Dec. 29, 2004
Recap |
Box Score |
Notes
COLLEGE PARK, MD -
Maryland Head Coach Brenda Frese
On the game
"Obviously it was nice to be able to see us stay focused down the stretch, but extremely disappointed in our second half effort. But all credit should go to UMass, they came out and played a much better, poised second half. Obviously on the glass we had some problems and just a lot of breakdowns for us defensively. There's a lot for us to be able to improve on."
On UMass defense in 2nd half
"We have great perimeter players and hopefully this is the only night that we will see this in terms of being able to step up and make shots. We're getting open looks, we just need to be able to step up and convert them. UMass had a great game plan in the 2nd half to stop Crystal and our guard play has to be able to step up to the challenge."
What was stressed in time outs
"We really felt that we had to defend and rebound. They beat us two or three easy baskets in transition. They were outworking us getting up and down the court. Obviously, Campbell on the glass was a major contributor for them."
Positives
"You can gain so many positives when you go down the stretch like this and we did keep our poise, and stepped up and made free throws when we needed to. Any game there are things that you can learn from, and this will definitely help us prepare for the ACC."
On the post play of Jade Perry and Aurelie Noirez
"They gave us a great presence and we're going to have to continue to have that outcome. Both of them are going to continue to get better and better the more time that they're out on the floor."
Maryland Center Crystal Langhorne
On pressure with the loss of Harper
"Coach didn't want anybody to feel any extra pressure from that loss. Everybody had to step up."
On her first half play
"The guards were getting me the ball, and I was trying my best to put the ball in the basket. In the second half, they [UMass] came into the paint more, and did a better job on me."
Maryland Guard Shay Doron
On taking a late charge
"I never look for them. Basically was happened was that she didn't change on a screen and you never go opposite on a screen, but she went opposite on a screen and I was already there and she just crashed into me."
On her key late free throws
"I love the opportunity to be able to do that. I have confidence in myself and obviously the coaches have confidence in me to step up and knock those shots down. I don't have any doubt, and once you do, it's over. You're going to miss."
"There's always a difference without a player as great as Harper. But I still have Crystal [Langhorne], Jade [Perry], Aurelie [Noirez] and all those post players to help me. But I think we all have to step it up, not just me. Everyone has to step it up to deal with this loss together."
UMass Coach Marnie Dacko
On the game
"We came out and gave it our best shot. We had to play in the zone, play tight up in the middle. Langhorne killed us the first half and Doran killed us the second half. If we have to give something up we're going to give up the outside shot. That proved to be effective in the first half."
What she told the team at half
"Just to be aggressive. We're a team that needs to get it inside and we really don't have a lot of outside shooters and scorers. We were tentative in the first half, didn't really get any offensive touches or boards. We needed to step it up. But we came in here with nothing to lose and everything to gain."
On Maryland Center Crystal Langhorne
"You have to give something up, so we did. We tried to throw two bodies on her and we did, and they kicked it out and we tried to recover. But again, we're still working with a young team. We're still trying to put pieces of the puzzle together."
