NCAA Women's Basketball Championship: First Round - Holy Cross vs Maryland
Friday, March 17, 2023 • College Park, Maryland, USA • XFINITY Center
Maryland Terrapins
Maryland - 93, Holy Cross - 61
THE MODERATOR: Thank you for joining us, everyone, we have Head Coach Brenda Frese, Brinae Alexander, and Abby Meyers.
Coach, we'll start with an opening statement.
BRENDA FRESE: This group just continues to want to compete and play hard for each other. You can see why they're just so much fun to coach.
I loved the start. We were ready to play. We were locked in. We came out defensively, I thought, forcing a lot of turnovers with our defense, holding Holy Cross to four points in that quarter.
Then I thought our D to O, our unselfishness, to be able to have a box where everyone scored, five players in double figures was a pretty important game.
Again, to be able to have Brinae in her first NCAA Tournament game, I loved her response coming in with a ton of confidence. That's how we need her to be able to shoot the ball, and you can see that level of toughness. I thought with her and Abby, just, again, a lot of great plays for us.
Excited to be moving on. Understand that, as you continue through the tournament, you've got to be that much better. We're going to be going against a really, really good Arizona team, but I love the way that we came out today.
Q. For Abby or Brinae, I was just wondering, when you guys are playing a press like that, that really seemed to rattle Holy Cross. They talked about the length of you guys and how it disrupted them. How much did you see it taking them out of their game plan and their offensive flow when you have a press that's constantly forcing turnovers, you can't really get into any sets you want to. What did you see from their offense that maybe you guys disrupted?
ABBY MEYERS: That's the goal of our press, right? Get their nerves up, speed them up, and get a ten-second call. I think we had one of those. We were close to a few more.
It's kind of like the bread and butter of our defense is that 12 -- you know what, scratch that. You know, that press. I think, for us, we're athletic. We're long. We're energetic. And that also helps motivate us, and it helps us find our effort and energies through that press.
So we're going to hopefully continue to hurt teams with it. But, yeah, it worked today.
Q. Early couple, four or five minutes into the game, Shy got the ball and kind of planted onto the basket and kind of hit you with an eyes in the back of her head pass. You got fouled, but the pass was there. She finished with eight assists, 21 for the team. Can you talk about how that movement really helped you guys today, working the ball around and finding those open shots.
ABBY MEYERS: I think Shy is really getting comfortable at the point guard spot, just finding open players. For her, she's such a quick player, she'll get to that basket, and so many players are going to collapse on her because she's so fast in there. She'll find the open shooter, the open cutter.
Credit also to E, who also had six assists. So our point guards are really doing their job today, which is what we from them need down the stretch, down the road.
Q. Brinae, like Brenda said, this was your first one, what was it like? What was the feeling coming in? How quickly were you feeling comfortable and able to kind of just let it loose?
BRINAE ALEXANDER: I was really excited to especially be able to play at home and have that home court advantage. I think going in, it's easy to have like the jitters and the nerves, but once you see the ball go in, especially for me, I think that gives me a good boost of confidence.
I think it just, it's a great feeling to be out here and be on our home floor.
Q. For Brinae, I asked this to Holy Cross' players, but you all have a lot of steals, and you forced them into a lot of turnovers in the first quarter, first half really. Was that attributed to you guys reading the passing lanes very well or them making like careless passes? Was it a blend of both? Just curious about that.
BRINAE ALEXANDER: Yeah, I think for us we pride ourselves on being aggressive and having the first punch in the game. I think also we know our defense leads to offense. So that's just an emphasis for us and something that we want to keep doing moving forward.
Q. For both Brinae and Abby, you guys are both shooting better from the field this year than you did last year at your respective schools. Do you guys feel like you've become better shooters in your year at Maryland? Do you think it's better shots? How do you kind of attribute that development?
BRINAE ALEXANDER: I think for me it's definitely playing with girls that can also score at the same high level around me. I think that opens up the floor a lot, and that makes us hard to guard as a team. So I think that's why.
ABBY MEYERS: Yeah, I think going off what Nae said, we have so many weapons on this team that, especially Diamond, right? She gets to the middle, gets to the paint, everyone collapses on her, and I have a wide open shot. So I have to do less work to make my shots.
Credit to the people on the court with me, they make my life easier, which is great.
Q. This is really for both players. Did you feel like the way that you guys played today, that high energy, all court defense, and then sharing the ball as much as you did on offense, sharing the scoring load, was that really kind of an expression of the identity that you guys have built as a team all year?
