Sunday afternoon’s game at Iowa afforded Terrapins women’s basketball coach Brenda Frese an opportunity to return to the place where her basketball career began.
Frese, who grew up about 26 miles from the Hawkeyes Campus, helped Washington High School in Cedar Falls, Iowa to its first-ever state title in 1998.
So on Saturday night, Frese’s parents, Bill and Donna Frese, invited the team over for dinner. In the house Frese grew up in, the Terps looked at photos of their coach during her playing days and watched highlights of her high school basketball career.
“It was an amazing experience to go into coach B’s childhood home and see all the pictures and video of her playing,” center Brionna Jones said. “She had the same energy on the court when she played as she does when she coaches.”
The festivities continued into Sunday afternoon, as over 150 of Frese’s family and friends packed into Carver-Hawkeye Arena to see their loved one lead the No. 8 Terps to a 76-56 win over Iowa, in the process snapping the Hawkeyes’ 25-game home winning streak.
“I can’t say enough in terms of coming back and just seeing all the great fans,” Frese said. “It was just a great environment.”
Guard Shatori Walker-Kimbrough led the team with 19 points, but six players finished with nine points or more as the Terps (14-2, 3-1 Big Ten) cruised past the Hawkeyes (12-4, 2-2) in a hostile environment.
“Road wins are really difficult,” Frese said. “They’re precious to come by, so really pleased in terms of the 40-minute effort we played.”
Though the Terps secured their third road win of the season, they played much of the first 20 minutes without center Brionna Jones, the nation’s leader in field goal percentage (70.3) who entered the game averaging 14.3 points and 9.0 rebounds. Jones picked up her second foul with 1:30 left in the opening period and watched from the sidelines the rest of the half.
Without Jones’ offensive production, the Terps attempted more jumpers and struggled from the field early on. They held an 18-14 lead after one quarter but shot just 7-for-20 from the field.
While the Terps’ offense found a rhythm in the second quarter — both teams entered intermission shooting 44 percent — its production didn’t come from the starting frontcourt of Jones and center Malina Howard, who also had two fouls at the break. The duo combined for three points over the first two periods.
It didn’t matter, though, as Frese’s team entered intermission with a 10-point lead. Walker-Kimbrough lead the Terps with nine first-half points while forwards Tierney Pfirman and Brianna Fraser, a freshman who benefitted from her teammates’ foul trouble, added seven points apiece to help the Terps to a lead in Frese’s homecoming.
“We played for her — coming back to her home — and just put on a show for her,” Walker-Kimbrough said.
Jones started out of the break, and the Terps immediately went to her down low. The preseason All-Big Ten honoree scored 11 seconds into the third—she finished the period with 10 points — and the Terps brought a 13-point lead into the final quarter.
Guard Kristen Confroy’s 3-pointer followed Jones’ layup to start the fourth, giving the Terps a 65-47 lead and putting the game out of reach. The Hawkeyes didn’t get within single digits the rest of the contest.
It was a resounding win for the Terps, who entered the contest having lost two of their past four. And for Frese, it was a joyful way to conclude a weekend spent with friends and family.
“It was neat to just be able to see how hard they played, and I think that’s what separates this team is that we play for each other,” Frese said. “Especially to be able to bring a team like this back home.”
