Frese Earns Win 499 As No. 10 Maryland Women Rout Wisconsin
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Brenda Frese tied a school record with her 499th win as coach of the Maryland women's basketball team, reaching the milestone by guiding the 10th-ranked Terrapins past Wisconsin 84-48 on Thursday.
Frese equaled the mark set by Hall of Fame coach Chris Weller, who was at Maryland from 1975-2002. Weller was replaced by Frese, who's 499-130 over 19 seasons.
Frese has nine 20-win seasons, reached 30 wins seven times and led the Terrapins to the 2006 national championship. Only field hockey coach Missy Meharg has won more games at Maryland.
Barring a change in a schedule that's fluctuated all season because of the coronavirus pandemic, Frese can set the program record on Feb. 14 at Nebraska.
It didn't take long for Maryland (13-2, 9-1 Big Ten) to make it apparent that Frese would get No. 499 against the overmatched Badgers (4-12, 1-12). After Wisconsin won the opening tip, Chloe Bibby turned a steal into a breakaway layup to give the Terrapins the lead for good with 19 seconds elapsed.
Maryland made its first seven shots for a 16-5 advantage, went up 46-23 at halftime and took a 64-35 advantage into the fourth quarter.
Katie Benzan led the Terrapins with 18 points, one of six players in double figures. Maryland forced 25 turnovers and finished with a 40-23 rebounding advantage.
Sydney Hilliard scored 20 points for Wisconsin. The Badgers have lost 10 of 11 and are 0-9 all-time against Maryland, including a 79-70 defeat in January.
MORE FRESE
Prior to coming to Maryland, the 50-year-old Frese had a two-year stint at Ball State before overseeing the program at Minnesota for the 2001-02 season. Her overall record is a sparkling 556-160.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
This performance surely won't hurt Maryland's bid to move up in the Top 10 after dropping three notches this week.
BIG PICTURE
Wisconsin: The Badgers hoped they righted themselves by beating Illinois on Sunday to end a nine-game skid, but this was a hard dose of reality for a young team with six sophomores and five freshmen.
Maryland: The Terps' main concern at this point could be rust. They had a week off before playing this game and are scheduled for nine days off before their next outing.
UP NEXT
Wisconsin: The Badgers are at Penn State on Sunday.
Maryland: The Terps were slated to play Sunday at Michigan before the game was postponed. So it appears Frese will have to wait a while before getting a shot at No. 500.
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