April 3, 2006
Sophomore Forward Laura Harper
Talk about the role of being the underdog. Does it help being the underdog?
"Definitely, I don't think the respect is there for our team. I think I try and look at it as if we win we will gain more respect. If the better team wins, so be it but if we care for each other and play for each other I am ok with that."
Can you talk about Duke's depth?
"Duke has a lot of weapons. I think they have a nice rotation, one through eight. They have strong guards they have a strong post presence. They have 6'8" in the middle. I think we match up very well."
The threat of being intimidated by Duke:
"We are never intimidated. We just stay calm. I think coach B does a great job keeping us calm and motivating us and making sure we stay in the present. We didn't come this far to become intimidated. We are going to have fun and last night we had fun. We are going to go into the national championship with the same laughter and fun that got us here - that is how we play our best."
The importance of rebounding:
"Oh my goodness, ever since we had left, (for Boston) we have been having rebounding posters. They are everywhere, even when we are sitting on the toilet. Rebounding posters are everywhere, in the hotel, in the locker room on the bus and even in the film room. I am not sure who is putting them there but we need to step up and rebound to win games. I think they are motivating. The reason we have lost in the past is because of the lack of offensive rebounding and that is what it comes down to. We have the offensive game and can play with anyone in the country."
How important is to keep your offense going?
"Our coaches say that our offense is never a problem. We never really think about it. It is always there, we know anybody can score 20 or 30 a night. Our defense is what we need to take more pride in. Even when our offense isn't flowing we seem to get chippies or to the free throw line. It is really our defense that we focus on."
Can you talk about the improved offensive in women's basketball and how it helps the game:
"I think the improved scoring helps the game a lot. I think most look at the women's game as a slower paced game, kind of boring, not really up and down. I think now we are scoring, getting fastbreaks, showing emotion and catching people's eyes. I think that is what we need for the sport."
Did you expect your team to be this balanced?
"I did, I think we are a true definition of a team. We don't have a star really, we joke around with Crystal and call her franchise but we really don't have a star. You try and stop one of our players and somebody else goes off, so I think that is a big reason we are where we are."
Can you talk about Chante Black and her presence on the floor?
"I think you just need to block Chante out. A lot of teams have failed to do that and when you do that, she'll make you pay. Chante is a very versatile player that gets a lot of offensive put backs. I think if we put a body on her and box her out we will be ok. If we take pride in our defense and step it up, I am not really worried about anyone on Duke right now."
Can you talk about Coach B and your committing to Maryland?
"I just think Coach B really believed in me from the start. She just gave me the confidence that with me we can bring this program to another level. She just kept telling me where she wanted this team to be and how I could be a piece of improving the program. Her belief in me really got me to come here. I looked At UConn and maybe staying home but Coach B really showed interest in me. The conference helped too. I know I wanted to play against competitors."
Can you talk about your injury and what you learned?
"At first it was very tough, I couldn't do preseason, I couldn't do the tournament; I just had to sit and watch this team for so long. I think it has really given me enthusiasm and motivation to play harder. I know what it is like not to play and to have to watch. I can really show my team what it is like to play with urgency and to play in the present. I could have made it about me but I didn't. Coming back, I looked as myself as another recruit coming in."
How fitting is it that you have to go through Duke?
"I think that it is very fitting. We have lost to Duke countless times. I think I have watched us lose to Duke close to 14 times since I have been here. That is what somebody told me. I think it is going to be a revenge thing. I think this time we are just a better team. We are on an equal level with them. I think it is going to be a very good game."
Can you talk about the attention you are getting?
"It is great. Everybody on campus knows who we are. Our school newspaper put us on the front page. People are talking, at least on campus, they know who we are. It is really nice."
Talk about what it means to be playing in the championship game:
"It is great, it really is. It is everything I hoped and prayed for. I am going to play with excitement, I know that."
Talk about being in Boston:
"Coming out of Albuquerque....I mean it is another city, it is a great city. We actually got to walk around the city, there are place to go and see, it is just great. All the catering to we have received it is great. I mean the people in the hotels are catering to us like we are Princess Diana. I feel like the President, it really feels wonderful."
Juior Guard Laura Harper
On what it will take to beat Duke:
"It will be pretty similar to North Carolina. We have to keep them off the boards, we have to run the ball as much as possible and keep the tempo fast-paced, that's the way we like it. Last time we beat them we played our game, we were hitting shots and our offense was flowing and that worked last night as well."
On when the season started to come together:
"I think the game against Tennessee when we lost was kind of the turning point of our season. We knew we could play with anyone, but when we almost beat the number one team in the country three games into the season, with all the time we had left to improve, we knew that it was going to be a great season for us and we gained a lot of confidence from that game."
