March 21, 2005
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
Head Coach Brenda Frese
Opening Statement:
"I'm certainly proud of the effort and intensity that we displayed last night against Green Bay. With a quick turnaround, our focus has been on preparing for Ohio State. We just need to be able to come out and play the kind of 40 minutes of defense we played last night and bring it tomorrow night."
On the match-up between Maryland center Crystal Langhorne and Ohio State center Jessica Davenport:
"Jessica has a tremendous amount of size and is very difficult to guard when she gets you down on the low block. I think it will be a tremendous match-up between two big centers, and I think it's going to come down to being able to neutralize everyone else."
On what it would mean to make it to the tournament's second weekend:
"Obviously it would mean a lot, with this young group, to continue to progress. But at the same time, I'm so proud of this team, and they continue to do great things. The greatest thing is I know this team will come out tomorrow night and lay it all on the line for 40 minutes, and hopefully good things will happen for us."
On Langhorne's growing maturity over the season:
"When Crystal came in, offensively, she had all the tools, and obviously a rebounding edge. But I think the biggest improvement she's made in her game is from the defensive end. Just to see really this last month of the season how hard she's going and how aggressive she's being, I think she's really turned her game into being a complete player. Obviously, her maturity, both on and off the court, is beyond years of a freshman. I've never seen the kid ever have a difficult time in terms of handling pressure. She really thrives on it. You never see her rattled. She's just an extremely mature person and player."
On the difference between this year's Ohio State team and the one she coached against with Minnesota:
"The difference is with Jim Foster coaching the team and his style was different from [the coach] three years ago. He definitely has an inside post presence that he has taught, even when he was at Vanderbilt. He really has a patient offense in terms of taking good shots. Shot selection is key. Obviously you see their field goal percentage, they do a tremendous job. He's a great coach, and he'll have them well-prepared."
On what the crowd will be like with a 9:30 game:
"I would have told you with a 7:00 tip-off, I would think we would have had an outstanding crowd, but being on a school night, a work night, I think that's difficult to say at this point. But I know our loyal, supportive fans will be out and give us a tremendous environment."
Guard Shay Doron
On what it will take to beat Ohio State:
"We've played some great teams this year, and Ohio State is obviously one of the greater teams that we've played this year. I'm confident that if we can hold a team like Duke to [60] points that we can do that again with Ohio State. It's going to come down to defense. We're very similar in scoring. We both score [an average of] 73 points, so I definitely think it's going to come down to defense."
On rebounding from a poor shooting performance at the ACC Tournament to score 26 points against Wisconsin-Green Bay:
"You obviously want to play well in big games like that [Green Bay game], but as far as Greensboro, [N.C., the ACC Tournament] Clemson was playing me box-and-one the whole game, and circumstances were a little bit different. But, obviously, as a shooter, you have to keep shooting and keep staying confident, and the great part about our team is they show confidence not only when you're making shots but when you're missing shots. I think that helps me a lot, as a shooter, to know that even if I'm missing they're having confidence in me, not just when I'm making shots."
Guard Anesia Smith
On the match-up between Langhorne and Davenport:
"That will be a great match-up between Crystal and Davenport. Ohio State can bring a team with a lot of different weapons. Tomorrow, the game is going to come down to who can stop each other the most. We're both averaging 73 points a game, so whoever comes out and plays the best defense tomorrow I think will win the game."
