Who's In?

When it looked like Maryland was about to finally close the gap he said with a sudden realization, “I think Duke’s being outcoached.” We had both noticed Maryland coach Brenda Frese’s animation and smiling enthusiasm in the second half, which Maryland started with a 10 point deficit and then fell further behind. “I bet she’s trying to get them to loosen up,” he’d said. And it sure looked like it. While Duke’s Gail Goestenkors wasn’t sitting idly by, she looked more grim as the game proceeded, and less dynamic. Duke’s players appeared to talk to each other on the bench during time-outs while Maryland players were in group huddles. And it sure looked like Frese’s attitude worked, as Maryland came from down 13 to stay within 0-4 points for many long minutes. “Big comebacks take a lot out of you,” my friend observed warily. And there’s the psychological danger for players of feeling that, once having caught up, they had done their job.

The players on both sides were great, making it a fun game to watch (far more engaging than the men’s final, for example). You can read all the details in many sports pages. Maryland got a little lucky, too, with some pretty ill-considered shots actually falling in.

“I hope she can keep that up for the overtime,” he added, when regulation ended in a tie. Meaning the coach, not any of the players. And again it looked like she did. Later she was quoted as saying, “Overtime is their time; I didn’t say anything.” We wondered what she had said during halftime, because, well, we were watching in a bar and without sound…. Checking out SportsCenter later, we heard the lockerroom recording of her saying, “I know you all have 20 more minutes of great basketball in you. I just came down the hall and heard them—you know what they’re doing? Celebrating. They’re celebrating.”

Perfect, said my friend.