Maryland women’s basketball head coach Brenda Frese had a happy homecoming on Monday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Frese, who hails from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, led the No. 13 Terrapins to a 81-69 victory over the No. 22 Hawkeyes.

“This was just a really, really special win,” Frese said postgame. “Obviously, anytime you get to come back home and have your family and friends in the stands. But what’s even more special is just how the team played against a really, really good Iowa team.”

The Terrapins dominated the glass on Monday, outrebounding Iowa, 47-31. Maryland also had an advantage on the offensive boards, 19-11.

Maryland forward Angel Reese led the Terrapins’ rebounding effort as she notched a double-double. The 6-foot-3 sophomore finished with 25 points and 13 rebounds — including six offensive boards.

“Right now, I feel so confident,” Reese said. “I mean, my teammates are getting me the ball, and I know if they miss the shot, I’m cleaning it up. And they expect me to clean it up …  I know I’m one of the best defenders on the team, the best rebounder, so I do my job. Whatever it takes to do my job and get the win, I’m gonna do.”

Reese also had the job of going up against Hawkeye senior center Monika Czinano — something Reese did not shy away from.

Reese drew eight fouls on Monday night, causing Czinano to foul out with over two minutes left in the game. Czinano shot 7-of-10 from the field for 16 points.

“She drives really well from the perimeter and got [Monika] in foul trouble,” Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder said. “But her ability to crash is really good as well.”

The Hawkeyes and Terrapins shared an identical 10-3 conference record ahead of the matchup on Wednesday night, which was tied for third in the Big Ten.

Now, reigning Big Ten Tournament champion Maryland is 11-3 — tied for second in the conference with Michigan and Ohio State.

“I think every game is important to us now,” Maryland senior Chloe Bibby said. “‘February Frenzy,’ I think [associate head coach Karen Blair] calls it, so it’s exciting. Obviously, we have some great competition in these last four stretches that we have to play …  regardless of who we were playing, we want to go out there win and play Maryland basketball.”

Iowa, at 10-4 in the league, dropped down to fifth in the league standings with four games left in the regular season. Three of Iowa’s games come ranked teams, with two against No. 5 Indiana and one matchup with No. 9 Michigan. 

Bluder isn’t optimistic about the Hawkeyes’ chance to get a double-bye in the impending Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament — given to the top four teams in the conference.

“That’s always the goal, but it’s going to be hard to get now,” Bluder said. ”I mean, just because Ohio State has a pretty easy remaining schedule, and we lose the tiebreaker with Maryland and Ohio State, so it’s going to be very difficult to get that double-bye, but that is always the goal.”