Maryland women's basketball vs. Indiana preview: Terps return to host Hoosiers

Maryland women's basketball, still ranked No. 5 in both the AP and Coaches' Poll, returns to Xfinity Center Saturday afternoon to take on the Indiana Hoosiers. The Terps will be seeking their seventh consecutive win, with their last two coming on the road against Wisconsin and Penn State. The game tips off at 2 p.m. EST and can be streamed via BTN Plus, and those who drop by College Park have a chance to win the Brene Moseley bobblehead.

The Terps have looked dominant as of late. Shatori Walker-Kimbrough is 11-of-13 from three-point range in her last two games, while Brionna Jones has been a double-double machine. She comes into Saturday's game with 994 career points, and it's likely she will become the 31st member of the program's 1000-point club on Saturday (Walker-Kimbrough became the 30th earlier this season).

In Maryland's way is an Indiana team off to its best start in Big Ten play since 2009. The Hoosiers are incredibly young, with no seniors in the starting lineup and only one on the roster. However, the team rides a three-game win streak into College Park, which includes a road upset against Northwestern last Sunday.

Indiana Hoosiers (13-8, 5-4 B1G)

The coach

Teri Moren has a 28-24 record in her second season at Indiana. She was previously the head coach at Indiana State from 2010-14.

Players to know

Tyra Buss, sophomore, guard, 5'8, No. 3. One of the best all-around players in the conference, averaging 18.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game. This season, has reached double-digit points in all 21 contests. She's a decent outside shooter, but she gets to the line a ton and shoots 77 percent from the charity stripe.

Amanda Cahill, sophomore, forward, 6'2, No. 33. The Hoosiers' best weapon in the low post. Cahill, who has started alongside Buss in all 52 games since the two arrived in Bloomington, grabs a team-high 7.9 rebounds per game, and also chips in 14.2 points. She has six double-doubles this year.

Alexis Gassion, junior, guard, 5'11, No. 23. Gassion has also started in every game this year, and she plays nearly 35 minutes a night. She averages 10.2 points per game, but that number has dropped to just 7.9 in conference play. However, she still impacts the game when she's not scoring, so the Terps will have to plan accordingly.

Strength

Free-throw shooting. The Hoosiers make their foul shots at a 73.6 percent clip, good for 47^th in the country. Buss is the most frequent visitor by far, but Cahill is even more accurate (77.6 percent), and the team lacks a weak link in this department.

Weakness

Offensive rebounding. Indiana reels in just over 10 offensive boards per game, but it gives up over 13. Because of how often these second chances turn into points, it's safe to estimate that this gap costs the Hoosiers about 4 points, on average. Against a team that rebounds as well as Maryland, it ought to be even more.

Prediction

Maryland wins, 81-63.