For the second consecutive week, Maryland women’s basketball was ranked No. 7 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll on Monday.
The Terps swept both games of the Puerto Rico Classic last week to improve to 6-0 on the season. They beat Morgan State, 68-44, on Friday and finished the weekend with a 58-51 defensive triumph over Georgia on Saturday.
While Maryland scraped by with a pair of admirable defensive efforts, its offense didn’t reach the same level of performance. The Terps scored just 28 first-half points against the Bears and went on a nearly 15-minute streak without scoring a basket against the Bulldogs. But their defense rose to the occasion and held their opponents to a combined 29.6 percent from the field.
[Read more: Stephanie Jones carried her struggling Maryland basketball teammates this weekend]
It’s the first time Maryland has cracked the top 10 since February 2018, and the highest the team has been ranked since being slotted No. 4 in the final 2016-17 poll. The Terps were ranked as highly as No. 2 during that campaign.
South Carolina was ranked No. 10 when then-No. 9 Maryland earned an 85-61 resume-building road win on Nov. 18, but the Gamecocks slipped to No. 18 in the latest rankings after losing to Oregon State and Drake last week.
[Read more: Maryland women’s basketball’s inconsistent offense continues in 58-51 win over Georgia]
Big Ten foes Iowa and Minnesota were both ranked for the third consecutive week. The Gophers, after starting the year unranked but receiving votes in the initial poll, are up to No. 20 following a 5-0 start. Iowa, picked to finish second in the conference behind Maryland in the preseason poll, dropped to No. 14 after losing to Florida State, 71-67, last week.
The Terps will take the court next against Georgia Tech in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Thursday before finishing up the week against UMBC on Sunday.
