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94 ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 25, ISSUE 2 f W O M E N ' S B A S K E T B A L L : B I G T E N P R E V I E W BY KYLE CHARTERS KCharters@GoldandBlack.com T he Boilermakers want to defend their home turf. Purdue has arguably been the premier team in the Big Ten for the last two decades, winning a league-best nine tourney titles, advancing to three Final Fours and winning a championship. Now, however, the Boilermakers see a couple newcom- ers who bring solid women's basketball résumés: Mary- land, the 2006 national champions, and Rutgers, a three- time Final Four participant and the national runners-up in 2007. "Big Ten top to bottom was tough (before). Now it is the best conference in the country," Purdue coach Sharon Versyp said. "From top to bottom, we are the toughest. … Any given day, anything can happen. "Maryland is coming off a Final Four. They recruit well and will always be a great program. Rutgers is just coming off a NIT championship and that can springboard a pro- gram. It does not get any easier." Following is Gold and Black's look at the Big Ten, with teams listed in predicted order of finish along with last season's record. MARYLAND 28-7 OVERALL, 12-4 ACC T he Terrapins enter the Big Ten as perhaps its pre- mier team, after having the most national success of any of the 14 members over the last decade. Maryland, a Final Four participant last season, won the national championship in 2006 and advanced to the Elite Eight in '08, '09, '12 as well as last season. Brenda Frese's group has high expectations again this season, and many agree; the Terrapins were picked, both by league coaches and media, to win the Big Ten, when the top three were announced at the conference's media day in mid-October. But Maryland will have to reload quickly if it wants that type of success. It loses three senior starters, including star Alyssa Thomas, the three-time ACC Player-of-the-Year who averaged 19 points and nearly 11 rebounds last sea- son for the Terps. More will be asked of point guard Lexie Brown, a mem- ber of the ACC All-Freshman Team a year ago. She aver- aged 10.1 points and more than four assists per game and was one of the league's better defensive players. Brown will need to find scoring help, and likely will do so from a variety of players, as no other returning Ter- rapin averaged double-figure scoring last season. But look for guard Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, who came off the bench as a rookie to average about nine points per Maryland Veteran coach Brenda Frese brings her Maryland team, a Final Four participant last season, to the Big Ten, and imme- diately the Terrapins are league favorites. Welcome To The Better Big Ten Purdue looks to hold own in expanded league