Maryland women’s basketball to visit NC State in Big Ten/ACC Challenge

Maryland women’s basketball’s already has South Carolina on its 2019-20 nonconference schedule, and on Tuesday morning, it picked up another perennial contender in the national landscape — North Carolina State.

On Thursday, Dec. 5, the Terrapins will travel down to Raleigh, North Carolina, to face off against the Wolfpack as part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.

Maryland and NC State have a storied past, as the two were in the same conference for almost 40 seasons. As it stands right now, the Wolfpack have a 43-36 edge in the series, though that trend has flipped lately. Since 2005, the Terrapins have an 8-3 record, but the last matchup still leaves a sour taste. On March 18, 2018, the Terps dropped an NCAA Tournament game at NC State, losing 74-60 in the second round.

This season will mark the 13th iteration of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, and the Terrapins have been one of the most successful programs thus far, posting an 11-1 record (4-1 since joining the Big Ten). Despite losing Maryland in 2014, the ACC has been infallible, posting a 9-0-3 record to this point.

On Nov. 29, 2018, the Terps held their own against ACC foe Georgia Tech, defending the Xfinity Center with a 67-54 victory. The rest of the conference couldn’t achieve the same success, ultimately dropping the 14-game challenge 8-6. The Wolfpack won their matchup as well, hosting and defeating Michigan, 66-55.

Maryland is coming off a second-round loss in the NCAA Tournament for the second season in a row. After rolling through Radford for a 73-51 victory to kick off postseason play, the Terps were upset by UCLA, 85-80, to keep them from heading to the Albany regional to potentially face UConn. This year, the Terps return almost all of their production and have drawn top-five offseason rankings, while NC State has come in later in top 25s.