COLLEGE PARK — In October 2012, Maryland women's basketball player Brene Moseley, on track to start as a sophomore, felt her knee buckle as she planted her left leg during a preseason intrasquad scrimmage. There was no mistaking the injury for anything other than a torn ACL — Moseley had suffered the same injury in her right knee before her senior year at Paint Branch in Burtonsville.

After more than a year of recovery and rehab, Moseley re-entered the lineup, spending the next two seasons as the backup point guard to Lexie Brown. Then, when Brown transferred in May, it appeared Moseley finally was going to ascend to starter.

But coach Brenda Frese has continued to feature the redshirt senior as the Terps' top reserve this season, using her dynamic scoring and passing as an infusion of energy to boost Maryland's transition-heavy offense.

Moseley's embracing her spot in the rotation — rather than stewing over not starting — is why Frese calls her among the most valuable players she's coached in 13-plus seasons in College Park. It's also contributed to the sixth-ranked Terps being one victory from clinching outright the Big Ten regular-season title entering today's finale against Minnesota.

Moseley will be recognized today in a pregame ceremony at Xfinity Center, along with fellow seniors Malina Howard, Chloe Pavlech and Tierney Pfirman.

“I think the biggest thing that stands out for me is everything she embodies wearing a Maryland uniform,” Frese said of Moseley. “She's made so many sacrifices, been through so much adversity, to really come out a winner when you talk about how much success she's had.”

Those successes include helping the Terps advance to the Final Four in each of the past two seasons. Moseley also was instrumental down the stretch in Maryland's undefeated run through the Big Ten last year in its first season as a member of the conference.

Her game-high 18 points in 21 minutes in a 69-48 road win against Northwestern enabled Maryland to complete the Big Ten regular season at 18-0. Six days later, in the conference tournament semifinals, again against the Wildcats, Moseley scored 15 points in 21 minutes to spark a 74-63 victory. Maryland beat Ohio State the next day, 77-74, to win the title.

“I'm just thankful,” said Moseley, adding she's uncertain if she would be able to hold back tears today. “I can't ask for a better career than what's unfolded here. I've had ups and downs, but I've grown so much through it.”

This season has been Moseley's most complete at Maryland. She leads the team and is third in the Big Ten in assists (6.1) while averaging a career-high 11.6 points per game. She trails only Shatori Walker-Kimbrough (19.6) and Brionna Jones (15.3) in scoring on the Terps, who face a daunting assignment today in trying to limit Gophers guard Rachel Banham.

The 5-foot-9 redshirt senior leads the Big Ten in scoring (27.8) and is a contender for conference Player of the Year. Banham most recently scored 35 points in a 90-88 overtime win against the No. 5 Buckeyes on Wednesday night in her final home game. She's also had games with 60 and 52 points this season, prompting Kobe Bryant to offer praise on Twitter with the hashtag #mambablood.

Frese has not indicated who will start off guarding Banham, but Walker-Kimbrough certainly is in the mix given her athleticism. Regardless, the defensive game plan includes deploying multiple players throughout the game on Banham, much in the same way Maryland approached Buckeyes guard Kelsey Mitchell, another prolific scorer and the other leading contender for Big Ten Player of the Year.

Banham did not play in last season's only meeting against the Terps because of an ACL injury. Maryland won, 77-73, with Moseley scoring 15 points in 16 minutes. She made all four of her field-goals attempts, including three 3-pointers, and went 4-for-4 from the free-throw line.

“They've put a lot of time into this program, so we just want to give back to them any way possible,” Walker-Kimbrough said of the Terps seniors.

“We're playing for them. We've been playing for them this season. This is their season. We owe it to them, all the time they've spent giving back to the organization.”