ABBY MEYERS: Yeah, it's really awesome when every person that's on the court today scored. That just helps with our confidence. We definitely shook all the nerves off approaching Sunday's game.
Yeah, it's a good feel win that we needed, and I'm just glad that everyone contributed and everyone's happy with this one.
BRINAE ALEXANDER: Yeah, I think we focus a lot on -- we're big on momentum. I think just having a good team win like that where everyone contributed, everyone got a good look, just is good moving forward. Taking it one game at a time, and now we know what we've got to do next.
Q. Brinae, this is for you. Game high 18 points. Everyone who played today scored. Can you talk a little bit about the team's depth? It doesn't just have to be the starters.
BRINAE ALEXANDER: Yeah, like I said, or like Abby said, I think we do have a lot of lethal weapons on this team. That definitely makes us hard to guard and hard to scout as well because you can't just shut down one player.
I think we do really well with playing that inside-out game.
Q. Brinae, obviously this is your first NCAA Tournament game. You're shooting 40 percent from three, but on your first couple buckets, you got easy looks in the paint. Was that your intention to get comfortable early inside and then eventually open it up from the outside?
BRINAE ALEXANDER: Yeah, sometimes I -- unless I have a wide open look, I try to get some looks in the paint first just to see the ball go in because -- like it's not -- like if I miss my first shot, it's kind of easy to be like, oh, dang.
But I think getting looks in the basket, getting easy looks off of offensive rebounds or even just easy looks in the paint really gets me going.
Q. For both players, in the second quarter they kind of came out, played a lot better, kind of closed the gap. Was that kind of almost a needed message, you know, when you have a team that you kind of blow out in the first quarter but they start to come back, you know, this is a really competitive environment in March, anyone can do anything. Abby, your old school, the 15 seed wins yesterday. So what kind of messaging does that send that you have to be on your game at all times against any opponent right now?
ABBY MEYERS: That's the narrative around March. Any team can really win, right? Because you're playing for what could be your last game, and so people are going to step up. Even role players are going to step up.
Yeah, the start of the third quarter, we didn't bring that same energy and that intensity we did in the first half, so it was a little disappointing. But I think that we'll take this as a great lesson that down the road that it's March Madness. You've got to play all 40 minutes because any minute can be detrimental or really good for the game.
Q. For Brinae, you barked a little bit at Ava there at the end to take a shot when she decided to pass to Gigi there. What do you think of your role as a leader when you're playing with the younger players, and what do you think your role is in this kind of stage to prepare them?
BRINAE ALEXANDER: I think I gel well with our freshmen, and I want to see them win. I'm trying to get them open looks the best that I can, and trying to boost their confidence as well when they get on the big stage and get in those moments.
The reason I yelled at her, I thought she was open, but she was like, I wasn't. I'm glad she got a look there at the end, but I'm just rooting for them.
Q. I'm curious, with the aggressive defense early and the press, was that something you identified when you're watching film on them that you saw an advantage, or did you just want to come out aggressive? I know you guys like to start fast, and that was just part of what you wanted to do, you know, put your will on them?
BRENDA FRESE: I think a little bit of both. We hadn't played a game in a couple weeks, so we're always able to set that tone on the defensive end. I did feel like we -- you know, our length and our athleticism, we were going to be able to kind of set that tone on the defensive end.
So I just love the aggressiveness. You could tell that yesterday in practice, that we were going to be ready to play.
Q. Going off the defense, and you spoke about it in your opening statement, defense to offense today was very good for you guys today. 37 points off turnovers. Just curious, like what that metric says about your team's ability to turn defense into offense.
BRENDA FRESE: It's something since the Big Ten tournament we've been really intentional is just being able to really get our D to O going. I think it shows in our practices. We've had really good practices since we've finished the tournament and really, really locked in on both ends of the floor.
Q. I was just wondering there was a big height difference between the two teams that I noticed in the beginning, and what did you guys do to prepare? Is that why you went more inside the paint and less threes?
BRENDA FRESE: I think definitely we wanted to exploit that matchup when we could. We knew we had the height advantage, so we were really intentional on some of our play calls.
I thought credit the team, just really unselfish play being able to take what the defense gave us.
Q. Just a followup on what I asked Brinae and Abby. I remember talking to you a while back about Shatori and how much of a better shooter she was when she left the program than when she came in. Obviously we've seen Shy grow from year one to year two. Is that, the ability to become a better shooter, something you take pride in and develop? I know you need a lot of pieces to make these guys lives easy, but what is the mark of this program and how are you able to develop these guys?
