March 28, 2009
Recap |
Box Score |
Photo Gallery 1 
|
Photo Gallery 2
Head Coach Brenda Frese
Opening Statement:
"First of all, I just want to thank our fans. They were truly our sixth man behind us today in a game with a lot of adversity. It was just special to be able to have them here with this great win. And these two [Marissa Coleman and Kristi Toliver] up here, another amazing chapter in their careers. This story isn't ready to end and obviously to be able to see just how hard we fought through the adversity, the elements of the game, the runs by a great Vanderbilt team. I thought they were really, really prepared. And what more can you say about Marissa? I mean, just her will to win and both of these two, every game they step up with that will, that heart, that determination and what a phenomenal performance by this team. It's just special."
On the technical
"It was a critical moment in the game, you know, because we were losing our poise, we were losing out composure. It was a critical part and an area for us to come out and kind of calm our kids down and to be able to relax to regain some confidence. And again, just talk through that we can control things and I mean, all the outside distractions that we were kind of getting caught up in, we just needed to focus."
On Marissa Coleman's performance
"You get caught up as a coach. I knew, obviously, she was dominating but the last minute, I looked up on the scoreboard and saw 41 right before she hit her last free throw for 42. Man, I mean, you put it up there, the performance, I think that sticks out"
Marissa Coleman Sr./G/F
On keeping this season alive
"I enjoy playing with my teammates. I love wearing a Maryland uniform. So, I'm going to do whatever I can to make this last as long as possible."
On leading the team
"In the first half, Kristi [Toliver] went out with two fouls and I knew I had to step it up as far as being aggressive on the offensive end and leading my team in the second half. I saw heads were hanging down and you know, we had 11 minutes left in the game, and there was still a lot of time left. And just trying to bring energy. When I bring energy the rest of my team feeds off of it."
Kristi Toliver Sr./G
On Marissa Coleman's performance
"It was a lot of fun to watch Riss play today. It was nice to be her teammate and to be a part of it. She put on a show and I think that she showed everybody in the country that she is one of the premiere players. She has the ability to take over a game and think she was looking forward to the match-up against [Jennifer] Risper. She definitely took advantage of a 5'9'' post player and she dominated from start to finish."
On what keeps the team calm under pressure
"I think we've been through everything possible throughout our career. I mean, we've been down 18 and come back. And we did that again today. We don't try to hurry ourselves, to rush things. Poise and composure has been something that both of us has always had. And it's definitely why we've been so successful."
On Vanderbilt's intensity
"They definitely gave us ball pressure. They wanted to be very aggressive on the defensive end and I think that's a good strategy for any team. But I think that we didn't try to get too caught up in it, that we tried to play team basketball and not have one person carry the load with the ball the whole time. With our ball movement, moving it around and getting easy shots, that calmed it down a little bit."
