When Marissa Coleman saw Brittany Mitch at last year’s NCAA Final Four in Boston, she couldn’t help but feel mixed emotions.
It would’ve been the ultimate storyline: two freshmen, former high school teammates, competing against one another for a national title, Coleman for Maryland, and Mitch for Duke.
But while Coleman went on to play — and her double-double (10 points, 14 rebounds) was a major factor as the Terrapins captured their first championship — Mitch could only sit and watch, having ended her season 32 games before with a hip injury.
“I kind of felt bad for her just knowing how she loves the game and that she wasn’t going to be able to play in her first Final Four appearance,” said Coleman. “But Duke’s a great team, and she’s a great player so I wish her the best. Hopefully she’ll get back to the Final Four.”
Coming out of St. John’s College High in 2005, Coleman and Mitch were the two brightest stars of their class, two supremely talented players destined to match up at least twice a year, if not more.
“It was a big joke in high school, one going to Duke, one going to Maryland,” said Mitch. “We knew what it was going to be, but we knew we’d still be friends through it.”
While Coleman, a midseason Wooden player of the year candidate, reigning Atlantic Coast Conference rookie of the year and second-team All-ACC selection, averages 12.8 points, 6.9 rebounds and more than three assists per game, Mitch, now a redshirt freshman, is still finding her way.
Slowly earning significant minutes for the top-ranked Blue Devils, Mitch has scored a career-high 10 points three times and recently was named ACC rookie of the week. But she’s still yet to play against Maryland, missing all four games last year and having not received any minutes in the teams’ first meeting this season.
“Sitting out a whole year, especially freshman year, is hard, but there’s nothing I can do to get that year back or what happened last season,” said Mitch. “I wasn’t on the court playing. There’s still a little anger towards losing and all that, but we just have to focus on this year.”
She also doesn’t see herself falling behind her former teammate.
“I definitely wanted to put an emphasis on not comparing myself to her and her success,” said Mitch. “She’s a great player, a great person, she did amazing last year, and she’s doing great this year. I just need to work on my self, improving my game and helping my team.”
No. 1 Duke (27-0, 12-0 ACC) at No. 6 Maryland (25-3, 9-3)
» When: Sunday, 6 p.m.
» Where: Comcast Center
» TV: Comcast SportsNet
