NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - MARYLAND VS IOWA STATE

March 22, 2024

Brena Frese

Allie Kubek

Shyanne Sellers

Maples Pavilion

Maryland Terrapins

Media Conference

Iowa State 93, Maryland 86

BRENDA FRESE: Obviously we are disappointed and sad for our if I have seniors that we couldn't close this one out. Loved our start, our attack mentality from the tip, but Bill is one of the best X's and O's coaches out there, and we knew that they were going to make adjustments, especially at halftime.

They are really good and their young players executed really well in the second half, as you saw as they came out of the locker room.

But when I look back on the season, I'll appreciate this team's resiliency. Came in every single day and worked and put their head down in spite of a lot of injuries and lack of depth to be able to put us in the tournament this year. Then just so grateful and appreciative of our fifth-year seniors, the time they give to us, whether it was long or short.

Excited what we have coming back, bright future there, and I know the competitors we have in the locker room are going to use this as fuel in the off-season to come back even better.

Q. Can you describe the challenge offensively in that second half after they made those adjustments at halftime?

SHYANNE SELLERS: I thought we were getting decent shots. A lot of them, I feel like, our shot streak cooled down in the second half and I feel like we just really went back on our defense.

Q. Iowa State had 50 points in the paint overall. Can you talk about just the defensive game plan going into it and just why you guys were not able to stop them down low in the second half?

SHYANNE SELLERS: I mean, Audi is a great talent, big and strong. Goes through contacts well. We were willing to give that up.

But what we couldn't afford was for them to get hot from the three, which they did in the second half and I think that was really the nail in the coffin. You saw in the first half, we let her have those points, and really shut down everybody else. And second half, kind of struggled to keep shooters not hot.

Q. You had 13 threes all season, but how do you explain the break out performance tonight?

ALLIE KUBEK: Yeah, me and Coach, we had a conversations before today's game just about confidence. I had a couple lulls in the season. That's because my confidence was low.

But again, like the coaching staff and my teammates instilled confidence in me every day and just today, I just felt hot so I just kept shooting and to be honest my teammates found me open and every time I shot it, I thought it was going to go in.

Q. What was the post game kind of conversations? What's the feeling in the locker room? This has been one of those ups and downs seasons where you've had some really great wins and disappointing ones, also, as things come to a conclusion, just what's the vibe amongst you guys right now?

ALLIE KUBEK: Yeah, I feel like there's definitely a lot of emotions in the locker room. A lot of our seniors, unfortunately we couldn't close it out for them so it's really upsetting throughout the whole board.

But I think returners are trying to focus on just coming back next year, getting stronger and we're definitely going to be back for this tournament.

Q. In terms of the second half, was it just shots weren't falling? Did their zone change how you guys got offensive looks? What was the reason, did you think?

ALLIE KUBEK: I feel like it wasn't quite their defense. I mean, they had a strong post presence, so it was hard to get easy layups and drives.

I think a lot of times we were not really attacking the offensive boards like we usually do, so we didn't get a lot of second-chance points. But again they played us well and scouted us well from the first half, and yeah.

SHYANNE SELLERS: I mean, I'll say it again. I feel like we attacked the zone well. I thought we got great shots that we wanted to shoot. We didn't make them. I mean, it comes back to defense. You can miss all the shots you want on offense but it comes down to how hard you want to play on D.

Q. What will you remember about this team and this season?

SHYANNE SELLERS: I think just our resiliency. Our ability to regroup. To never give up. I feel like that's our biggest strengths, really.

ALLIE KUBEK: Yeah, I agree with resiliency as well. I feel like we had a lot of injuries this season. A roller coaster amount of games and stuff like that.

So I think that just us being able to come together as a team and just continue to pray for those who got hurt, it's really tight knit team, so yeah.

Q. You guys had seven new players this season. Obviously losing two of your key veterans last year. Can you talk about Shy and Bri stepping up in key roles over the course of the season, and how their poise and overall throughout the season and their growth?

BRENDA FRESE: I mean, yeah. They stayed the course. They accepted the responsibility. I mean, to be able to see that growth from Bri from her freshman year to her sophomore year. And really, this team, I mean, every single time we had it rolling, we would have an injury, we'd have a kid go down, and they just continued to field those different roles.

So like I told them in the locker room, bodes well when you have to deal with that kind of adversity later in life.

Q. You talk about Bill adjusting with the X's and O's at halftime and how they switched up their defense a little bit. How did you try to counter that?

