If the goose is loose, the 13th-ranked University of Miami women’s basketball team tends to win, says coach Katie Meier.

The goose, for those who aren’t privy to the Hurricanes’ inside jokes, is junior forward Morgan Stroman, who also goes by "Stro’’. When she is loose, energetic and crashing the boards for rebounds, the rest of the Hurricanes follow suit. She had 18 points and 10 rebounds — seven of them offensive — in a road win at Georgia Tech last week, a “Herculean effort,” in Meier’s words.

Energy and rebounding will be critical Thursday night at home against fifth-ranked Maryland (16-0), one of four unbeaten teams.

The Terrapins average 84.4 points per game, which is tied with Notre Dame for best in the NCAA. The Hurricanes rank fourth in that category at 82.4 ppg and lead the nation with 16.1 steals per game, so expect a lot of fast breaks. Maryland will have a height advantage with only one starter under six feet. The Hurricanes start 5-6 Riquna Williams, 5-8 Stefanie Yderstrom, and 5-11 Shenise Johnson.

“They’ve got a ton of size, so it’s going to come down to how do they guard our guards, and can we keep them from pounding us inside,’’ Meier said. “We will need Stro to be loosey-goosey and get our team energized. Whenever I feel we’re not playing with enough spark, I look right at Stro and she makes it her business to get everyone going.”

Stroman relishes the role. She has been a team leader for as long as she can remember. She made varsity as a seventh-grader in Hopkins, S.C., and by the time she graduated from Lower Richland High, she had won four state titles and been named South Carolina Player of the Year and a McDonald’s All-American. Her mother, Debbie, was her high school coach, and Stroman credits her mom for instilling her with passion for the game.

“When I got to UM as a freshman, Coach Meier called me loosey-goosey whenever I was all over the place getting rebounds, diving for loose balls and steals, and the name kind of stuck,’’ Stroman said. “I’m still the one who gets the team all hyped up after big plays, and I try to use my energy when other teams come at us hard.

“I know Maryland is going to have a lot of intensity, and I love those battles. I love physical games where bodies are flying and you wind up with bruises. You can’t whine. You just have to fight back and get treatment after.’’

The Hurricanes (13-3) have had a challenging start to the ACC season with road games at North Carolina and Georgia Tech sandwiched around a home game against N.C. State. They lost by two points to the Tar Heels, whom the Terrapins beat 78-72 in overtime Sunday. Maryland sophomore Alyssa Thomas scored 24 points in that game, including a reverse layup as time expired in regulation.

Thomas averages 17.4 ppg, and is playing "like a big-time All-American playmaker,’’ Meier said. "Her shot chart is all over the place. She was the ACC Freshman of the Year last year and has really come on strong this year.’’

One of the other key players for Maryland is sophomore guard Laurin Mincy. Meier and her staff are very familiar with Mincy because they recruited her out of high school. Mincy had major knee surgery her senior year of high school and was slow to get her college career going, but now she is on fire. She scored 23 points in 35 minutes against FSU and is the Terps’ second-leading scorer.

Stroman and her teammates realize they have a chance to make a major statement against Maryland, and are hoping a big crowd shows up to support them. "We haven’t played 40 minutes of great basketball yet, and I think our best is yet to come,’’ she said. "We know we have a special team this year and we want to prove we can not only compete with, but beat the top teams.’’