The final matchups in the regular season will provide plenty of intrigue as teams vie for seeding in conference tournaments or the national tournament.
Friday night will see an overperforming No. 10 Indiana (19-6-11-4) plays at home against an underperforming Maryland (8 p.m. Eastern, Big Ten Network).
Maryland beat the Hoosiers in January. The Terrapins are just one win behind them in a tight field at the top Big Ten. If Maryland wins, there’s a chance it’ll be able to eke out its fourth-straight regular-season conference title and the top seed in the Big Ten tournament; if it loses, it’ll fall to the middle of the pack.
On Sunday, Louisville and North Carolina State will close the regular season against ranked opposition they have already beaten. No. 14 Notre Dame (noon ESPN2), and No. 23 Virginia Tech (6 p.m., ACC Network). A loss by either team could result in them dropping out of the top four overall seeds. This would make it more difficult to reach the A.C.C. title.
In the Southeastern Conference, South Carolina’s stranglehold on the top spot has quieted some of its usual competitors. New-look Louisiana State managed to sneak into the top 10, for the first time since 2013. Kim Mulkey is at the helm and the school is hoping to make a run for the N.C.A.A. despite not qualifying since 2018.
The eighth-ranked Tigers will face No. 16 Tennessee (2 p.m., ESPN2), a team that started strong but has been bullied recently, losing four of six — albeit to a difficult group of opponents that included Connecticut and South Carolina — before winning Thursday.
Mulkey’s former team, Baylor, is hardly languishing in her absence, though. The Bears will face Iowa State on Monday (7:05 p.m., ESPN2), and NaLyssaSmith, one of the most talented players in the country, will be center stage as she attempts to lift the Bears to the top of the Big 12.
Source: NY Times