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Maryland adjusts and adapts on Selection Monday

By Jasmine Brown

COLLEGE PARK MD - MARCH 18:The Maryland Terrapins selected #3 in the Albany region of the women's NCAA basketball tournament joke around after the announcement was inadvertently leaked early March 18, 2019 in College Park, MD. They will play the #14 seed Radford Saturday, March 23 at 11 a.m. at home at the Xfinity Center.(Photo by Katherine Frey/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
COLLEGE PARK MD - MARCH 18:The Maryland Terrapins selected #3 in the Albany region of the women's NCAA basketball tournament joke around after the announcement was inadvertently leaked early March 18, 2019 in College Park, MD. They will play the #14 seed Radford Saturday, March 23 at 11 a.m. at home at the Xfinity Center.(Photo by Katherine Frey/The Washington Post via Getty Images) /
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Excitement despite a lack of surprise for Maryland.

COLLEGE PARK, MD — It was a chaotic event, as an early bracket reveal graced everyone’s social media timeline, but it did not stop the excitement for the Maryland in College Park.

The Terps learned that they will be back on their home floor as they face the Radford Highlanders this Saturday at the Xfinity Center. Last year, the Terps earned the no. 5 seed, which put them on the road, leading to a tough battle with and second round loss to no. 4 seed N.C. State.

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Kiara Leslie, one of head coach Brenda Frese’s old pupils, led the Wolfpack to a win over her Terps for a Sweet 16 berth.

Frese was not happy with how the situation revealed itself, but knows that the show must go on.

“We’re obviously disappointed,” Frese said about the early reveal. “That’s never the way you want to find out, through social media. And that it was an apparent accident, but it’s an unfortunate situation that I think we all have to adjust to and adapt. And it is what it is and [we] have to move forward.”

Junior Blair Watson explained the player’s reaction to the early bracket reveal:

“We found out 10 minutes before and we were like alright, what’s next? But it’s super exciting we get to play at home we have that homecourt advantage. We come off that loss and now we get to play at home and get a feel for the game again and I think it super exciting, especially since we get to start here.”

When asked on the parity in the Big Ten Conference this year and following the loss in the tournament championship, Frese knew there would be some good to come out of it.

“Every lesson showed us an opportunity to grow and get better and we had the right mindset to be able to bounce back after those losses,” Frese said. “The Big Ten has prepared us for the postseason, and that’s what you want out of your conference slate. You know that you’ve seen everything. You’ve been through those wars and it prepares you for right now.”

After early season losses to Rutgers and Michigan State and a late-season loss to Iowa, the young squad has certainly been through some trials. But Frese and the young Terps hope those will turn out to be vital hurdles cleared, with the results ahead dictating what it meant for this team.

The Terps will host the first two rounds, beginning with a game against Big South champion Radford on Saturday at 11 AM EST. Should they advance, they will face the winner of UCLA/Tennessee on Monday.

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