The 2025-26 Big Ten conference regular season continues with a couple of teams going head-to-head as they’re both looking to stay atop of the overall standings in the league. On Thursday, Jan. 21, coach Jan Jensen‘s currently slew of Iowa Hawkeyes is expected to face off against coach Brenda Frese’s Maryland Terrapins in the latter’s home floor, the XFINITY Center in College Park, Maryland for the continuation of conference play.
Both the Hawkeyes and the Terrapins have had dominant seasons so far, which is why their first meeting of the year should settle early debates on who exactly are a part of the upper echelon of squads in their conference. Iowa currently has an overall record of 16-2, and is undefeated during Big Ten play with a seven-game winning streak. For Maryland, they posses an overall record of 17-3 (5-3 Big Ten) at the moment.
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Prediction
Coach Jensen’s squad, along with their current seven-game winning streak in conference play, has not lost in almost a month. With this, the momentum is expected to be on their side especially since their offensive game plan has worked wonders for them as of late. But, the Terrapins build themselves on hard-nosed defense and interior tenacity, which are aspects that Iowa tends to lack in.
For this reason, despite the Hawkeyes holding the favorable momentum, the Terrapins may likely edge them out in what is likely to be a tight-knit affair that will come down to the wire.
Lineups
Iowa Hawkeyes Starting Lineup
PG: Chazadi Wright
SG: Taylor McCabe
SF: Kylie Feuerbach
PF: Hannah Stuelke
C: Ava Heiden
Maryland Terrapins Starting Lineup
PG: Addi Mack
SG: Oluchi Okananwa
SF: Saylor Poffenbarger
PF: Yarden Garzon
C: Isimenme Ozzy-Momodu
Injury Report
The Hawkeyes’ spitfire scorer in Chazadi Wright is currently questionable, but she isn’t expected to miss the matchup against the Terrapins. The Iowa-based program also has one of their rotation pieces in Emely Rodriguez and Teagan Mallegni as day-to-day, but this shouldn’t derail the Hawkeyes who primarily rely their offensive output on their starters. With this, fans and spectators can expect more of the same from Iowa.
On the other hand, the Terrapins will be without the services of one of their key backcourt players in Rainey Welson, who suffered a concussion back on the team’s 62-55 win against the USC Trojans back on Jan. 15. Nevertheless, whether or not Welson does suit up for Maryland, a couple of pieces such as Lea Bartelme may be questionable to play. But, the Terrapins does expect its usual starting lineup to be ready to go versus the Hawkeyes.
