NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: SECOND ROUND - FGCU VS MARYLAND

March 20, 2022

Diamond Miller

Angel Reese

Brenda Frese

Maryland Terrapins

Media Conference

Maryland - 89, Florida Gulf Coast - 65

THE MODERATOR: We are joined by University of Maryland head coach Brenda Frese along with Diamond Miller and Angel Reese. We'll take an opening statement from Coach Frese.

BRENDA FRESE: Just incredibly proud and so happy for this group. It has not been an easy year by any stretch. Just the way we fought. I mean, especially in both these games, but against a really, really good Florida Gulf Coast team. I knew coming in this was going to be a difficult scout, obviously them being underseeded.

But I thought we really brought our defense. Really that second half, when you talk about limiting them from the three-point line and trying to take that away. Really just played Maryland basketball. I thought we continued to share the ball and play at a really high level, which is what you've got to do in March. This has been our mission all year and why we put the schedule together that we wanted to play.

Again, I can't say enough about being able to host and what that meant for this team, sending out our seniors the right way in their last home game at Xfinity, special, special crowd. We're going to Spokane.

Q. Congratulations. Both for Diamond and Angel, I think you guys were down in that second quarter 39-36, and you guys closed the half on an 11-0 run and push it, I do believe, up to 26-3 in the second half, if my math is right. Anyways, at that point, what changed? What was said? What shifted things to go onto that run?

DIAMOND MILLER: I think it was just our defense. We understood what they were doing, and we adjusted throughout the game. Yeah, we played defense. We stopped them from shooting threes. Number 10, excellent player, she was knocking it down, and we just had to adjust, and I think we did that.

ANGEL REESE: Me and Diamond were at the table about to check in, and I remember Diamond saying, we're not going to lose this game. So when we went in there, we tried to do as best we can to win this game. I think our defense started off, and then our offense got going.

FGCU is a really good team, but we played well tonight.

Q. For Diamond, it really did feel like a vintage performance for you and Ashley. Can you talk about how it feels to have the backcourt now back together fully healthy and just that performance today? Can you take me through that?

DIAMOND MILLER: Yeah, this is the first time, I think this season, that we're all 100 percent healthy. So just to have that back is amazing, and I think we're thriving right in the right moments.

Q. Diamond, I wanted to ask you, before the third quarter started, you and Ashley were kind of having a conversation with one of the refs. Do you remember this?

DIAMOND MILLER: Oh, yeah.

Q. Do you remember kind of what was said in that conversation?

DIAMOND MILLER: It's not really anything. I was like that's a foul. She was like, but you can finish through that. Because I traveled, and I was like, yeah, you were right. I could have finished through that.

(Laughter).

It probably was a foul, but she didn't call it, and I could have finished without traveling for sure.

Q. It seemed like these last two games you seemed a lot more in rhythm. What do you think contributes to that?

DIAMOND MILLER: I think those two -- first of all, Indiana, I did not help my team whatsoever. That feeling is not a good feeling, and those two weeks of practice, I was really focused, and I just knew my team needed me. So I just had to do what I had to do.

Q. Angel and Diamond, either of you, defensively in the second half, what was really working for you folks? I think you guys held them to 30 percent shooting, 4 of 17 from outside the arc.

DIAMOND MILLER: Communication. We realized we weren't talking and we were just kind of playing off each other, but you need to communicate on defense, and I think we did that. Communicating, pointing at each other so everybody knew what was going on and we understood their offense and their game plan and we executed our defense.

Q. Angel, you've made 16 of your last 19 free throws. Can you speak to your ability to lock in on the free-throw line and make the best of your opportunities?

ANGEL REESE: Man, I've been focused on free throws.

(Laughter).

I've been shooting a lot of free throws, 50 free throws after practice, and just putting in extra hours and time. My coaches expect a lot of me. I think I draw the most fouls on the team, so I need to step up and make my free throws. I've been really focused. I was frustrated I missed those three tonight. But I've been focused, and I know my teammates need me to make those free throws.

