Coach Brenda Frese and her two star players, Marissa Coleman and Kristi Toliver, seemed more down than usual after their 89-81 loss at No. 19 Virginia last night.
During the day, Frese and UVA coach Debbie Ryan flew down to Cary, N.C., to attend the funeral of longtime N.C. State coach Kay Yow, Hall-of-Famer and sister of Maryland AD Debbie Yow, who passed away last weekend after a long fight against breast cancer.
“It puts it into perspective,” Frese said. “It’s hard, going down and seeing coach Yow, but you know with tip-off you just want to be able to go out and play as hard as you possibly can.”
Coleman and Toliver also seemed especially bothered, but more by the way the Terps let a patiently constructed nine-point lead with 15:35 remaining disintegrate in a matter of minutes.
Toliver looked zapped of energy, with her head slightly down and her eyes gazing at one spot for most of the post game presser- not her usual engaging self. Coleman simply looked angry, as if she was annoyed the Terps still were having trouble finding the toughness to win road games.
They both spoke tersely about how Virginia out-hustled and outworked them in the second half, and maybe I’m wrong, but I got the sense that this loss hurt more than their three others.
Losing at TCU on opening night with two new starters is one thing. Getting blown out visiting a ranked Pitt team at the end of a long road trip is another. But letting a conference game get away in the nature they did Friday night can be tough to handle.
Of course, the great thing about this year’s deep and talented ACC is you’ll always have another chance to make a statement, and soon. On Monday night, the Terps travel to first-place and 6-0 Florida State.
A win in Tallahassee and it would mean lessons learned. A continuation of the road struggles could mean Friday night at UVA wasn’t an aberration, but representative of a deeper pattern.
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