On moving back from Israel to the United States:
"[Basketball] was absolutely the only reason why we moved back [to the U.S.]. My whole family lives in Israel. The sole reason was that my parents and I felt like I could achieve my dream, which was making the WNBA. We felt to do that, we had to make the right steps and that was the first of many right steps."
"It was a long discussion and it wasn't an easy choice. I really liked living in Israel and I had made a life for myself there and made a name for myself in basketball and things were just really on the rise for me there so it was very hard to leave...It had to be one of the tougher decisions I've ever made."
On how she ended up at Maryland:
"I went on an unofficial visit, due to a tournament that was in the area, out of pure luck. From then on, I met the coaches and I just clicked right away with all of them and Maryland went from out of my top hundred into my top five."
On facing Duke in the championship game:
"This will be our fourth time playing them, so I could tell you what each of them ate for breakfast this morning. Both teams know each other very well, so it's going to come down to little things because we know each other so well and we're going to stop our best options. In the past, they were just better, honestly, and now they're not better, we're at equal strength and that's why our games have been so close this year."
On how her game has been influenced:
"My game is probably a mixture of everywhere I've played. In Europe, I've seen teams like European Champions in Russia, Italy and Greece. I've played against some of the best teams in Europe and I've also played against some of the best high school teams in New York and now into the ACC all along the East Coast. So I think my game is just a mixture of everything. Sometimes I'm a lot more aggressive on the ball and sometimes I'm a lot more aggressive moving without the ball and that's more European style."
On Maryland's number two seed:
"We're a number two seed, that's pretty high. It gives you a lot of confidence knowing that a lot of other people think you're better than the teams that you're put ahead of. We were going to be confident no matter what seed we got. We felt that we had a great team going into the tournament and we've been battle-tested. We've played number one teams, number two teams in the country five or six times this year. So we're confident to play anyone in the country."
On Maryland's offense:
"We're all very confident. Six of us are averaging in double figures and never have I had an easier time scoring...The guards are left wide open sometimes and we're just getting some great looks at the basket. We have to stay poised and wait for our time to shoot."
On Maryland's recent rise:
"I never thought it was going to happen overnight, I knew that coming in, but the only year that was ahead of schedule was my freshman year and we did some great things my freshman year. We were picked eighth out of nine teams at the time in the ACC. We upset Miami in the first round and we played a pretty good game in the second round. We were just very pleased with my first year and how far we had come from the last few years. It's unbelievable."
On exceeding expectations:
"I think it was just making us believe that we can be a part of something different that nobody in the country can say they've ever done. Nobody in the country can say they've gone from a 10-18 team to three years later playing in the Final Four. I love bursting people's expectations and proving them wrong and this team does it day in and day out, every single year I've been here."
Freshman Guard Kristi Toliver
On what she needs to do Tuesday night against Duke
"I think it's very important that I keep possession of the ball. I have to step up on the offensive end and take care of the ball. (Duke guard Lindsey Harding) plays great defense, I need to keep attacking her and being aggressive. Defensively, she can hit the three and she can get to the basket, so I need to do the job containing her."
On the rivalry with Duke
"Duke has had our number for a number of years now, but when we got revenge on them in the ACC Tournament it was a chip off our shoulder. There is a lot on the line. All five of them can score and all five of us can score. We won the last time because we rebounded well. We just need to keep enjoying this and playing well."
On whether she is sick of Duke, which Maryland is playing for the fourth time this season
"I wouldn't say I'm sick of Duke. I think it's fun to play against the best, and I love playing against them because they are the best. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow night."
On her turnover total (12) from Sunday night
"I don't think I've ever had that many turnovers in a game. I could have hung my head, but instead I tried to contribute in other ways, like on defense. Earlier in the season I might have hung my head, but I have grown up a lot this season. I'm still not in a great mood about my turnover total, but we won the game and that is the most important thing."
On her teammates' play from Sunday
"Our post players really stepped up and did a great job defensively. I was really proud of them. At the half, Shay (Doron) said 'I'm going to hit a shot tonight' and I said 'I'm going to be the one to pass it to you,' and then it happened and she hit a big shot. It seemed to give her a lift."
On the state of the team
"This team has always remained humble, but we have developed some swagger, which you need to have to be successful at this level. We are out there playing for each other and not ourselves, and we are out there to have fun. That mindset has kept us successful. It keeps us calm and confident."
On her experience prior to Maryland
"Especially on the AAU side, I played on some great teams and with and against a lot of great players. It taught me a lot. and helped me become the freshman that I have become. I played a ton of games, sometimes three in a day. It was a lot of basketball."