Q. This is for all of you up there. What do these two games say about the confidence of the team in terms of how well you play together and how balanced the effort was on both sides moving forward to Spokane?

DIAMOND MILLER: It just proves all the hard work we've been working through all year. We had a lot of ups and downs. Like I said, we're thriving right in the right moments. We're all 100 percent healthy, and this is how we are expected to play. We're not expected to play no other way. So this is what y'all have been waiting for.

ANGEL REESE: I'm going to roll my girls all day. I know they got my back and I got their back. I think we have each other's back at the right time, at the right moment. As long as we stick together within our circle, we can go as far as we want to go.

Q. What was the change on No. 10, Kendall Spray? She had 17 points in the first 15 minutes of the game. Was that like a tactical change, or did you have to change your communication on it?

DIAMOND MILLER: It was communication. They were doing a lot of flare screens, and we were playing lax. Once we tightened up, yeah.

Q. Obviously the first half was definitely more competitive back and forth. It was the first game definitely I felt like I covered that it was definitely back and forth for so consistent, a lot of different lead changes. What was it like for you guys playing in that kind of game early on?

ANGEL REESE: I think this is a really fast-paced game. Some of us are tired. I think us getting back up and down the court and getting this win, I think it's good for us, especially for me. But I think that we just slowed them down a lot in the second half.

We got No. 10, she only had 17 -- she had 17 the first half, and we didn't let her score again the second half. I think we made our defensive change, and I think that set the intensity for the game.

Q. Hi there, if both players could answer this. Obviously you all went through so much adversity this season that I'm sure making it to the Sweet 16 feels amazing. I'm just curious if it was ever hard to stay patient and just kind of let things work themselves out? And just in general, how did you stay patient even when all the adversity got really tough?

ANGEL REESE: We've been through so much this season, and we're just coming together at the right time. I don't think this team has folded yet. I think that we're not happy right now because we're going to the Sweet 16 where we were last year. I just told them in the locker room we don't want the feeling that we had last year after the Sweet 16 game.

So we're going to come in, have a great mindset, stick together through this week of practice, and go to Spokane and take care of business.

DIAMOND MILLER: Yeah, to piggy-back on what Angel said, we're just going to work hard and focus on ourselves. That's all we can do.

Q. For both the players, in college football they talk about how difficult it is to play Army or Navy because they play a style of offense that nobody else plays so it's hard to prepare against them. How difficult was it for you guys to prepare to play Florida Gulf Coast, especially since like no one plays that style of offense?

DIAMOND MILLER: Their offense is threes or twos, so they're either driving or shooting a three. So I think we played Arkansas that kind of had the same style, so we just had to adjust, and I think we did that today.

ANGEL REESE: Yeah, playing Villanova this year was just like a team like that. Five guards, which meant I had to guard Kierstan. She's a great player, and me being able to show my length and athleticism against her. So I think it was a great game.

THE MODERATOR: You can head back to the locker room. We'll continue with questions for Coach Frese.

Q. I wanted to ask about that D. What was the adjustment that you guys made probably late in that second quarter and especially coming out of halftime?

BRENDA FRESE: We actually had kind of wanted to really kind of guard one-on-one downhill when they would drive us. We adjusted some things away from what we normally do defensively. We went back to Maryland basketball, and we made the adjustment that we were kind of more comfortable with. I thought it got us playing harder, more aggressive. You started seeing where the confidence grew on the defensive end.

Q. Back in November after the loss to Stanford in the Bahamas, you made a comment about Ashley being Batman without Robin. Now that they're both kind of healthy and they put together that vintage performance they put forth today, can you speak on kind of their play today and then kind of moving forward them being healthy?

BRENDA FRESE: Yeah, you just see -- obviously that consistency factor we have to have from both of them. It was unfortunate because they both had to go through injuries this year, so we could never get that continuity together.

