NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: REGIONAL 1 FINAL - MARYLAND VS SOUTH CAROLINA

March 27, 2023

Brenda Frese

Diamond Miller

Abby Meyers

Bon Secours Wellness Arena

Maryland Terrapins

Elite 8 Postgame Media Conference

South Carolina 86, Maryland 75

BRENDA FRESE: You know, just super, super proud of this team. I thought you saw the mentality to come out and punch first. I loved our first quarter. I thought we were really confident. We had South Carolina on the back of their heels, really having to adjust to our style of play.

I thought the game was lost in the second quarter. The foul trouble, the amount of times throughout the game that they were in the bonus really impacted our play. But you can see their size, their length, their depth wears you out as the game continues on.

But I think the biggest thing is nobody could have seen this team last season when we had to rebuild it go and do what they were able to do this season. Just incredibly proud of this team and for leaving it out there for the 40 minutes.

Q. Diamond, I know this is not the way you wanted it to end, but what are you most proud of this team, just this entire season?

DIAMOND MILLER: I think we fought hard today. Supposedly we're undersized, but we just lost to the defending reigning champs by 11 and other teams that had bigger posts than us are getting blown out by 30. I don't believe in moral victories of any sort, but I think we fought hard. They're big. I'm going to tip my hat to them. I usually don't do that, but they're big, and I think what was our downfall was just how big they were in the post, and the second quarter, of course.

Q. It seemed like the fourth and fifth foul you got were questionable. Did you think maybe the style of the game changed in the second half and that's what led to more foul calls? Was it really you guys getting tired? You were playing a ton of minutes. What do you think you saw from the refs and why do you think you picked up those two fouls?

ABBY MEYERS: I mean, there's really not much to say about it. They called the fouls and I fouled out. But I don't think the style of the game changed. We were playing physical the entire time, and it was unfortunate that I guess I put myself in that situation to have those fouls called against up. It's just frustrating when that happens when you try to stay on the court to help the team, but you can only do so much.

Q. Abby, you helped keep your team in the game when so many starters were on the bench. What was the second quarter like and what changed from the first quarter?

ABBY MEYERS: Yeah, I mean, Diamond and Shy, they were in foul trouble, so they sat out in the second quarter. I don't know if any of their players got in foul trouble, so for my role in that was to take on the scoring load and just try and help my team in any way possible. I was fortunate enough that I was able to beat my players off the bounce, off the dribble, and make some shots.

But couldn't help the team out in the second half, unfortunately.

Q. Diamond, after taking a couple weeks away from this game, what are you going to reflect about your career at Maryland?

DIAMOND MILLER: I don't really know. That's a good question. Like I said, lucky for me, I have a lot of decisions to make this off-season. Should be fun, and I'm just excited for whatever the future holds for me.

Q. You've already talked about their size, but how much does that physicality wear on you throughout the game? What was the biggest challenges as you guys are just -- it was kind of a war down in the paint.

DIAMOND MILLER: It's funny how you say that when all the fouls were going one way, I felt like.

ABBY MEYERS: So we were the more physical team apparently.

DIAMOND MILLER: Yeah. So we were really physical because apparently they were getting all the foul calls. That just shows we have heart, we have grit, and just because they're taller doesn't mean we can't bang. If y'all didn't see that we were banging today, I don't know what could show you that. Yeah, clearly we needed to be more physical, I guess, on the offensive side because every time they hit us, nothing was called.

Q. Abby, you came to Maryland to get past the first two rounds and to really be in a winning environment, making it to the Elite 8. I know the season just ended, but how do you think you're going to process the entirety of your final collegiate season when you actually are able to process it?

ABBY MEYERS: Yeah, I'm probably not going to be able to sleep for a few nights following this game. Just really believed in us.

But I think that for me, I'm just so grateful to have had this opportunity to come to an amazing school and make a deep run into the postseason and go to an Elite 8. I think it's just rare and something I'll always cherish and never take for granted. This team I played with this past season has been such a special, amazing team. So much talent with an incredible coaching staff and support staff. It's really a family and a community.

I'm going to take that with me in my next step hopefully with professional basketball. But it is always sad to play your last collegiate game, and can't get any more years of eligibility back, so I'm outta here.

Q. Diamond, as a follow-up to what you just said when you felt like the game is maybe not being called as fairly as you would like it to be called, how frustrating was it as the game wore on knowing that that's the way it was going to be?