On Maryland coach Brenda Frese
"She is a fiery motivator, and wants us to be part of something new and great. I think we are on the same page. I knew she done great stuff at previous institutions and that she would do the same at Maryland."
On her father, NBA official George Toliver
"Having him be an NBA official, I have been around the game forever. After a game, he'll write me little notes of encouragement. He keeps me confident and sure of myself."
On the ACC
"I think having three teams in the Final Four and two in the championship game says a lot about the athleticism in our league. There are a lot of great teams that the selection committee has to consider when putting together its bracket."
On the mood back at the Maryland campus
"I did not have to call my friends back home because they kept calling me. There is so much excitement and support for the women's program. It is good for the sport and for the University."
Sophomore Center/Forward Crystal Langhorne
On not being selected for Kodak All-American:
"I don't really care about that. We're in the championship game and that's what's important. We're a five player team. There are Kodak All-Americans that aren't here."
On why she chose Maryland over some of the traditional powers:
"Coach Frese has been a winner wherever she's been. I knew she would get good players to come to Maryland. She expected me to come in and start right away. Maryland is not too close to home but not too far away either. It has great academics, I liked the coaching style and the team chemistry was good. I wanted to help build a program, not go to a traditional power."
On playing for Duke's Coach Goestenkors over the summer (Under 19 team):
"Coach G really helped me over the summer. She makes better players and better leaders out of you. She will have her team prepared, she's a competitor."
On playing against Duke and Alison Bales:
"We have to use our speed against Duke. If you get by Bales and her shot blocking ability, you still have Mistie Williams and Chante Black to deal with. With Bales, we just have to try to push her off the block and then not let her get that 15 foot jumper."
Freshman Guard/Forward Marissa Coleman
Did you guys expect to be so balanced offensively at the end of the year?
"Definitely, coming into this year we knew we were going to be able to score from all positions, and that we had great depth and had the feeling we were going to get to the Final Four."
Your scoring has progressed against Duke over the three games. Are you just getting better looks?
"I think it was just getting more comfortable and familiar. The first time we played them at home, we were intense and were not playing Maryland basketball. We were playing more to lose rather than more to win and each time we played them we were loose and had fun with it. The win against Duke in the ACC Tournament really helped us out, more than people think it did. It got that monkey off our back, we hadn't beaten them in years and to gain that confidence and know we can beat them really helped. But losing the championship game to North Carolina really helped us the most. We went back and watched the film and it made us sick to our stomachs to know we lost that game because we were rebounding and our defense wasn't there, made us see that we beat ourselves and the loss was something we could control."
How do you feel when people say this team is too young, built mostly of sophomores and freshmen?
"People put so much emphasis on our youth, but we just use it to our advantage. We go out and play fearless every game and no one expects us to win the big game, so we just go out there with nothing to lose.
When did the confidence of this team gel?
"I would have to say November when we played in the tournament out at the Virgin Islands. We beat Michigan State and had a great game against Tennessee, two teams who were in the Final Four last year. Against Tennessee we felt we let one slip away and we just got a lot of confidence after that tournament.
You played for Coach G in this past summer, what was that like and what are some similarities between Coach G and Coach B?
"Coach G is competitive. We were blowing teams away by 50 points or so and she's not satisfied with just winning games, the little things have to be right. She's a great competitor. I definitely learned a lot from playing on that team. The team was similar to our team this year. Every player can score from anywhere on the court and being coached by a great coach and one from our ACC rivals was great. It was fun though, playing with Crystal (Langhorne) and getting to know her before coming here and playing against Erlana Larkins everyday at practice, it definitely helped what I saw in the ACC last year. Both Coach G and Coach B are similar in the way they both love to win games and both are very competitive."
What was your early impression of Maryland when they were out to recruit you?
"When I first heard from my coach they were interested in me, I had no real interest because they were struggling, but after meeting with Coach B and the rest of the coaching staff I saw the vision they had and meeting the players it felt like the perfect fit. When I saw what Maryland could offer me. I wanted to go to a place that hadn't won a national title yet. It's more special when you are part of the first one to win the championship. Now we are the first team in Maryland history to get to the championship game, it's really special and I got that from talking to Coach B."
You and Duke know each other very well. What is left as far as adjustments to make?
"I think it comes down to who's going to come out and execute their game plan. We have to come out the way we did last night, just rebounding, putting a body on someone and limit our turnovers."
What's the sense back at College Park after the win last night?
"It was crazy how many text messages, phone calls and instant messages I got, but I spoke to one of my friends last night and they said everyone in College Park was going crazy. It's great to know that everyone is behind us, especially with the way we were feeling the men's team was overshadowing us even though we were having a great season and they weren't. But just to know that College Park is rowdy and behind us is exciting."
