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BIG TEN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 8, 2015Brenda FreseMalina HowardShatori Walker-KimbroughHOFFMAN ESTATES, ILLINOIS Maryland – 77 THE MODERATOR: We're joined by head coach Brenda Frese, Lexie Brown, Malina Howard and Shatori Walker‑Kimbrough. Coach, an opening comment. COACH FRESE: You know, I mean, just a phenomenal game. When you talk about both teams, I mean, their will to win. Hard‑fought. Neither team deserved to lose that game. This team just continues to separate themselves in terms of making play after play after play for one another. They definitely had to earn that game when you talk about 40 minutes. But obviously extremely proud. It hasn't been easy when you talk about coming in and going through the conference. And now three games in three days. But just big plays, obviously, all around with this team. And we're going to enjoy tonight and this week and then look forward to what's out ahead. THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student‑athletes. Q. Lexie, could you describe the kind of shift of momentum after you were up 15 and they're cutting it to a point and the resiliency you had to keep the lead down in the stretch? LEXIE BROWN: Basketball is a game of runs. Ohio State is an amazing team, and they have an amazing player in Kelsey Mitchell. I think she took it upon herself to assert her will on us. And I think we responded great. We didn't buckle. We came together closer as a team. We got that big stop at the end. So I'm really proud of our team for that. Q. Your thought process at the end, those two free throws at the very end? LEXIE BROWN: Don't miss. I mean, we do high pressure free‑throw shooting in practice all the time with free throw ladder. You miss; you run. So I feel like missing those layups mean a lot more than missing that one in the game, honestly. But I didn't want to let my team down. I just really locked in and just knocked those two free throws down. Q. Malina, Brionna spent a lot of time on the bench tonight with foul trouble. Still you guys dominated on the boards with 49‑28 or something like that. And you had 12. Did you feel any additional pressure to really crash the boards hard with Brionna out? MALINA HOWARD: Bri is definitely a rebounder and she's a big force inside for us. So I took it upon myself just to go after board I could, crash the boards as hard as I could, even if I wasn't getting it on defense, boxing out my person to make sure they didn't get it. Really dominating the boards, that was our game plan. Q. Shatori, there's been a lot of celebrations these last couple weeks with the regular season title and last night. Where does this rank and can you describe their emotions of the team? SHATORI WALKER‑KIMBROUGH: We're happy. We're going to ride it out for a day or two, then we gotta lock it back in. We're not done. We're not done yet. We got two goals down, still one more to go. Q. Lexie, do you feel you've done enough to earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament? LEXIE BROWN: I feel like every team thinks they deserve a No. 1 seed. I feel like we left it all on the court these past couple of weeks. We went through the conference play undefeated. There's a bunch of other teams out there that also deserve a No. 1 seed. Wherever we get seeded, we get two home games. So we're blessed for that, so we're going to be thankful for any seed we get. Q. Shatori, Kiara came in the first half and really provided a big lift. What did you see out of her today? SHATORI WALKER‑KIMBROUGH: She was phenomenal from top to bottom. Defensively she guarded Kelsey Mitchell for us and got stops. Not only was she good today. She was good yesterday as well. She's been doing great. It starts in practice. She works hard in practice. I'm happy for her to see it. She translated it from practice to the game. I mean, that was really big for us. Q. Anyone who wants to answer this: At the end of the first half last night Kiara got a big rebound and put the ball back in just as the buzzer went off. Bones did the same thing tonight. How much of a momentum shift was that tonight compared to what happened last night? MALINA HOWARD: I mean, it was huge. It was a big moment for us. We needed the momentum going into halftime. And I think that sparked us in the second half when we went on and had our big lead. And I think that was really key and really important. Q. Lexie, you guys matched the longest streak, 24 in program history. How does it feel to be a part of that history? LEXIE BROWN: It's amazing. Honestly, that wasn't a goal of ours this season coming in to have one of the longest streaks in program history. But I know the work that everybody puts in. We're just having fun on this ride, and now we have no choice but to keep the streak going. We're going to keep working hard. Work hard in practice and in the weight room and just get even tighter and tighter as the season goes on. Q. Shatori, you talk about Kiara guarding Mitchell but you were on her some tonight, too. 31 tonight. She was trying to pull their team back. What was it like trying to guard her? SHATORI WALKER‑KIMBROUGH: It was a lot of work. It took a lot of work. And just being locked in. But like I mean, our help side was great. It was not just the person on her but everybody had to be locked in on the court. 