BRENDA FRESE: Shot selection matters, so it's really, really important. When you look at five players in double figures, you have to be really, really efficient when you have so much great talent around you. So that is an area on the offensive end that we're constantly being able to really execute with our team.
So the shot selection matters, especially if you're only going to get seven, eight shots. When you look at like a Brinae, you look at Lavender, they came from programs where they were taking a lot of shots. So maybe your percentages weren't as high.
I think it really fine tunes them. It makes them a better player that they've got to be really efficient on the offensive end.
Q. Coach, you all forced some 24 turnovers and held them scoreless for almost six minutes in the first quarter. How important was that defensive ability to set the tone in a big March game for you all?
BRENDA FRESE: Really important. We discussed that from the tip. We wanted to come out and see how long we could hold them on the defensive end. I thought where it starts for us. We were really, really aggressive, turning them into 24 turnovers. And then on the other end, us being unselfish.
Q. I wanted to ask you about a couple of plays that started off the game. Faith gets a steal. She gets a layup. She gets another steal, hands it off, and then you get a three-point possession with a free throw from Abby and a layup from Diamond. Faith finished the first quarter leading the team with eight points. What have you seen about her this year that has just made her become such a stronger player and start for the first time and now be back in the NCAA Tournament after missing it last year with her injury?
BRENDA FRESE: Well, you can see how much we missed Faith last year. She's the glue player, the unsung hero, and just is our grit, our scrappiness.
I loved being able to see her initiate the start for us on the defensive end, and then the unselfishness followed. You could tell that we wanted to play the right way.
I thought Diamond was really good. I mean, they were collapsing on her with two and three players. She just made easy offense for her teammates.
Credit, I thought Faith set the tone. I loved the fact that she was right there on the defensive end with the three steals, and that's how we want to play.
Q. Just wondering, obviously Holy Cross, a younger team, a smaller team, and now you get to go up against an Arizona squad that's, I think, on all starting five of seniors. Do you expect to throw the press out as much, maybe with a longer and more veteran team that you're going against, and how do you think that type of pressure defense could work against them?
BRENDA FRESE: I think obviously you evaluate the scout. Arizona is a great team out of the Pac-12. I think for us our conference has prepared us for a game like this. They press. We press.
So it's definitely going to come down to two teams and who executes better on both ends of the floor. Who can get stops defensively and who can execute on the offensive end.
Q. After the big Iowa home win here, you said I'll let them celebrate it tonight and tomorrow we're moving on. That's kind of the mentality you have to have in tournament play. You have a strong game, great, you move on. Could you just talk about -- you're telling it's a veteran led team, they kind of know how to take care of business, but just that mindset of we won, we're moving on, next game.
BRENDA FRESE: I think they truly understand it given that it's the NCAA Tournament. It's a time families are in town, for them to go enjoy dinner and spend some time with their family, but then understanding it's a quick turnaround of their rest and their recovery and understanding the scout of what lies ahead.
Q. Just a quick note about the Pac-12. You've seen them a couple times in the round of 32 in this building. They've had success in this building. What is it about teams from the Pac-12 that make them really hard to play against this time of the year?
BRENDA FRESE: I think you see in Arizona, you see in a lot of teams some very defensive oriented type of teams. I think you also see in the Big Ten a lot of offensive oriented teams. So you're definitely going to have a lot of great styles.
But any of your Power Five conferences, you're going to see nothing but great teams, and anyone that's in the round of 32, you're also going to get nothing but teams that are -- have had a lot of success and are going to be more than prepared.
Q. I guess following up on Arizona again a little bit, watching them today, they seem to be able to score both inside and outside. I mean, they had a post player who had 25 today. I guess what specific challenges do you think they will present to you?
BRENDA FRESE: They're really deep and talented and have a great size. They, I think, have weapons at every single position. They're a great defensive team, very scrappy, like you said. I think they can get their offense going in a lot of different ways, with their guard play, with their inside game.
So I think they kind of understand who they are and what's working. So for us it's really understanding the scout and putting the best 40 minutes together.
Q. You spent a lot of time with your former teammates at Arizona. I know you've had reunions with them. Can you just talk about that dynamic? I'm sure you're going to get some texts or calls from them.
BRENDA FRESE: Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. We're talking about doing a reunion in the off-season, so I'm going to have to see who they're rooting for in this game.
Yeah, college are the best years of your life, and so I am, I'm really close to my college teammates that I was able to play with out in Arizona. It's ironic. I've never had to coach against them here. We've been to the U of A one time in my coaching career. We've taken a team back there. So pretty ironic for them to be able to come back here.
