March 26, 2006

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Maryland Head Coach Brenda Frese

OPENING STATEMENT: I'll tell you, I am so proud of this team. And just a tremendous win. And I cannot say enough about the 40 minutes that we just displayed. The team executed the game plan to perfection. They were hungry, they wanted this win. They defended, they rebounded better in the second half. It's just amazing to know that we just beat the defending National Champions. I'll tell you, Baylor is an extremely well coached team. And Sophia Young is spectacular. But, I just thought we really played with so much heart tonight. And that is why we are advancing and moving on to the Elite Eight.

Q: Brenda, people talk about your offense, but can you talk about how your defense played a specific role in tonight's win.

Frese - "I really thought, from all season long, it was the first time we've executed our game plan perfectly for forty minutes in terms of what we wanted to do on Baylor's talented post players. Our guards understood on ball screens and off ball screens what we were doing and it's great to see kind of a piece of where we're at in terms of where we felt we needed to be on the defensive end, where we needed to get to, and we really showed it tonight.

Q: Brenda, where does this rank upon Crystal (Langhorne's) all-time great games that you've seen her play?

Frese - "The highest. I'll tell you, this is pretty special, and I can't say this enough about her, when she graduates - already what she's meant and done for this program in just two short years. It started with her energy to start the game. She brought it. She knew that she had to have that kind of leadership and she's helping lead this team into the Elite Eight."

Q: Do you think (Langhorne) had any special motivation in helping play (Sophia) Young tonight?

Frese - "No. I think obviously Sophia's talented, but Crystal comes to compete every game. It doesn't really matter what the match-ups are, she just really wants to win. She just understands that it's not just one player against another player, it's Maryland versus Baylor. I just thought she did a tremendous job."

Q: Does knocking off the defending national champion legitimize this program?

Frese - "I would think it would get everyone's attention, and you know, obviously it's a special win for this team and this program against a tremendous team in Baylor.

Q: Coach you alluded to the defensive strategy, can you break it down a little more - what did you want to do to contain Sophia (Young) and the other post players?

Frese - "Obviously with Sophia and (Abiola) Wabara we really wanted to make them have to shoot from the high post. We really felt, in terms of that strategy, that obviously they're a lot stronger on the block and we needed to keep them off the glass. We were disappointed in the first half in our rebounding efforts. I felt that we did a much better job in the second half."

Q: How does it feel as a coach to be standing over there and seeing a poised and talented group and to know that you really don't have any seniors involved in any of that - I mean that's got to feel pretty good I imagine.

Frese - "It's really special and just to see this team and what they've grown into and the amount of confidence they're displaying each and every game. It's a special win because our seniors, both of them, got to go out on the floor tonight and be part of this win. They've contributed all four years to this program and to rebuilding it, and it's a special team, I'll tell you, to be able to coach."

Q: How big do you think that basket was at the end of the first half?

Frese - "It was huge for our momentum. You know I thought the first half was a tough grind. We came out hard and quickly, but once Baylor made their run back at us, it was back-and-forth the entire game, so it really helped to kind of separate us and keep feeding off a lot of energy and get us going in the second half."

Maryland Players
Freshman Kristi Toliver
Sophomore Crystal Langhorne
Freshman Marissa Coleman

Q: Thoughts and feelings about going on to the regional final?

TOLIVER: We're feeling very good. I think we were playing for respect, and we finally got it. I think we won pretty convincingly. We played well offensively and defensively, which may have shocked a few people who said we couldn't.

Q: Talk about your team's speed tonight.

TOLIVER: We're a typical ACC team. Transition basketball is what we're all about. Baylor is also a transition team, but I don't think they've faced such a quick defense like us. You've got to give credit to them, a great effort, they played well and they played to win.

Q: How big was the last basket before the fist half?

TOLIVER: That was huge. It was kind of funny, Shay (Doron) didn't know what to do, she just kind of swung it in, somehow it got to Lang's (Crystal Langhorne) hands and it was definitely a big momentum swing. It definitely helped the transition to the second half.

