March 22, 2009
Recap |
Box Score |
Notes |
Photo Gallery 1 
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Photo Gallery 2
Postgame Quotes
Maryland Terrapins
Head coach Brenda Frese
20 Kristi Toliver, 5-7, Sr.
25 Marissa Coleman, 6-1, Sr.
Opening Statement: "I thought that it was great to be able to finally get started and play. We were able to set the tone early. I thought we did a tremendous job thanks to the leadership of our two seniors. That's what we are going to have to have each and every game - them setting the tone and understanding how aggressive we need to be. I thought it was a tremendous game. We are just excited about winning and we are at right now."
Reporter: "What worked offensively for the team in the first half?"
Toliver: "We tried to get to the rim. We definitely wanted to attack the basket and I think we did that early and often and that opened up easy shots later in the game."
Reporter: "Last year you were rusty after two weeks off, this year you were not. Can you comment on that?"
Toliver: "We had a lot of good practices. We did a lot of scrimmaging. We did a lot of going up and down. We were working hard and trying to stay up for getting ready for this tournament."
Reporter: "Did you feel good about your shot early on today?"
Toliver: "Yeah, it's tournament time. Time to play your best. I was definitely feeling it. Obviously we were at home so we're used to the rims. My teammates were getting me open. I was able to attack the basket a little bit more than I usually have."
Reporter: "What do you think at halftime when you see that Kristi has 23 points and Dartmouth has 23 points?"
Coach Frese: "I love seeing when Kristi is in that kind of attack mode. I think it really helps our team when she's being aggressive and they have to find a way to stop her. Every game, we're going to have different matchups, but overall, I was able to still challenge us [at halftime] in that I wasn't too pleased with our rebounding knowing that we were only plus-one. That's the good thing about this team is that I know that I'm able to challenge them, and I thought we did a much better job in the second half on the glass."
Reporter: "Talk about the team's defensive approach against Dartmouth."
Coleman: "Coming into the tournament, we wanted to prove that if we put our mind to it, we could play good defense. That's one of the things that people are doubting about us. We made a conscious effort to go out and just stop plays."
Reporter: "Is it a fair way for the NCAA Tournament to work, with teams playing on their home courts?"
Coach Frese: "There are a couple things. You have to be realistic when you're trying to do neutral courts. It hasn't worked out for the women just yet. Obviously in an ideal situation, [neutral courts] would be the most fair and the most equitable, but we wouldn't be playing in front of what you saw tonight with 10,000 fans. But teams have to know - I just came up from the locker room and saw that Minnesota was beating Notre Dame on Notre Dame's home court, so that's what you've got to be able to do in the women's tournament. You have to be ready to play. It is what it is."
Reporter: "Can you truly tell in a game like this how ready you are for the rest of the tournament?"
Coleman: "I think we knew we were ready before the game today, because I think we were extremely focused and had good practices. We jumped out early. Even though this was a first round game, I think we were ready and we were extremely confident once we stepped out on the floor."
Toliver: "We're ready. I think we showed that today with the way we came out, and I think we were ready even before the game got started."
Reporter: "Not many players get a chance to play an NCAA Tournament game with their names in the rafters above them. Can you talk about that experience?"
Coleman: "It's special. I know it hasn't sunk in for me yet. But we're more focused on getting another big [national championship] banner to go along with 2006 right now. That's my main focus right now."
Toliver: "The ultimate goal is to get another big banner up there. I think it's special to see number 20 and 25 up there while we're playing, but like I said the ultimate goal is to get another big banner up there."
