Nov. 30, 2007

Recap |  Box Score |  Notes |  Photo Gallery 

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -

Maryland Head Coach Brenda Frese
On Friday's game:
"It was just a very, very convincing win and I'm very proud of our team. I think the best thing was to see how we executed defensively. Going in with a game plan, I just thought we did a phenomenal job executing it to perfection. We were disappointed in our turnovers in the first half, and then we come back out in the second half and only have five turnovers. I thought our dominance in the paint with our post play, as well as our inside-outside play, just being unselfish and looking for each other. It's a special win, especially for the ACC-Big 10 Challenge."

On the differences between this season and last season:
"One difference is our swagger, our confidence. We're playing for each other, looking for each other on the floor. Just the unselfishness that we're displaying and I think we're being led by our veteran leadership. The junior and senior classes have really taken ownership of this team and they're really putting us in the direction of the kind of season they want to have."

On the post play:
"We just feel like good things happen when we get post touches. When you look at the talent that we have inside, with Crystal Langhorne, Jade Perry and Laura Harper, and what they're able to bring to the table and one-on-one in the post. When they double team them, then we have the ability to kick it out for some really great open shots. That's always been our game plan to have an inside-outside approach."

Maryland senior Crystal Langhorne
On beating a ranked opponent on national television:
"I think its great exposure for our team, especially in the ACC-Big 10 Challenge, just to show how dominant our conference is and just to really send a message out to a lot of people on national television."

On playing at No. 5 Rutgers on Monday:
"Rutgers is a very difficult team to play. I know a lot of their players very well and I know that they pressure the ball. We're just going to be excited about that game, too."

Maryland junior Marissa Coleman
On not having the pressure of being No. 1:
"Crystal [Langhorne] and I were talking about it last night that it's very similar to the year we won the national championship. No one's really talking about Maryland. Everybody's talking about Connecticut and Tennessee and the rest of the country. It's more motivation for us to go out there and play as hard as we can and try and dominate."

Ohio State Head Coach Jim Foster
On the game:
"I think their post players did a great job with their physicality. I think they gave our young post players a good lesson for this time of year. I thought defensively we did a pretty good job on Toliver and Coleman but I think their post players really had an outstanding game as evidenced by the points in the paint spread."

On the play of Marscilla Packer:
"Well obviously we're not going to win a lot of basketball games with Marscilla [Packer] shooting like that. She's got to realize that she's the target and needs to use screens to get open and the subtleties of solid perimeter player are a little bit different than they were from the first couple years of her college career. Obviously Packer was a focal point for them from a defensive point of view and I think Coleman did a great job. She used her strength and her size and did a terrific job and Pack's got to be able to counter that."

On defending Maryland junior guard Kristi Toliver:
"Obviously tonight, I think Kristi Toliver was a focal point of what we were trying to do defensively. We spent a lot of time on it and talked about it and I think we did a pretty good job on her."

On the play of freshman center Jantel Lavender:
"I think Jantel Lavender is going to be a terrific college basketball player. With those seven offensive rebounds, if she learns to use the glass and the backboard she would have had more field goals, instead of trying to finesse a shot in traffic. I think that's something a young post player will learn."

On the overall strength of the Maryland team:
"They're good enough to win the last day of the season. How do you get better? It is November 30th and they're playing at a very high level. They obviously have to avoid injuries, like all of us, and continue to develop Strickland and Mingo as they go. Their post game is solid and Toliver, she's got to play a lot of minutes. She's certainly the key to the basketball team."