ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Maryland women's basketball team will take on Louisville in the 2016 ACC/Big Ten Challenge Dec.1 at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.
This marks the 10th year of the event. The Terrapins are 8-1 all-time in the Challenge, winning their first seven matchups. In the 2015 Challenge, the Terps handled Final Four team Syracuse, 82-64, Dec. 2 in College Park.
Maryland is 2-1 all-time vs. Louisville, with all three matchups under head coach Brenda Frese. The Terrapins have won the last two meetings over the Cardinals. Most recently, fourth-seeded Maryland topped third-seeded Louisville, 76-73, in the NCAA Regional Semifinal at the KFC Yum! Center to advance to the Final Four in 2014.
Louisville went 26-8 last season and advanced to the NCAA Second Round. The Cardinals beat Central Arkansas in the NCAA First Round, before falling to DePaul in the Second Round.
Maryland returns two All-Big Ten First Team honorees in seniors Brionna Jones and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, and welcomes the No. 1 freshman class in the country. Last season, the Terrapins went 31-4 overall and won the Big Ten regular season and tournament championships for the second straight year.
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 2016 event will be referred to as the ACC/Big Ten 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, five teams from both the Big Ten and the ACC earned NCAA Tournament bids.
2016 Challenge Schedule
Wednesday, Nov. 30
Michigan State at Syracuse
Notre Dame at Iowa
Florida State at Minnesota
Purdue at Pittsburgh
Wake Forest at Illinois
Penn State at Boston College
Thursday, Dec. 1
Indiana at NC State
Nebraska at Virginia Tech
Duke at Rutgers
MARYLAND at LOUISVILLE
North Carolina at Wisconsin
Michigan at Georgia Tech
Virginia at Northwestern
Miami at Ohio State
-Terps-
