During the Maryland women’s basketball team’s game at Louisville on Thursday, the KFC Yum! Center court won’t look exactly the same as it did the last time the Terps saw it.
When Maryland left Louisville in 2014, the arena was missing a net on one of its rims.
The Terps had cut it down to take back to College Park to celebrate their spot in the Final Four for the first time since 2006.
On Thursday, Maryland will return to Louisville for its biggest test so far, a road game against the No. 7 Cardinals. The No. 5 Terps hope to build on their good memories in the arena by staying undefeated, but they know it won’t be easy.
“We have a new team. We have a new mission,” guard Shatori Walker-Kimbrough said. “But we’re trying to look for the same result.”
Louisville guard Shoni Schimmel’s three-point shot at the buzzer clanged off the back of the rim on April 1, 2014, and the Terps mobbed the floor to celebrate a 76-73 win and a berth in the Final Four.
It was a significant triumph for Maryland and coach Brenda Frese, whose only previous Final Four trip came during the team’s national championship season in 2006. The moment also had special significance for Frese in particular, as her son Tyler finished his chemotherapy treatments for leukemia months prior.
“It was a special year for us … on so many fronts,” the 15th-year head coach said. “To be able to win that game to go to a Final Four will always be an incredible memory.”
Like Walker-Kimbrough, Frese isn’t dwelling much on the past.
“Obviously this year we know is different,” Frese said. “But I know for our seniors, they know what it looks like from a home venue for Louisville.”
Walker-Kimbrough and center Brionna Jones are the only remaining players from the 2014 squad that fell to Notre Dame, 87-61, in the Final Four.
The senior duo averaged more than 15 minutes a game as freshmen and contributed throughout the season, including against Louisville.
“That place is not an easy place to play,” Walker-Kimbrough said.
Louisville ranked fourth in average attendance last season and was third in the two years prior to that.
On Tuesday, the team practiced in Xfinity Pavilion rather than the main floor. The increased echoes in that venue make the practice much louder, simulating the road environment Maryland will step into Thursday, Walker-Kimbrough said. On Wednesday, the team pumped in crowd noise during practice.
“The place is probably going to be rocking,” freshman guard Destiny Slocum said. “It’s going to be a fun atmosphere.”
Frese views Thursday’s contest as another way to expose her freshmen-laden team to new situations. The team’s seniors are passing down information about what to expect from the arena, but Frese is waiting for game day to see how much her newcomers soaked in.
“It’s a matter of talking versus playing,” Frese said. “For a lot of our freshmen, it’ll be their first time and their first opportunity. … You have to want to go into those environments and be successful.”
Slocum said the Terps gained experience during two games in an “uncomfortable” environment in Las Vegas last weekend, but they will need to improve on those wins to have success Thursday.
“Our communication needs to be 100 times better,” Slocum said, “just because of what we’re going into. We’re not used to that. It’s going to be so loud.”
