March 29, 2009
Maryland Head Coach Brenda Frese:
Opening Statement:
"We're obviously very glad to be here and to be playing another day. We're definitely looking forward to our next opponent being Louisville - obviously a team that we know extremely well, a team that we're well prepared for, a team that's going to press us for 40 minutes, try to disrupt the rhythm, the patterns, make it their defense against our offense. They're obviously led by a very talented player in Angel McCoughtry. She does so much for their team and for their program. It's going to be two great styles of play, two teams competing, and we're just really looking forward to the matchup."
On facing a former assistant:
"I'm really looking forward to it. Obviously in terms of the fact that I think both coaches are going to be well prepared. Obviously when the ball tips, it's Maryland versus Louisville. It doesn't have anything to do with two coaches. It's all about two teams that are competing as hard as they can for 40 minutes."
On Louisville Coach Jeff Walz:
"Coach Walz is intense. He's going to lay it all out on the line for 40 minutes. He's a tremendous coach. He's going to be well prepared. He loves defense. He loves the Mad Dog. He's going to bring a variety of things. He's extremely hard working and has had a lot of success at Louisville."
On Louisville Senior Forward Candyce Bingham:
"Obviously she's their second option. When she's able to step up and play with confidence, obviously she's a tremendous rebounder on the glass. It sparks them. It gives them great energy."
On what the keys will be, especially in the first half:
"The nice things is our conference and non-conference prepares us - when we play UNC, Duke, Georgia Tech and Rutgers. We've played against pressing styles of teams. Valuing possessions, being aggressive - those are obviously keys. Just not letting the 25 different presses that they run, similar to UNC, get into your head because at the end of the day they're all the same. You've got to be ready to execute, be ready to break them."
Maryland Senior G/F Marissa Coleman
On going up against former Maryland assistant and current Louisville head coach Jeff Walz:
"It will be fun, but like Coach [Brenda Frese] said once the ball is tipped it's not about playing against Coach Walz, it's about playing against Louisville and ultimately getting to the Final Four."
On after winning the national championship as freshmen and not making it to the Final Four since that time:
"We have been on paper been picked to win the past couple national championships, but on paper doesn't matter, it's what you do between the lines. It's a couple things. Last year I just don't think luck was on our side. The stars were aligned for Stanford. I don't think too many people would have been able to beat them last year. The year before it was all on us. We didn't prepare as hard as we should have and we didn't play Maryland basketball and put a lot of pressure on ourselves."
On your emotions as you move one step closer to the Final Four:
"I don't even think I can explain it. It's been hard to sleep. They've had to give me some Benadryl to help me fall asleep because I've been staying up until three or four in the morning. Knowing that it's one game away and all we have to do is take care of business tomorrow and we'll get back to the Final Four, it's an incredible feeling to know what this team's been through. At the beginning of the season, there were so many doubts with what we lost last year. We have proved a lot of people wrong and we can accomplish something great with a win tomorrow."
Maryland Senior Point Guard Kristi Toliver
On going up against former Maryland assistant and current Louisville head coach Jeff Walz:
"Like Marissa said, it's about Maryland vs. Louisville. It will be nice to see him on the sideline again. I haven't seen him in a while, but it's not about him and us. We know his team is going to be prepared and ready to go just like this team."
On after winning the national championship as freshmen and not making it to the Final Four since that time:
"I think sophomore year coming off that national championship we knew we were going to have a target on our back, but I don't think we really understood what getting people's best games really was. It was definitely a wakeup call for us and that's why we prepared so hard in the off-season and went into our junior year and had a great year. Stanford, the stars were aligned for them. I don't think there was a better basketball game all year long than the Maryland vs. Stanford game last year. We came up short not because we weren't a great team. It there could have been five teams in the final four last year we would have been. So this year that gives us extra motivation to get back where we started our careers and finish off right."
On what Louisville head coach Jeff Walz taught her:
"I think Coach Walz showed me a different side of me. He wasn't afraid to speak his mind with me. He is very blunt and bold with his approach towards his players. I was able to learn a lot from him in how to handle situations and how to respond to certain situations so I think that's what I got the most out of the time we spent together."
Maryland Freshman Center Lynetta Kizer
On the close game against Vanderbilt to advance to the Elite Eight:
"It was just a wakeup call. Yesterday could have been the end of the season, but Marissa stepped up and the rest of the team stepped up and played hard. We know how we have to prepare to move ahead."
On defending the screen and roll against Vanderbilt:
"As far as the screen and roll I think it was our communication. One of our plans was to switch on off-ball screens or any type of screen there was, but I think we didn't communicate that well enough until the last five minutes of the game where we started getting stops on transition buckets. I think we just need to communicate better on the defensive end."
