It’s been over two weeks since No. 5-seed Maryland women’s basketball played a game. But the past is now irrelevant, as the NCAA Tournament is one-and-done.

The Terps will face No. 12-seed Murray State in the Round of 64 — an opponent they’ve never seen before.

Friday’s game will begin at 3 p.m. at Carmichael Arena in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. It will be available to watch on ESPNU.

“We want to continue to extend this season for our seniors,” head coach Brenda Frese said. “We are playing for them and playing for one another, just ready to get down there.”

No. 12-seed Murray State Racers (31-3, 19-1 Missouri Valley Conference)

Head coach Rechelle Turner is in her ninth season with Murray State, and has brought it to a second consecutive NCAA Tournament and conference championship. She is also the 2026 MVC Coach of the Year.

Murray State has won 15 games in a row —- its last loss was on Jan. 23 to Northern Iowa. Its only other two losses came against Illinois — a team the Terps also lost to — and another NCAA Tournament team in South Dakota State.

The Racers are undefeated at home and in neutral sites. They earned the 12-seed to face the Terps on another neutral site, but Murray State’s trip will be slightly longer.

The Racers also have far less rest than the Terps. They punched their ticket to the dance on Sunday when they won the MVC.

“They have a front-to-back scout,” Frese said. “We’ll be prepared for them, and everyone’s got to do their part.”

Halli Poock, junior guard, 5-foot-6, No. 1 — Poock is Murray State’s leading scorer and the focal point of a three-headed scoring monster. While relatively undersized, she is an extremely dependable scorer and facilitator. Poock averages 22.9 points per game on 44.4% shooting and 36.7% from deep, also averaging 4.4 assists per game. She was recently named the MVC’s Jackie Stiles Player of the Year — the first-ever Racer to earn that honor.

Sharnecce Currie-Jelks, redshirt junior forward, 6-foot-2, No. 23 — Currie-Jelks was OVC Freshman of the Year at UT Martin. She then transferred to Indiana — briefly teaming up with current Terp Yarden Garzon — but didn’t see ample playing time. She reinvented herself this season with Murray State, earning MVC Newcomer of the Year and All-MVC first team honors. Currie-Jelks averages 17.2 points and 11.9 rebounds per game and has elevated the Racers’ lineup to a dominant season.

Haven Ford, junior guard, 5-foot-6, No. 2 — Ford is another undersized guard that scores a ton for Murray State. In her third season with the Racers, she’s averaging 17.8 points, 5.7 rebounds and four assists per game. She was named to the All-MVC second team for the second consecutive year and was on the conference’s All-Defensive team this season.

Offense. Murray State is the fifth-highest scoring team in the country, behind only LSU, UConn, Oklahoma and South Carolina. It is by far the highest scoring mid-major team in the country, with three scorers averaging over 17 points per game and another averaging in double digits. The Racers have attempted 332 more 3-pointers than their opponents — they average 31.7% accuracy, with 8.4 makes per game. They also consistently get to the free throw line, averaging 24.7 free throw attempts per game — the second-most in the country — and shoot 79.9% from the stripe.

Size. Two of Murray State’s three best contributors are 5-foot-6. Maryland’s shortest players in Addi Mack and Kyndal Walker stand at 5-foot-9. The Racers have some size, with five players over six feet tall, but as a team, they’re much smaller than Maryland.

1. A coincidental leg-up in scouting. Murray State took down Evansville in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship game — a matchup Frese unintentionally had her eye on. Frese’s niece, Sydney Huber, is a freshman guard at Evansville. At the end of practice on Wednesday, Frese wanted to compel the Terps to study Murray State rather than sleep, using Evansville’s preparation as an example.

“You get there regardless,” Frese said. “Special coincidence that it would be because I had already started watching that championship game. I knew a little bit more about them before the bracket was unveiled.”

2. Will experience help the inexperienced? The Terps have four active players with NCAA Tournament experience. Maryland has 24 combined NCAA Tournament games played on its roster. Saylor Poffenbarger made it clear that “everyone has jitters in March,” but Maryland’s three seniors, along with Oluchi Okananwa, will guide the rest of the team.

“It’s just another game for us and we’re trying to make as many more memories, especially for the seniors,” Mir McLean said. “But the seniors are doing it for the freshmen. We just want to make our imprints with the rest of the team.”

3. The final dance for the seniors. For McLean, Poffenbarger and Yarden Garzon, this is the end of the road. All three have had both positive and negative stints this season, but this is the moment they need to live up to their billing.

“Just trying to enjoy every last minute,” McLean said.