The Maryland women's basketball team was picked to finish first in the Big Ten Conference by the league's coaches and media, the conference announced Monday.
Terps senior center Brionna Jones (Aberdeen) and senior guard Shatori Walker-Kimbrough were named unanimous preseason All-Big Ten selections by both the coaches and media. Ohio State junior guard Kelsey Mitchell earned Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year honors from both groups.
Maryland is 34-2 over the past two seasons in Big Ten play and has won each conference regular-season and tournament title since joining the league in 2014. Last year, the Terps went 31-4 overall, earning a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament before being upset at home in the second round by eventual Final Four surprise Washington.
Ohio State, which handed the Terps their only two losses in conference play last season, was the coaches' and media's runner-up pick.
Jones led the country in field-goal percentage (66.5 percent) last season and is on pace to set the Big Ten's career record for field goal percentage, while Walker-Kimbrough shot a Division I-best 54.5 percent (73-for-134) from beyond the arc last season. Both were first-team All-Big Ten selections last season and earned All-America honors from the Associated Press and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association.
Starting guard Kristen Confroy also returns for her junior year, joined by a deep bench and the nation's No. 1 recruiting class, including former Aberdeen forward Stephanie Jones.