# 2020–21 Maryland Terrapins women's basketball team

The 2020–21 Maryland Terrapins women's basketball team represented the University of Maryland, College Park in 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Terrapins were led by nineteenth year head coach Brenda Frese and played their home games at the Xfinity Center as members of the Big Ten Conference.

## Previous season

The Terrapins finished the 2019–20 season 28–4 (16–2) in Big Ten play to finish tied for 1st place and capturing their 5th Big Ten title. Also winning the Big Ten tournament title for the 4th time in school history.

## Offseason
### 2020 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Taisiya Kozlova G | Moscow, Russia | Elevation Prep Academy | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | N/A | |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 96 ||||||
| Angel Reese F/G | Baltimore, MD | St. Frances Academy | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | N/A | Nov 1, 2019 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 96 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: ||||||

### Incoming Transfers

| Name | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Transfer From |
| Katie Benzan | G | 5'6" | Senior | Wellesley, MA | Harvard |
| Chloe Bibby | F | 6'1" | Senior | Warracknabeal, Australia | Mississippi State |
| Alaysia Styles | F | 6'3" | Senior | San Diego, CA | California |

### Player departures

| Name | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Shakira Austin | F | 6'5" | Sophomore | Fredericksburg, VA | Transferred to Ole Miss |
| Kaila Charles | G/F | 6'1" | Senior | Waldorf, MD | Graduated and selected 2nd round 23rd pick overall 2020 WNBA draft |
| Stephanie Jones | F | 6'2" | Senior | Havre de Grace, MD | Graduated |
| Taylor Mikesell | G | 5'11" | Sophomore | Massillon, OH | Transferred to Oregon |
| Olivia Owens | C | 6'4" | Sophomore | Niskayuna, NY | Transferred to Kentucky |
| Sara Vujačić | G | 5'11" | Senior | Maribor, Slovenia | Graduated |
| Blair Watson | G | 6'0" | Senior | Nutley, NJ | Graduated |

### Awards and honors

Coach Brenda Frese voted Big Ten Coach of the Year(coaches/media), National Coach of the Year by ESPN, and AP National Coach of the Year

#### Watch List

| Award | Player | Position | Year |
| Ann Meyers Drysdale Award | Ashley Owusu | G | SO |
| Women's Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy | Ashley Owusu | G | SO |
| Wade Trophy | Ashley Owusu | G | SO |
| Cheryl Miller Award | Angel Reese | F | FR |

#### Honors

| Award | Player | Position | Year |
| NCAA Women's Basketball All-American Third team | Ashley Owusu | G | SO |
| All Big Ten Preseason Team | Ashley Owusu | G | SO |
| All-Big Ten First Team (unanimous) (coaches/media) | Ashley Owusu | G | SO |
| All-Big Ten First Team (coaches/media) | Diamond Miller | G | SO |
| NCAA Women's Basketball All-American Honorable mention | Katie Benzan | G | SR |
| All-Big Ten Second Team (coaches/media) | Katie Benzan | G | SR |
| All-Big Ten Honorable Mention Team (coaches/media) | Chloe Bibby | F | SR |
| All-Big Ten Honorable Mention Team (media) | Mimi Collins | F | SO |
| All-Big Ten Freshman Team (media) | Angel Reese | F | FR |
| Big Ten Sportsmanship Award | Channise Lewis | G | JR |