BRENDA FRESE: Yeah, you know, went from the man to the zone in the second half. Thought a lot of things impacted us in the third quarter. I thought our defense impacted us. I thought they got a lot more aggressive, you know, getting downhill. The foul trouble we were in in the third quarter really impacted us with such a short bench.

And we talked about it at halftime. We were hopeful that we'd continue to shoot that well, but that's not who we've been all season. So we really talked about crashing the glass and being able to move on offense. And for whatever reason, we were not able to do that.

Q. I guess how hard was it to stop Audi in the post with without having like a true five, and I don't know if you've played a team that has somebody like that before.

BRENDA FRESE: She's one of a kind. I mean, she's an All-American for a reason. You know, someone that we recruited ourselves. But I'm happy for Bill and his staff. I mean, she's so hard to guard. We talked about playing behind but I'm not sure what we were going to be able to do playing behind especially with our lack of size and playing four perimeter players.

So credit to her. I thought she just stayed the course. She caught everything, the end ones, the finishes, she was so physical. Drew nine fouls. But you know, their team doesn't play -- they are fearless. They don't play like a lot of freshmen in that lineup. They didn't even flinch being down at halftime, and then coming out and executing on the offensive end.

Q. Just wanted to ask, is there anything in particular you wanted to see done differently in like interior defense, or was it just kind of she was too powerful?

BRENDA FRESE: Yeah, I think if we had the personnel, I think we could have. She was so strong and so physical, and our best bet was like in the first half when we were given really aggressive ball pressure and we lost a lot of that in the second half. I mean, that was our best defense because we didn't have an answer for her inside.

Q. Any loss to end the season is difficult but being up by 20 points and losing it in the third quarter, does that make this one particularly hard to get over?

BRENDA FRESE: No. I mean, it's the NCAA Tournament. I've watched enough film on Iowa State and seen enough games many they were down by these points and they came back because of their three-point shooting and free throw shooting. I continued to try to explain that in time-outs, and at halftime that this is a three-point shooting team; that we've got to be able to stay the course with our defense.

But again, the credit goes to Iowa State. They had to make the shots and they stayed resilient on their end. I just thought they were the more disciplined team in the second half running through their actions on the offensive end, staying out of foul trouble.

We had the same amount of fouls both teams in the first half, and then they were able to get us in foul trouble and we were not able to put them in foul trouble like we needed to.

Q. It feels like with all the ups and downs, especially the injuries this season, is there something in particular that you learned about yourself as a coach from coaching this year's squad that you have not necessarily felt from coaching past squads?

BRENDA FRESE: Something I've learned? You know, I would just say that I'm just really proud that this group, and I told them in the locker room, that they never gave up on us.

You know, I think it would have been easy after our, whatever that 30-point loss was at Penn State, and the injuries that we had. Most teams would have fold the at that point. It wasn't looking like they were going to be in the NCAA Tournament. We weren't even close to being .500 in conference.

I think I'm really proud of them for trusting us and just continuing to battle and stayed the course. You know, because I think a lot of other teams would have fold the at that point in the season, and these guys stayed super together and trusted us as a staff.

Q. Despite the end results, can you talk about the positives with Allie Kubek's game, 29 points. She mentioned the growth in confidence over the year. What did you talk about before the game and what do you think about that throughout?

BRENDA FRESE: I talked to her at shootaround that I listened to this Podcast on confidence, and just the lessons out of it. She shared back, when her first shot goes in, she knows she's good. I had to kind of change that wiring; ^ I'm glad her first shot went in, because until we can fix that.

But you know, that's who she's got to be for us with the experience that she has and how she can shoot the basketball and what she can do for this team.

So I was happy to see that for Allie today. She's had a long course herself with two ACL injuries and coming back this season, and she's had a lot of highs and lows.

So we definitely needed every single one of those points in the first half to be able to give us that spread.

Q. Obviously talking about Allie, she does that experience as a redshirt junior, but this was her first NCAA Tournament game. To go out there and then have that performance, set the Maryland record for threes in her first game in the tournament, what does that say about her growth this year?

BRENDA FRESE: Yeah, it says a lot. I mean, a lot of players make this moment bigger than what it is, and she did. She was fearless. You know, it does. That's exciting to know that we have Allie coming back, and you know, another off-season and to get herself in the best shape because she can already shoot the basketball.

So it's really exciting but it says a lot from her end as well as the team that they just -- you know, she continued to stay the course and really happy for her to have a game like that.