Usually, the summer is reserved as the off-season for college basketball players after completing a grueling six months of practices and games.
Maryland women?s basketball coach Brenda Frese has had anything but time off since leading the Terps past Duke for the NCAA title in April.
Since then, Frese has gone non-stop from awards dinners to speaking engagements to taking care of her normal coaching duties. Even that has been less-than-normal, as Maryland just returned from a two-week European tour that included four countries in 12 days.
In addition, they also found time to play four exhibition games against European semi-pro and professional teams. Two games went into overtime.
“My schedule has magnified 100 times over,” Frese said. “There is no off-season anymore.” Division I teams are allowed to make one overseas trip every four years, as per NCAA rules.
Frese said the European trip ? Hungary, Austria, the Czech Republic and France ? has been the highlight of her off-season. Some of the sites visited by the team included the Prague Castle, St. Stephen?s Cathedral in Vienna and the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
“(The trip) was a great bonding experience,” Frese said. “And we got to play some great competition.”
On the court, Maryland did not disappoint, as the Terps went 3-1 in their exhibition schedule. Frese said while she coached to win, she used the opportunity to give playing time to those who usually see little time on the court.
“I walked a delicate line because you don?t want to lose, but you need to keep a perspective of why you are there,” she said.
Still, this didn?t mean that Maryland?s top players held anything back. Laura Harper, the Final Four?s Most Outstanding Player, and Marissa Coleman scored 16 points each in an 86-83 overtime win over Herzenburg in Austria. All-American Crystal Langhorne followed that with 18 points in a 68-63 win over Sparta Prague in the Czech Republic.
“This trip gave us an opportunity to relax and see how well we could play against some really good teams in Europe,” Langhorne said.
MARYLAND NOTES
» Maryland?s lone loss came in Paris, where the Terps fell 91-88 in overtime to Insep. The Terps rebounded a day later, also against Insep, with a 90-80 win.
» Insep is the former team of current Terp Aurelie Noirez, who is from Vandeouvre, France.
