Wildcats Tangle with No. 8 Terrapins Sunday

1/16/2016 8:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

NO. 24 NORTHWESTERN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: GAME INFORMATION
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	WATCH	LIVE STATS
Sunday, Jan. 17	No. 8 Maryland	11 a.m. CST	XFINITY Center (College Park, Md.)	Big Ten Network	GameTracker
Social: Twitter (@NUWBBall and @NU_SportsLive) \| Instagram (@NUWBBall) \| Facebook Big Ten Network: Lisa Byington and Stephanie White Game Notes: Northwestern \| Maryland

EVANSTON, Ill. - The No. 24 Northwestern Wildcats (13-4, 2-3 B1G) head to College Park, Md., for its second-straight top 25 matchup against No. 8 Maryland on Sunday afternoon at XFINITY Center. Tipoff is set for 11 a.m. CST, and will be broadcast live on Big Ten Network.

SCOUTING MARYLAND
Overall Record: 15-2, 3-1 B1G
All-Time Series Record: Maryland leads 2-0
Notables
• Brionna Jones and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough are two of the top 20 players in the country named to the Wooden Award Midseason 20 List Friday. The Big Ten leads all conferences with four players on the list.
• Jones is closing in on 1,000 career points. She currently has 941 career points and is No. 2 in the Maryland record books in career field goal percentage (.624), which is behind only Crystal Langhorne (.662).
• The Terps are leading the country in rebounding margin (+18.0). They are second in the nation in scoring margin (+30.4) and third in field goal percentage (.498). They lead the Big Ten in field goal percentage, field goal percentage defense (.336), three-point percentage (.394), offensive and defensive rebounds (16.1, 31.5), blocks (5.1) assists (19.9) and rebounding margin. Jones leads the Big Ten and is second in the country in field goal percentage (.686). Walker-Kimbrough is leading the Big Ten in three-point field goal percentage (.571).
• Maryland was picked to win the Big Ten this year by both the league's coaches and the conference's media panel. Juniors Shatori Walker-Kimbrough and Brionna Jones were named to the Preseason All-Big Ten Team. Maryland returns three starters and 10 letterwinners from last year's Big Ten champion squad. The Terrapins also welcome three McDonald's All-Americans in freshmen Brianna Fraser and Kiah Gillespie, as well as junior Ieshia Small, a transfer from Baylor.

FACEOFF FACTS
Northwestern and Maryland take to the hardwood for the 3rd time on Sunday. The Terrapins hold a 2-0 overall record against the Wildcats, claiming both matchups last season.

STRONG START
The Wildcats won 10-straight games to open the season for the second-straight year. NU was one of just two Big Ten teams to open the season with 10-consecutive wins before dropping its first game of the year against No. 16 DePaul on Dec. 19. Northwestern closed out its non-conference slate with an 11-1 mark for the best start to a season under head coach Joe McKeown.

WELCOME TO MY HOUSE
The Wildcats are 8-2 at Welsh-Ryan Arena this season, beating opponents by an average of 21.1 points in Evanston. At home, NU averaged 79.3 points per game while shooting 42.7 percent from the field. Defensively, the Wildcats limited the opposition to 58.2 points per game at a clip of 35.4 percent while creating 21.5 turnovers per contest with a turnover margin of +8.1.

THREES COMPANY
The Wildcats have tallied at least five 3-point field goals in all but two games so far this season, including nine games with seven or more and two games with double-digit trifectas. Christen Inman, who recorded five triples against Nebraska, and Maggie Lyon, who tallied five against Creighton and No. 5 Ohio State, are the only two players to record at least five 3-pointers in a single game so far this season. The Wildcats sit third in the Big Ten in 3-point field goals made with 115 and second in the conference in triples made in Big Ten play with 35 total.

WILDCATS IN THE POLLS
Northwestern women's basketball tipped off the 2015-16 season ranked No. 19 in the Associated Press Preseason Top 25 Poll. The 'Cats were ranked for nine-straight weeks to start the season and were ranked as high as No. 12 in the AP Poll. It marked the highest rankings since the 1991-92 season when the 'Cats were touted as high as 11.

COFFEY ROLLS ALONG
Nia Coffey tallied her 1,000th-career point in the 'Cats season-opening win over Howard. The junior became the second active Wildcat to accomplish the feat, and joined eight other players in the Big Ten's 1,000-point club.

The junior was named to the 2015-16 Preseason All-Big Ten team, and was named First-Team All-Big Ten in 2015. Coffey scored in double figures in 31 contests during the 2014-15 season and poured in 20-plus points on seven occasions. Coffey was one of just two Big Ten Players to rank among the league's top 10 in points (15.2 ppg), rebounds (9.7 rpg) and blocks (1.8 bpg), while recording a team-best 14 double-doubles on the year.

This year, Coffey was named to the John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top-30 and Midseason Top-20 List. The lists are comprised of student-athletes who are the early front-runners for college basketball's most prestigious honor. She was also named to the The Naismith Trophy Early Season Watch List.
So far this year, the junior had recorded nine 20+ point performances, including a season-high 27 points in the 'Cats home opener against Howard. Coffey has scored in double figures in 32-straight games, dating back to Jan. 22, 2015, and is averaging a team-best 18.9 points per game. She leads the Big Ten in double-doubles with nine and is one of just 18 current active Division I players with 31+ career double-doubles.

LYON LINES
Maggie Lyon has scored nearly half (723) of her 1,471 career points from 3-point range. Lyon is second in program history in 3-point field goals made with 241 and is tied for second on NU's single-season record list with 83 triples during the 2014-15 season. She is just three 3-pointers shy of tying Northwestern's all-time record for career triples.

Lyon has led the 'Cats in scoring in seven games this season, including career-best 31-point performance against North Carolina.

OH, DEAR(Y)!
Ashley Deary has had a stellar start to the 2015-16 season, recording double digit scoring in 14 of the Wildcats 17 games this year. She led the 'Cats in scoring against Western Michigan (11/22/15) with a career-best 25 points and added a career-high 12 assists. At North Carolina, Deary surpassed the 400-assists career mark and became just the fourth active Big Ten Player to accomplish the feat. She ranks fourth on the squad in scoring, averaging 13.7 points per game.

Ashley Deary recorded 10 steals against Eastern Washington to mark the second most by an individual in the NCAA to date this season. The junior leads the country in steals per game with 4.5 per contest and ranks among the top 10 current active Division I players in career assists (468) and steals (247).

TURNOVER FOR WHAT?!
In the Wildcats' non-conference finale against UMKC, NU committed just two turnovers while forcing 24. The 'Cats two turnovers were the fewest in Joe McKeown's coaching career and ties for the fewest among Division I teams this season. Northern Colorado also committed just two against Western State on Nov. 16.