No Fear

To some, South Carolina's stature, figuratively as the top dog in women's hoops for the past two seasons and literally in terms of its immense size inside, is a cause of stress or fear. After all, the Gamecocks, who have five players listed as 6'3" or taller, are the defending National Champs and a spotless 35-0 this season.

But for the fiery Terps, who will enter Monday's Elite 8 matchup having won 10 of their last 11, going against the best is a cause for enthusiasm. 

"Really, really excited about the matchup with South Carolina," said head Coach Brenda Frese as she opened her Sunday afternoon press conference. "I think obviously their record being undefeated speaks for itself."

It couldn't matter less for Frese and her girls that almost everyone has picked South Carolina to win this game. They've been the underdog all year, after all. 

"I think it's just the normal that we've had all season," Frese said. "We were picked preseason 18th in the country. And when you watch everything that's out there, nobody believes that we'll advance out of this game. For us, we're used to it. It started back in the preseason, and rightly so. There were a lot of question marks. But I love the fact that this team never bought into it and believed anything. They decided to kind of set their own path and their own course."

"I think since day one we've been writing our story," senior guard Abby Meyers added. "We've been the underdogs in any big top-10 matchup, and we've proved people wrong by beating the great teams. I think we're just going to stick to us, stick to our support system, to the people that have believed in us since day one, and we're going to use that as energy for tomorrow."

Similarly to how they've been doubted for much of the year, the Terps will again be at a size disadvantage, though this one will be even bigger than most.

"I don't know that I've ever seen the size that they have," Frese said. "Obviously to be undefeated and to look at the depth and the size that they have, you bring the players off the bench, and they just get even better. It's pretty impressive to be able to see. It's got to rank up there as one of the best when you talk about all the size on their roster."

With an already small team losing forwards Allie Kubek (preseason) and Emma Chardon (first game of the season) to season-ending knee injuries early, the Terps were left with a hole in the traditional center sense. However, that hasn't slowed them down all season, as they've instead relied on speed, quickness, the transition game, and, perhaps most importantly, effort and heart.

"Obviously, we all know South Carolina; they're huge," said forward Faith Masonius, who has stepped into the role of primary post player at 6 '1". "I think Notre Dame prepared us a little bit with that height. And I think the No. 1 thing that it takes to play big players, big posts, and we're not that big, is really just heart, hustle, and working hard. It makes up for your height, makes up for that disadvantage."

And just as they attacked and eventually wore down Notre Dame's height in the Sweet 16, the Terps have no plans to step out of their regular game just because of their opponent's size.

"They're sometimes playing three post players out there, so a ton of size," Frese said of the Gamecocks. "I think for us, we have to continue to keep being us and continue to play the style that we want to play."

"I think both teams are going to try to play their styles of play, and they're going to want to use their size and pound it inside and go rebound," Frese added. "We're going to want to use our speed, and we want to get up and down. Anything can happen in March. We've got to make shots, and we've got to be able to get stops and keep them off the glass. I'm sure they're saying the same thing."

Of course, this isn't the first time the Terps and Gamecocks have met this year. In the Terps' second game of the season, South Carolina came away with a victory in College Park on Nov. 11, in a game that Maryland, without projected top-five WNBA draft pick Diamond Miller, was within six at halftime. 

And though the game was a great experience for Maryland's nine new players, the Terps are steadfast in that they are a wildly different team now.

"I'm not even sure at that point of the season whether we would have had Diamond, it would have made a difference in that game," Frese said. "We were so far away from being a cohesive unit that I'm sure South Carolina at that point probably wondered how we even got here."

"Diamond was out, we had nine new players, second game of the season," star sophomore guard Shyanne Sellers added. "So I think that was a little bit of a tough one. I think now we have gelled a lot better and we've become more cohesive, so I think we're going to hopefully give them a run for their money."

All eyes will be on the Terps on Monday night as they attempt to hand the Gamecocks their first loss in 42 games and make the program's first Final Four since 2015. 

As far as pressure, however? Maryland isn't feeling that at all. Instead, they're enjoying the moment and relishing the opportunity to put on for the state. 

"Pressure is a privilege," Frese said. "No pressure. I love the fact that we get to represent Maryland. I think that's the coolest part of this journey is we get to continue to share our story, to rep Maryland on our chest and our university. We take it as a compliment, the fact that we are kind of waving the flag and carrying it for everybody out there."