Maryland Head Coach Brenda Frese
Opening Statement:
“You know first of all I have to talk about the Big Ten regular-season championship. I’m just really proud of this group, but you know obviously going into this season there were a lot of unknowns. We had a young team, new conference, and to be able to come out and play the way that they have in the first 16 games is not easy and they stuck together, they trusted, they really worked extremely hard. Their work started in the offseason, but just to be able to see this come together is special. But this is the first step for us, it’s something we’re proud of, but hopefully there are many great things left for this team to be able to do. We have two more regular-season conference games to be able to get ready for the tournament and the postseason.
"I thought we came out ready to play against Penn State early. I think a lot of our starters were ready to go. They have tremendous size in terms of what your looking at defensively. We kind of had to try to figure that zone out, but our defense got better today. Offensively there were some areas we can improve on in terms of taking care of the ball, but overall very solid game for us.”
On the importance of resting the starters at the end of the game:
“You know it is. Coming off of last week, the stretch we had. With back-to-back games on the road and travel, so it was important for us to utilize our depth. Especially when you talk about getting ready to go into the tournament and if you going to play multiple days, you’re going to have to be able to rely on your depth.”
On the challenge Penn State’s zone presented:
“I thought our guards did a really good job. Once they were able to kind of penetrate they were able to get kicks and were able to make that next pass for the open shot. So definitely being able to get that ball moving was going to be key.”
On the team’s defensive effort:
“Well its been an area for us that we’ve really focused on. We had a couple of lapses last game that we wanted to improve on. We had two great practices so I’m not surprised with the focus that we’ve had.”
On the team’s rebounding:
“I think that rebounding has always been a focus for us. But I think playing man against them helped us. I thought our aggressiveness when you talk about some of the guard play that we had. I mean we had seven rebounds from Kristen [Confroy], six from Kiara [Leslie]. Our guards did a really good job of getting back and rebounding. Malina (Howard) got back on the boards. So the contributions that we hade to have were there tonight.”
Senior Guard Laurin Mincy
On if winning the Big Ten regular season gave any extra motivation for this game:
“I think we were just really excited to play this game. It was a big game. So coming into the game that’s what we were playing for. But I think this is only a starting point for us. It feels great, but we are going to get back at it tomorrow.”
Sophomore Center Brionna Jones
On what the next two Big Ten games mean to the team:
“I think it’s important not to look past those last two games. We’re just going to have to stay focused and keep the momentum and the intensity going for the next two games. I think it’s a great win right now, but it’s not over and we still have the tournament to look forward to.”
Sophomore Guard Lexie Brown
On the press:
“It just prevented me from starting the offense as quick as we wanted to. I noticed we were under the shot clock a lot tonight and I know that it was just because it took a little bit longer for us to get the ball up court. But that’s just a new wrinkle teams have been throwing at us. After these next couple days of practice that won’t be an issue.”
Penn State Head Coach Conquese Washington
On Maryland's defense:
“I think Maryland did a good job of mixing up their defenses. They’re No. 5 in the country for a reason. They are a very good team and Brenda Frese is a very good coach. They play with a lot of confidence, especially at home. They play with a lot of aggressiveness, mixing up the defenses and things like that. I have a high regard and a lot of respect for what they’ve down this year. I hope they continue to play well, especially in the NCAA tournament.”
On Maryland being undefeated:
“I think it means they’re pretty good. They’ve found really good players. I don’t think you can short change the experiences that this team had last year in playing in the NCAA tournament, in playing in the games and going to the Final Four. All these kids, or most of these kids, did that when you talk about the core of their team. Confidence is huge in sports and I think it’s huge in women’s basketball and this team plays with a lot of confidence in themselves and with a lot of confidence in each other. Anybody that comes off the bench, anybody that’s on the floor plays with a high level of confidence and what they can do both on offense and defense. That intangible makes them really dangerous.”
On Maryland’s lead from the start:
“Especially when you go out on the road, you want to start off on as good a note as possible and certainly the first time when we played them at home we started out a lot better, which I think that confidence helped early in the game. Tonight, especially in the first half, the turnovers were a killer for us, especially early in game - I think we have seven turnovers in our first 10 possessions. When you’re playing a team as dangerous as Maryland is in the open floor and in transition, giving them those kinds of head starts is not going to be productive.”
On rebounding:
“I think that Maryland did a really good job of being aggressive and pursuing the ball and being active. They were quicker to the ball all night long on the rebounds. They were more quick to the ball than we were. They did the job on the boards."
On pressing Lexie Brown:
“You don’t want to let them get going in transition and Lexie does a good job of attacking a pushing the ball up the floor and creating opportunities for her teammates. Lexie is a fantastic scorer so we wanted to keep someone around her as much as possible.”
