RALEIGH, N.C. – When Laura Harper heard coach Brenda Frese’s voice in the locker room Sunday, the senior forward thought it must have been a recording.

Frese gave birth to twin boys Feb. 17, and hadn’t traveled to a road game since December, but after assistant coach Daron Park gave a speech before the No. 5 Terps’ 76-64 win over N.C. State, Frese made her surprise appearance.

“Coach Park gave us our matchups, and we were about to bring it in, and Coach B just walks in and says ‘Let’s play Maryland basketball,'” Harper said. “It was really nice.”

Frese had spent the past week at home with her sons, but when she started to feel like she’d be up to it midweek – and when she was able to book a flight for Sunday morning so she wouldn’t have to spend a night away from home – Frese decided to make the trip.

“Nice-early morning wake-up call at 4:30, which I’m used to now with the feedings,” Frese said. “Able to get down here [Sunday] morning at about 10:30 to get here for the [1 p.m.] game.”

With Park prowling the sidelines, Frese watched from the bench as the Terps were extremely physical from the start against Wolfpack senior forward Khadijah Whittington, succeeding early on in taking the Wolfpack’s leading scorer – and one of the best players in the ACC – off her game.

Guarded mostly by Harper and senior forward Jade Perry, Whittington became increasingly frustrated in the first half, and the Wolfpack offense went out of sync as the Terps took an early lead.

“Obviously we all know how special Kadijah is, and she’s just a difficult matchup,” Frese said. “You’re not going to completely stop her, but just try to make every shot a little more difficult.”

After taking an inadvertent elbow to the nose, Whittington continually waved off attempts to pass the ball inside to her on one possession, yelling “I can’t see, I can’t see.”

The Terps’ offense fed off their defense, and the Terps went on 11-0 and 8-0 runs in the first half, stretching their lead to 18 at one point before the Wolfpack started to come back.

Junior guard Kristi Toliver’s fadeaway jumper in the last second of the half gave the Terps a 38-26 lead at halftime.

“We got a lot of good looks,” Wolfpack coach Kay Yow said, “they just didn’t fall for us.”

The Wolfpack picked up its defensive intensity early in the second half, and cut the Terps’ lead to 47-39 with 13:42 remaining.

With the momentum starting to shift, Harper made a tough layup and a free throw, and then another basket to give the Terps more of a cushion.

Harper had been frustrated earlier in the half when the physicality of her defensive battle with Whittington forced her to momentarily leave the court with a bloody lip, and she let out an emotional scream after the first layup.

“She’s a really physical top-caliber player,” Harper said of Whittington. “It was a battle the whole game, and nothing that wasn’t expected.”

The Wolfpack never really threatened after that, and while Whittington ended up with 16 points, a late 12-2 run stretched the Terps’ lead back up to 19 before they were able to close out the 12-point win.

Harper led the Terps with 21 points and 11 rebounds, while senior forward Crystal Langhorne finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds.

The Terps finished the regular season in second place in the ACC, and will play the winner of Thursday’s game between Boston College and Virginia Tech on Friday at 6 p.m. in Greensboro, N.C.

Apparently no longer feeling as dramatic, Frese eliminated the element of surprise Sunday about whether she’d be in Greensboro.

“I haven’t announced that yet,” Frese said, “but absolutely.”

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