a boost to Maryland’s non-conference schedule, which will also include a home game in the ACC-Big Ten challenge and a matchup with UConn in Storrs. The selection committee punished the Terps this season for having a much weaker non-conference schedule than the other top teams in the country.