Q: Crystal, you just came out so strong and took over the first minutes of the first half, is that maybe a statement that says you are a good Player of the Year candidate? And maybe this was a chance for you to show that?

LANGHORNE: I wasn't really thinking about that. Our coaches just stressed to have energy coming out and they played me one on one, and my teammates just gave me the ball.

Q: Crystal, how often have people played you one on one this year, and were you surprised by it and you could feel like you could generally score when people try that against you?

LANGHORNE: I don't really know, but probably just a few times. I get pretty excited when teams do that because I am so used to getting doubled. But, my teammates have confidence in me and my coaches have confidence in me when people play me one on one to get me the ball.

Q: Marissa, when Crystal starts off like that, do you find yourselves starting to watch her or are you trying to get involved as well in the game?

COLEMAN: We try to get involved just by getting her the ball. I mean, she had out first ten points. So, we fed off of her energy and just kept pounding it in to her, and they could not stop her. And, she's been doing that all season. We have so much confidence in her, and once again they could not stop her. And so we just kept pounding it in to her.

Q: What does it mean to win this game tonight?

COLEMAN: It means a lot, because we were not very happy with our performance after St. Johns. A lot of people were saying that we could not defend. Our energy wasn't there last game, and the way we came out today, I thought we defended pretty well, and our energy from the tip was there until the end of the game. And, that definitely played a big part in our win tonight.

Q: Crystal, can you talk about your defense tonight, especially when Laura (Harper) went out in the first half with a couple of fouls playing Sophia (Young) like that?

LANGHORNE: At that point I just thought I had to step up a little bit on my defense. Because (Laura) Harper is such a great defender and those are hard shoes to fill. So, I just tried to do my best.

Q: Crystal, can you talk about obviously you are an Elite Eight team, does this legitimize Maryland?

LANGHORNE: I think so. We are one of the top eight teams in the country right now, and hopefully people will recognize how good we are.

Q: Marissa, it seemed to me that even though you don't have that many seniors out there most of the time, the confidence level is just incredible. You seem just like "bring it on!" Is that kind of your attitude? I just seems like you are out there with no fear.

COLEMAN: That is our attitude at this point of the year. We have been playing battles like this all year long in every tournament and in the ACC, which in my opinion is the best conference. So, we have had tough games like this every season, which prepared us for the tournament.

Q: Crystal, tell us about the basket at the end of the first half. How big is that momentum and is that something you have talked about before?

LANGHORNE: Actually, I was not even going to go to the basket, but Coach Walz told me to get to the block. I was like "that's not going to work." And then Shay (Doron) threw it up to me and it came right to my hands. So, that was great momentum going in to the second half.

Q: Now that you have beaten North Carolina and Duke this season, and the defending National Champions in Baylor, can you talk about how you feel about yourselves now and is there any team out there that worries you at all?

LANGHORNE: We feel pretty confident right now, but we know everyone is coming out here playing their best. We are still going to have to come out and play great defense and rebound like we did tonight.

Q: Marissa, you talked a little bit about, before the St. Johns game, about your nerves and how it affected your play. Can you talk about how more relaxed and confident you were this evening?

COLEMAN: We were definitely a lot more relaxed. We had two days off. After that St. Johns game we talked about how every other team in the tournament seemed to have the one scare where there nerves were up and that was our game. We were confident that we would bounce back because we have had those low points throughout our season.

Q: Was there anything in particular that calmed you down?

COLEMAN: I think the way we started out with our energy level, that definitely helped a lot because it gives you a lot of momentum. We had throughout the whole game and I think it definitely intimidated our opponents because they saw how energetic we were the whole game.

Q: When Baylor made their run, how did you stay composed during those runs?

LANGHORNE: Coach told us that everyone is going to make their runs. We just have to stay poised and not get too fragile. And, just stay calm because teams make their runs all the time.

Q: Considering all the teams that you beat this year, does that give you more confidence to win the championship this year?

LANGHORNE: Of course, we thought we could win the National Championship the whole year, and I think this has just given us more confidence.