ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Maryland women's basketball team will host NCAA Tournament participant Syracuse in the 2015 Big Ten/ACC Challenge December 2 at XFINITY Center.
This marks the ninth year of the event. The Terrapins are 7-1 all-time in the Challenge, winning their first seven matchups before falling at No. 1 Notre Dame this past December.
Maryland is 4-0 all-time vs. Syracuse and 2-0 under head coach Brenda Frese. The Terps beat the Orange twice two seasons ago. They won 77-62 in College Park on Jan. 16 and 89-64 in Syracuse on Feb. 2.
Syracuse went 22-10 this year and advanced to the NCAA Second Round. The Orange beat Nebraska in the NCAA First Round, before falling to top-seeded South Carolina.
Maryland returns three starters and two All-Big Ten First Team honorees in rising juniors Brionna Jones and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough. The Terrapins went 18-0 in Big Ten play, then won the Big Ten tournament championship in their first year in the league. Maryland beat undefeated Princeton, No. 16 Duke and No. 6 Tennessee en route to its second straight Final Four appearance and third under Frese.
The Big Ten and ACC conference offices determine the schedule each season. In addition, the official title of the Challenge rotates each year and the event will take place through the 2020 season. The 2015 event will be referred to as the Big Ten/ACC Women's Basketball Challenge and will continue to mirror the official title of the two conferences' Challenge agreement for men's basketball.
In last year's Challenge, the ACC and Big Ten closed out the two-day event in a 7-7 tie.
The Big Ten and the ACC have long been among the most dominant conferences on the women's basketball scene. Last season, seven Big Ten teams earned NCAA Tournament bids.
2015 Challenge Schedule
Wednesday, Dec. 2
Illinois as Miami
Georgia Tech at Indiana
Iowa at Virginia
SYRACUSE AT MARYLAND
Northwestern at North Carolina
Ohio State at Notre Dame
Wisconsin at Wake Forest
Thursday, Dec. 3
Pittsburgh at Michigan
Louisville at Michigan State
Minnesota at Duke
North Carolina State at Nebraska
Virginia Tech at Penn State
Boston College at Purdue
Rutgers at Florida State
-Terps-