But I can't say enough about both of them in these last two games. They're back to playing where you could see how they know how to play. They're comfortable. They're confident and healthy, and it's made a big difference obviously for us.

Q. Going back to that moment, there was the double foul, the intentional foul called, that they went in front on a little 5-0 possession there. Was there an emotional switch there? Because it seemed like the defense really came out much more aggressive, were jumping passing lanes. Was there a conversation? Like what really led to that?

BRENDA FRESE: I think it was a credit to the team's chemistry. They responded out of that quickly. You know, Mimi was pretty emotional. They settled her down, and once Mimi went to the bench, they just kind of picked up for her.

That's the chemistry we have in this locker room. That's why this team has been able to fight all year through all the adversity because you can see how close they are, but it definitely triggered a response by the girls to want to fight harder.

Q. I think Ashley, Diamond, and Angel combined for the same amount of points as FGCU had as a team. Is this the kind of performance you expected to have on a more consistent basis when you were thinking about what the season would look like back in October?

BRENDA FRESE: I think you saw that from Diamond and Ashley all last year. Obviously Angel showed that when she was healthy. So then to have that -- this sophomore year for Angel to be able to really show her consistency. Yeah, when you have three All-American type players like that that are so talented and give you an inside/outside presence, that's a dangerous team. They're really locked in, and they're playing the right way.

Q. Ashley seems to be more healthy and feeling more decisive in transition. Can you speak to her ability to be more decisive and make plays for others while also being aggressive on the offensive end?

BRENDA FRESE: She's put a lot of hard work into coming back. You saw in the Big Ten Tournament and you saw the last two weeks, she's put a lot of hard work in. You can see it's all coming together at the right time.

That's what you need from your floor general. She's such an elite level passer that allows us to do a lot of great things, but then she's so big and strong. She had to play through a lot of contact tonight. I thought she should have went to the free-throw line even more, but I loved her poise through it. She's just so big and strong, she just finished plays. Whether you get the call or not, she was just really poised not letting that impact her.

Q. So we saw a turnaround from the first to the second half shooting for Florida Gulf Coast. 39 percent from three in the first half, 24 percent from three in the second half. Do you think this was because maybe you threw a couple extra looks at them that they hadn't really seen before or just that you guys were hustling more and putting hands in their faces?

BRENDA FRESE: I think both. I think our staff did a phenomenal job -- I can't say enough about our coaching staff about just how prepared we were to have different wrinkles and adjustments. I think getting Spray, No. 10 in foul trouble was huge because it took her off the court when she got those four fouls.

Then we were able to go off the bounce. We were able to see that athleticism. Gosh, we got to the free-throw line 30 times. We were able to kind of take away things we wanted to with them but then also use our athleticism and our skill set to the advantage.

Q. Brenda, can you talk about, I guess, how this game sort of shows as part of your evolution of you as a defensive coach? Did you consider maybe throwing some junk at them just to slow things down, change tempo, or take them out of their rhythm?

BRENDA FRESE: Yeah, no question. That's how you're supposed to evolve as a coach. When I first came here, I was very offensive oriented, but yeah, that part is fun. Being able to have those different wrinkles and adjustment. But I think the best part was that our team executed it, that they understood what we were trying to do and they locked in and defended the right way.

Q. I just wanted to know what's the day and week ahead? The game for the next team you're playing is going to be at 9:00 p.m. tonight. How do you get your mind and your body right heading into Spokane for next weekend?

BRENDA FRESE: Me personally or the team?

Q. The team, or you.

BRENDA FRESE: I'm going to celebrate. My family's here, watching some more games.

But for them, we said it in the locker room before we left is recovery, rest. We're getting ready to go to Spokane, which is going to be a long trip. So for us, they know what this looks like. They got to rest their bodies, take care of themselves.

Luckily they're on spring break, so a really good time to be able to recover and be ready to go out there.