Iowa's Megan Gustafson and Maryland's Brionna Jones are accuracy personified

IOWA CITY — A victory would be an unexpected bonus.

Performance and improvement, that's the main thing.

'Obviously, we have a tough task ahead of us,' Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder said Friday, as the Hawkeyes prepared for their Big Ten women's basketball contest with No. 3 Maryland.

Tipoff is 1 p.m. (Iowa time) Sunday at the XFINITY Center in College Park, Md.

'A win over Maryland would be a significant win,' Bluder said. 'We desparately need a top-25 win and a road win.

'But most importantly, our team feels good about itself right now, and we want to get better for the next games.'

The Hawkeyes (13-7 overall, 4-3 Big Ten) have put four straight solid performances together. The lone loss in that span was a 98-82 defeat to the Terrapins (20-1, 8-0) on Jan. 14 in Iowa City.

Iowa led that game at halftime before Maryland pulled away.

The Terrapins are coached by Cedar Rapids native Brenda Frese, who has another elite cast this season, led by Brionna Jones. The senior center averages 19.0 points and 10.3 rebounds per game.

Jones (67.9 percent) and Iowa's Megan Gustafson (67.1) rank second and fifth in the country in field-goal percentage, and Jones leads a team that ranks No. 2 nationally in rebound margin (plus-16.7 per game).

'They're amazing (on the boards),' Bluder said. '(Jones) is extremely strong and uses her body extremely well.'

Iowa leads the Big Ten in field-goal defense (37.0 percent) and 3-point defense (28.8 percent), but that will be put to the test against an outfit that scores at a 90-point clip.

'They'll be tough to defend. But I think our (defense) kind of comes back to our personalities,' Bluder said.

'Kathleen (Doyle) brings a lot of defensive spunk to our team. Tania (Davis) has that capability. Megan has improved her post defense.'

Iowa returns home for a game Thursday with Rutgers.

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com