How does it feel knowing that the past two NCAA Champions are #2 seeds?
"Definitely. At first we were disappointed at not getting that number one seed, but Coach B emphasized that it doesn't matter what seed you are. You could be a number twelve seed, but everyone is 0-0 right now and you have to take it one game at a time. When we got here and had our first practice Coach B pointed to the rafters and said look at all the banners the past two years the number two seed has won the national championship. We definitely are using that as our motivation."
Where is your head now? Did you get some sleep last night?
"There wasn't much sleep last night. We were all so excited and stayed to watch the Duke and LSU game and when we got back to the hotel our game was on ESPNU so we all stayed up and watched that again to relive the excitement, so we couldn't sleep for another hour. We watched film this morning so everyone knows what they have to do and is ready to go. We're happy with the win last night, but we're not satisfied, we got one more game and we want to win that national championship."
We heard Coach G did a dance last night after Duke's win. Have you ever seen this dance?
"No I haven't seen the dance, but Coach B has one you should ask her about."
I hear the team calls Kristi Toliver the "Franchise Player".
"She hates it. I decided to call her the franchise because she is such a great player. That just shows how humble she is because she hates that we call her that, but she is the franchise. She's our best player, our go to player."
With three ACC teams in the Final Four and now two in the championship, how do you think the rest of the country looks at the ACC and its style?
"It shows how tough this conference really is. All season we have had three of the top five teams in the country and now three of the four teams in the Final Four were from the ACC. It let's everyone know it's tough. I think ACC is one of the better conferences and the style is there's danger in every part."
What worries you the most about Duke? Is it the different looks they can give you being so dangerous with anyone?
"They definitely can hit from anywhere on the court. Some points they're quick in transition, other points they stop and set up the offense to keep their opponent guessing."
How has the whole experience been? How has Boston treated you?
"Boston has treated us great. We are having such a great time from the first moment we got here. It's been a great experience from the banquets to the welcome ceremonies."
On comparing Coach Goestenkors to Coach Frese:
"They are both great competitors. They want to win, they show that every game with their emotions. They're both very good coaches and I'm excited to play against Coach G tomorrow night."
On separating playing for Coach Goestenkors over the summer to playing against her now:
"I think Coach G. did a good job of saying that it was about winning the gold medal over the summer and nothing else. We were all there for one common goal. We didn't really talk about our college teams."
On Maryland's scouting report for the championship game:
"On the top of our scouting report it said we know what we have to do and that's rebounding and taking care of the ball. It's going to come down to rebounding. We also have to limit our turnovers."
On Coach Frese's personality off the court:
"I love playing for Coach Frese. The emotion she shows on the court, we feed off of that. Off the court there is not a better coach I would want to be around. She loves having fun."
On being respected nationally:
"We definitely feel we haven't gotten the respect we have earned. We have beaten top-notch teams and we handed North Carolina their only two losses of the season. We were never thought to be in the position we are in now. No one thought we were going to make it to the final four and nobody thought we were going to win last night's game so we feel we have proven a lot of people wrong."
On Shay Doron
"A lot of people have been saying Shay hasn't been shooting the ball well but she does a lot of stuff that doesn't hit the box score and she's been our leader all season long. Last night she made key plays down the stretch."
On tomorrow night's game:
"I think the difference maker in tomorrow night's game is going to be rebounding. Both teams rebound the ball extremely well. We thrive off second chance points as do they, so I think it's going to come down to who gets the offensive rebounds."
Progress made against Duke this season:
"Everytime we play them Duke has the same game plan. Each time we have played them we gotten a step closer to beating them and then we did beat them in the ACC Championship. We learned a lot in our first two losses against them and in the ACC Championship game we rebounded the ball better and limited our turnovers."
Attacking Duke's post-up game:
"I definitely think the speed of our post players will be key tomorrow night. We will try to get them in foul trouble early as well but we will have to use our speed in the post to our advantage."
Motivation for tomorrow's game:
"Duke is going to be motivated since we are the team that ended their chance at an ACC Championship. I think Maryland is more motivated though. No one thought we would get this far so that just makes us want to go out there and keep proving everyone wrong."
On Coach Frese challenging the team:
"She gives us so much confidence day in and day out. From day one we thought we could get into the Final Four. She challenges us and 99 percent of the time we accomplish what she challenges us to do."
On Monique Currie:
"Mo's (Monique) a great player. You're not going to stop her from scoring but you can only hope to contain her. I've known Mo for awhile but its going to be a tough match-up. I'm definitely going to have to bring my 'A' game on the defensive side and that's what I'm going to focus on tomorrow, getting those defensive stops to try and limit her scoring."