DIAMOND MILLER: I mean, at the end of the day, I can't dwell on what the refs call. I'm not going to say the refs lost us the game. That's not what I'm saying by any means. I mean, they out-rebounded us as we kind of expected, let's be honest. But they out-rebounded us, and they got more second-chance points. And it was our second quarter. They beat us 23-9. 9 points in one quarter is tough to come back from.

Yeah, it was us. I'm going to take all the blame, and we're going to get back to the drawing board.

Q. Can you share a little bit of the decision-making process in that second quarter where you usually if somebody gets two fouls you usually sit them for the rest of the half. But in this environment I'm sure you probably were trying to decide do I get them back in, do I continue to wait. Can you share a little bit of that decision-making process?

BRENDA FRESE: Yeah, you felt like you were coaching with one arm behind your back. You really had to kind of try to get a feel. When they were calling so many of them, you were kind of just juggling who you had on the bench and back and forth, and it kind of felt like that all game. You're just trying to see who you could keep in the longest.

But that second quarter was costly, the amount of free throws. We're typically a team that gets to the free-throw line 20, 25 times. We only got there 15 times, and I think it was five after half when it got even more calls. They got there 26 times.

Just difficult trying to kind of figure out who you could keep in there that wasn't going to get into foul trouble. We tried to mix up our defenses to keep us out of it, but they were able to exploit it from both ends.

Q. You probably just answered my question already when you said that you were coaching with one arm behind your back, but I wanted to see if you were as frustrated as your two players were with the foul calls.

BRENDA FRESE: You know, I don't pour into things you can't fix or control. You can only control yourselves. I wasn't going to spend any energy in that direction. A lot of those fouls were costly off O board put-backs. They have tremendous size that really impacted us, and I thought they took advantage. If we weren't fronting, they would duck us in and be really aggressive. If we didn't box out, they were able to go and get the offensive rebound.

I think it made us tentative once Shy and Diamond were kind of held out in that second quarter with the rest of the group.

Q. At the end there when Diamond checked out for that final time, you guys had a long hug there and a few words. Can you share a little bit of what you said to her and what you'll remember about her career?

BRENDA FRESE: Just how much I loved her, how proud I was of her. Just thank you. It's been an incredible journey that she trusted to this coaching staff, and to continue to be here at Maryland. Had nothing to hang her head about. She left everything out there and poured into it for us this entire season.

Q. You called the off-season one of the most daunting of your career. Looking back on it and the position you guys have put yourselves in to compete in an Elite 8 game in South Carolina, what can you say about this group and how they've progressed throughout the season?

BRENDA FRESE: Just really incredibly proud, and I think it shows a group of women in the locker room what can be accomplished when you're unselfish and you put your head down and you go to work.

It was such a satisfying season, just with so many question marks going into the year. But because these guys believed and stayed the course, you were able to see some pretty magical things.

Disappointed locker room because we wanted to continue to go further, but just so incredibly proud of these players, the coaches, the support staff for the journey that we got to have this season.

Q. You all's mantra this season was legacy. I know it's only been a few minutes after the conclusion of the game, but when you look back at this team, what do you think this team's legacy will be?

BRENDA FRESE: It's going to be a pretty special one. They upheld the standard with so many question marks, but they set their own stamp. Nobody expected this team to be anywhere near an Elite 8. Some question whether they were even going to make the tournament. They did that with their body of work, with a really competitive non-conference schedule as well as conference schedule.

And then to finish it all with an Elite 8, they put their own stamp and their own mark on the season.

Q. You said the first quarter you guys kind of came out and punched first. It felt like the game was sort of being played at your pace and the way you wanted it to go. I think that run you went on at first was with Diamond and Shy both on the bench. Did you think that could continue in the second even with them on the bench again?

BRENDA FRESE: I think that's hard to do with the waves that they can send at you from the bench, and they wear you out with that physicality and with their size. I knew it was definitely going to be difficult.

But I thought our kids battled.

Q. You said in your opening statement, you talked about the depth and the size and the length that South Carolina has. How difficult or daunting is it facing a team that it just seems to come at you wave after wave after wave?

BRENDA FRESE: It's extremely difficult. I was proud of the fact today -- I didn't think she played her bench the amount of minutes that she typically does. But still when you're bringing off 6'7" and 6'3" and another point guard to a backup point guard to another wing to the size that you have inside, and clearly you saw that when it impacted us with our foul trouble that we didn't have that kind of depth. It's a big reason obviously why they're undefeated and why they're the defending national champions.