31 is great. She's a great player. But I mean I think that's it. THE MODERATOR: Questions for Coach. Q. Brenda, you won conference titles before, how does this stack up? Can you even compare them? COACH FRESE: I mean, this team is always going to stack up, when you talk about something that I've never been a part of and the chance of making history. They just continue, when you talk about being undefeated in conference and then coming out here in the tournament, three games in three days. And that was a really, really tough game that they had to go out and earn to be able to win. So obviously going to rank right up there. Q. Could you discuss the poise the team had, up 15 and Ohio State brings it back, but you never relinquished the lead. COACH FRESE: It's really been their mentality, their resiliency all season. And they do, they don't get rattled. They don't get too high, too low. Game of runs. They understand it. They connect and they lock into their defense and the rebounding and whatever we need to have to be able to be successful. Q. I asked Malina about the sort of dominance inside rebounding. And that was one aspect of the inside game. But you seemed to struggle getting the ball inside to score, except off of some offensive rebounds. What was Ohio State's zone like that was sort of preventing you in long possessions and some desperate shots? COACH FRESE: Obviously they were extremely physical. They're very athletic. Great length. I think sometimes for us the ball was sticking a little bit tonight. Normally passes that we make that are pretty easy for us, but maybe in terms of the pressure and that we were under. But credit just sticking to the game plan and trying to find other ways. We found other opportunities on the glass in terms of trying to combat that. Q. Actually, to have Brionna Jones only play 14 minutes but still have that rebounding edge, what does that say about this team that your leading rebounder can suffer through foul trouble all game and still hold that edge? COACH FRESE: I mean, it's just this team. You talk about someone else and steps up and continues to make plays. And to be have that moment for Malina double‑double. And Kiara Leslie who has worked and fought all season, a lot of these guys could have quit. But again they continue to show how special they are as a team, why they separate themselves because they continue to fight for each other. Q. You talked about different players stepping up and again I think it showed in the fact that Lexie is the only Maryland player on the all‑tournament team. You probably don't win tonight without the effort of Malina. Last night Brene. Could you talk about how you keep those players focused and ready to step up time after time because it's been like that all season? COACH FRESE: You can see why this team wins. I mean because they are selfless. They understand they're going to sacrifice for one another and as we've continued to kind of go through this March, you see‑‑ they just love to win. And I think if you ask them, they love it. They're going to continue to play for each other. Q. Same question for Lexie, do you feel you've done enough to earn a No. 1 seed in the tournament? COACH FRESE: I think we've shown we're tremendously consistent. I think our body of work speaks for itself. Obviously when they get in a room I don't have all the paperwork that they have. But for us it's never been about the seed. It's always been about seeing our bracket and being able to advance. I mean, last year we were a 4 seed. Worked out pretty well for us to be able to get to a Final Four. So for us if we're a 1 seed, I think it's a compliment in terms of our consistency, but it doesn't win us any games. We've got to be able to come back and be ready to play. Q. Yesterday when Kiara checked in she borrowed a couple of passes. Looked like she was a little nervous. Tonight definitely not the same. Do you notice that difference? COACH FRESE: Yeah, no question. And you saw her early. She was the first player we brought in off the bench. And we knew matchup‑wise she could give us some big things if she was confident. And she presents easily in terms of where she's at. But just really proud of her. It hasn't been an easy role for her as a freshman. She was huge for us tonight. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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