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| 11/27/2020* 2:30 pm | No. 12 | vs. Davidson Gulf Coast Showcase | W 94–72 | 1–0 | Hertz Arena Estero, FL |
| 11/28/2020* 5:30 pm | No. 12 | vs. No. 24 Missouri State Gulf Coast Showcase | L 72–81 | 1–1 | Hertz Arena Estero, FL |
| 11/29/2020* 5:30 pm | No. 12 | vs. No. 14 Arkansas Gulf Coast Showcase | W 115–96 | 2–1 | Hertz Arena Estero, FL |
| 12/3/2020* 6:00 pm, BTN | No. 14 | Towson | W 112–78 | 3–1 | Xfinity Center College Park, MD |
| 12/5/2020* 1:00 PM, BTN+ | No. 14 | Coppin State | Cancelled due to COVID-19 | Cancelled due to COVID-19 | Xfinity Center College Park, MD |
| 12/8/2020* 1:00 PM, BTN+ | No. 14 | Mount St. Mary's | Cancelled due to COVID-19 | Cancelled due to COVID-19 | Xfinity Center College Park, MD |
| 12/14/2020 2:00 pm, BTN+ | No. 14 | at Rutgers | W 91–87 | 4–1 (1–0) | Rutgers Athletic Center Piscataway, NJ |
| 12/19/2020* 11:00 am, BTN+ | No. 14 | James Madison | W 101–59 | 5–1 | Xfinity Center College Park, MD |
| 12/23/2020 2:00 PM , BTN | No. 14 | No. 16 Ohio State | Cancelled due to COVID-19 | Cancelled due to COVID-19 | Xfinity Center College Park, MD |
| 12/31/2020 12:00 pm, BTN | No. 14 | at Penn State | W 96–82 | 6–1 (2–0) | Bryce Jordan Center University Park, PA |
| 1/4/2021 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 12 | No. 19 Indiana | W 84–80 | 7–1 (3–0) | Xfinity Center College Park, MD |
| 1/7/2021 5:00 pm, BTN | No. 12 | at No. 23 Michigan State | W 93–87 | 8–1 (4–0) | Breslin Student Events Center East Lansing, MI |
| 1/10/2021 12:00 pm, BTN+ | No. 12 | Purdue | W 83–46 | 9–1 (5–0) | Xfinity Center College Park, MD |
| 1/14/2021 6:00 pm, BTN | No. 9 | at Minnesota | W 90–73 | 10–1 (6–0) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN |
| 1/17/2021 3:00 pm, BTN+ | No. 9 | at Wisconsin | W 79–70 | 11–1 (7–0) | Kohl Center Madison, WI |
| 1/25/2021 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 7 | at No. 17 Ohio State | L 86–88 | 11–2 (7–1) | Value City Arena Columbus, OH |
| 1/28/2021 4:00 PM, BTN | No. 7 | Rutgers | Cancelled due to COVID-19 | Cancelled due to COVID-19 | Xfinity Center College Park, MD |
| 1/28/2021 4:00 pm, BTN | No. 7 | Michigan State | W 92–52 | 12–2 (8–1) | Xfinity Center College Park, MD |
| 2/4/2021 4:00 pm, BTN | No. 10 | Wisconsin | W 84–48 | 13–2 (9–1) | Xfinity Center College Park, MD |
| 2/7/2021 2:00 pm, ESPN/ESPN2 | No. 10 | at Michigan | Postponed due to COVID-19 | Postponed due to COVID-19 | Crisler Center Ann Arbor, MI |
| 2/14/2021 5:00 pm, FS1 | No. 10 | at Nebraska | W 95–73 | 14–2 (10–1) | Pinnacle Bank Arena Lincoln, Nebraska |
| 2/17/2021 1:00 pm, BTN | No. 9 | Illinois | W 103–58 | 15–2 (11–1) | Xfinity Center College Park, MD |
| 2/20/2021 12:00 pm, BTN+ | No. 9 | Minnesota | W 94–62 | 16–2 (12–1) | Xfinity Center College Park, MD |
| 2/23/2021 1:00 pm, BTN | No. 8 | Iowa | W 111–93 | 17–2 (13–1) | Xfinity Center College Park, MD |
| 2/25/2021 6:00 pm, BTN+ | No. 8 | at Purdue | W 88–59 | 18–2 (14–1) | Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN |
| 2/28/2021 4:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 8 | at Northwestern | W 62–50 | 19–2 (15–1) | Welsh–Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| 3/4/2021 12:00 pm, BTN | No. 8 | at No. 12 Michigan | W 88–63 | 20–2 (16–1) | Crisler Center Ann Arbor, MI |
| 3/6/2021 3:00 pm, BTN+ | No. 8 | Penn State | W 88–61 | 21–2 (17–1) | Xfinity Center College Park, MD |
| Big Ten tournament ||||||
| 3/11/2021 11:00 am, FS2 | No. 7 | vs. Nebraska Quarterfinals | W 83–73 | 22–2 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN |
| 3/12/2021 2:00 pm, FS2 | No. 7 | vs. Northwestern Semifinals | W 85–52 | 23–2 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN |
| 3/13/2021 2:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 7 | vs. Iowa Championship | W 104–84 | 24–2 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN |
| NCAA Women's Tournament ||||||
| 03/22/2021* 4:00 pm, ESPN | (2 H) | vs. (15 H) Mount St. Mary's First Round | W 98–45 | 25–2 | Alamodome San Antonio, TX |
| 03/24/2021* 1:00 pm, ESPN2 | (2 H) | vs. (7 H) Alabama Second Round | W 100–64 | 26–2 | Bill Greehey Arena San Antonio, TX |
| 03/28/2021* 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | (2 H) | vs. (6 H) Texas Sweet Sixteen | L 61-64 | 26–3 | Alamodome San Antonio, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Final |
| AP | 12 | | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | | | |
| Coaches | 11 | | | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | | | |
*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings *Coaches did not release a Week 2 poll.