Marissa Coleman had about as good a freshman year that any college basketball player could hope for.
The 6-foot-1 guard/forward won the Atlantic Coast Conference freshman of the year award after averaging 13.8 points and 8.1 rebounds for Maryland. She also played well on the nation?s largest stage, scoring four of the Terps? eight overtime points, including two free throws in the final 13 seconds, in the national championship win over Duke.
So it can?t be a good sign for Maryland?s opponents this year that coach Brenda Frese considers Coleman the team?s most improved player heading into this season. Frese said Coleman worked hard over the summer to improve her conditioning and her play on defense, both of which she considered a weak part of her game last year.
“The exciting thing is that our most improved player going into this season is Marissa Coleman, which is kind of a crazy thought,” said Frese, who added that Coleman lost 15 pounds in the offseason. “If we were to go out and play a game, she could play 40 minutes. She?s the best-conditioned right now. The biggest improvement is on the defensive end. Marissa saw last year that she was probably one of our weakest links defensively, and I?ll tell you, at this point, she?s probably our best perimeter defender.”
Coleman said most of her offseason conditioning training came in the weight room, and she believes the work is already paying off on the court. She added that improving her conditioning was vital for her to become one of the best players in the conference while not getting tired during the long regular and postseason schedule.
“The biggest difference I found going from high school to college is that you can?t take plays off in college,” Coleman said. “On the defensive end, you can sometimes relax in high school, but you can?t do that in college. I realize that more now.”
Coleman said another motivation for getting in better shape is to help Maryland defend its national title against all the opposing teams that will be out to prove themselves against the best team in the country.
“It?s definitely going to be harder this year,” Coleman said. “We?re going to get everyone?s best shot. When we played Baylor last season [in the Sweet 16], we used the fact that we were playing the defending national champions as extra motivation, so I?m sure teams are going to be doing that when they play us.”
COLEMAN NOTES
» Marissa Coleman was the only freshman to earn All-ACC honors last year. She made the conference?s second team.
» Coleman led the ACC with a .470 three-point shooting percentage while ranking in the top 15 in seven different statistical categories.
» She scored a season-high 23 points in Maryland?s 98-95 win on Feb. 9 at North Carolina.
