The Big Ten announced Maryland women’s basketball’s 2024-25 conference schedule Thursday, finalizing the Terps’ 28-game regular season slate.
After a balanced non-conference schedule — highlighted by home and away contests against Duke and Syracuse, respectively — the Terps head to West Lafayette, beginning conference play at Purdue on Dec. 7.
The away game marks Maryland’s first road Big Ten opener in three years.
Maryland returns to College Park for two games — tied for the team’s longest homestand of the season. The Terps close out 2024 against Michigan State on Dec. 29, then welcome in the new year against Rutgers on Jan. 2.
The Terps battle a Caitlin Clark-less Iowa squad on the road Jan. 5, before beginning a loaded rest of the month — featuring tough road games at Wisconsin and Penn State.
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Maryland hosts the two new Southern California squads in a pair of coast-to-coast games, tipping off against USC and UCLA on Jan. 8 and Jan. 26, respectively.
The Terps’ first and only matchup in program history against USC came in 1993, nine years before head coach Brenda Frese arrived in College Park.
Maryland travels more than 2,000 miles in early February for back-to-back road games against Oregon and Washington on Feb. 6 and Feb. 9, respectively.
Nebraska, who knocked out Maryland in the Big Ten tournament semifinals last season, will travel to College Park Feb. 13 in what could shape up to be a crucial game ahead of the 2025 postseason.
Maryland’s final road trip of the season begins Feb. 20 against Northwestern, before a high-stakes trip to Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall a week later to take on Indiana.
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Ohio State will host the Terps in Columbus on Jan. 23 – looking for revenge following last season’s 82-61 loss in the Big Ten tournament — before coming to College Park for a late-season battle on March 2.
Key departures in this past April’s WNBA Draft has certainly shifted the Big Ten landscape in its entirety. But the revamped conference is still strong, especially with the addition of four new teams.
First-team All-American JuJu Watkins returns to USC for her sophomore season after a sensational rookie campaign in which she ranked second in the nation in points per game.
Despite the loss of Caitlin Clark, the arrival of Villanova transfer Lucy Olsen – the third-highest scorer in all of Division I women’s basketball last season – makes the Hawkeyes a continued force.
Maryland finished last season in a three-way tie for sixth in the conference with Michigan and Penn State. The arrival of seven new transfers highlights a reloaded Terps squad looking to make waves in the new-look Big Ten conference.
