With games against Tennessee and Ole Miss on the horizon, the Texas women’s basketball team will take a brief break from conference play Monday.
Texas is set to participate in the inaugural Coretta Scott King Classic in Newark, N.J. on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Ranked seventh in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, Texas (17-2) will face No. 9 Maryland (16-1) on Monday afternoon. The Coretta Scott King Classic will also feature a showdown between No. 1 UCLA and No. 24 Baylor.
WATCH TEXAS WOMEN’S HOOPS HERE
The Coretta Scott King Classic will provide Texas with a top-10 test and national spotlight since Fox is airing the games. Texas coach Vic Schaefer said his players will also have the opportunity to earn NIL money by doing some work on this trip.
Here is what you should know about the matchup and how to watch it:
What channel is Texas vs Maryland?
TV Channel: Fox
Radio: 103.1 FM
What time does Texas women’s basketball play?
Date: Jan. 20
Time: 4:30 p.m. CT
Location: Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
WATCH THE LONGHORNS THIS SEASON WITH THIS DISCOUNTED RATE
Texas has continued to succeed since last meeting with Maryland
Texas and Maryland have played six times before, and the Terrapins own a 4-2 lead in the all-time series. The Longhorns, however, claimed the last clash between these two schools. In the Sweet 16 round of the 2021 NCAA tournament, Texas recorded a 64-61 win over Maryland.
Four years ago, Texas’ toppling of the Terrapins was considered a significant upset. In its first season with Schaefer, UT was a No. 6 seed in that NCAA tournament. Maryland was a No. 2 seed.
Since that three-point win, Texas has gone 105-25. Last season, the Longhorns were a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
“To see that turnaround in honestly a very short amount of time, it’s so awesome to have experienced that and been a part of it,” said guard Shay Holle, who was a freshman reserve on that 2021 team.
“To see that journey from being like no one expected really anything of us, everyone was like, ‘What are they doing in the Elite Eight,’ to now, that’s the standard. We’re trying to get to the Elite Eight every year, but trying to get past that. That’s our goal now.”
Maryland will present another top-10 challenge for Texas
Don’t expect Texas to be fazed by the prospect of playing a top-10 team away from Austin. The Longhorns have already done that four times this season.
Texas is 2-2 in its games against top-10 competition this season. The Longhorns earned a neutral-site win over then-No. 10 West Virginia in early December, and an 80-73 victory at then-No. 10 Oklahoma on Jan. 2. The Longhorns have also lost 67-50 and 80-70 games at South Carolina and Notre Dame, which were respectively ranked second and 10th when they topped Texas.
Will Texas get to host a top-10 team anytime soon? Probably. Currently, the No. 2 and No. 4 teams in college basketball, South Carolina and LSU will visit Austin next month.
Can Texas contain Maryland’s high-scoring guards?
Led by guards Kaylene Smikle and Shyanne Sellers, Maryland scores 84.0 points per game. That is the 11th-best scoring average in the country and it ranks third in the Big Ten. Smikle is averaging 18.0 points per game while Sellers is scoring 14.9.
A Rutgers transfer, Smikle has recorded seven 20-point games this season. This past Tuesday, Sellers hit nine of her 11 shots and made all six of her free throws in a 27-point performance against Minnesota that also featured the senior contributing nine rebounds and seven assists.
“I’m always looking at who’s hot and who’s not. Well, (Sellers is) hot. Smikle has led him for the most part all year,” Schaefer said. “We’ve got our hands full. It reminds me of that team I had to play in the Sweet 16.
“They were averaging almost 100 points a game, and I didn’t sleep for a week trying to figure out how to deal with that. But our kids will be ready, they’ll be focused, they better be or we’ll get a run out of New Jersey because this is a great offensive team.”
Texas vs Maryland prediction
Texas. This top-10 tussle could come down to how Holle and fellow guard Rori Harmon, who have both earned all-conference defensive honors in their careers, fare against Smikle and Sellers. The safe bet is that Harmon and Holle are up to the challenge and Texas can take advantage of enough scoring opportunities against an average Maryland defense.
We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.
Follow the American-Statesman on Facebook and X for more. Your subscription makes work like this possible. Get access to all of our best content with this tremendous offer.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas basketball vs Maryland: TV channel, time, game preview
