Iowa-Maryland a battle for first place, and more

Brenda Frese was in the middle of a phone conversation Thursday afternoon during a Maryland women's basketball shootaround. Abruptly, she went quiet, then shrieked.

'Sorry,” she said. '(Freshman) Aja Ellison just dunked. I didn't think she could do that. Wow!

'What was your question again?”

Frese's Terrapins have made themselves at home in their first year of the Big Ten. Ranked fifth nationally, Maryland (18-2 overall, 9-0 Big Ten) carries a 12-game winning streak into Sunday's showdown with No. 17 Iowa (17-3, 8-1).

Tipoff is 3 p.m. (Iowa time) at the Xfinity Center in College Park, Md.

Despite the success, Frese has called the transition to the Big Ten 'anything but easy.

'Every team here is competitive,” she said. 'It doesn't compare to the ACC. You talk about depth, and the talent you face every night ... the Big Ten is much stronger, much deeper.

Sunday's matchup will match two coaches that grew up in the Cedar Rapids/Marion metropolitan area. Frese graduated from Cedar Rapids Washington (winning a state championship there in 1988); Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder went to Linn-Mar.

'I have nothing but respect for Brenda,” Bluder said. 'She's obviously done very well.”

Frese guided Maryland to an NCAA championship in 2006, followed that with Elite Eight voyages in 2008, 2009 and 2012, then reached the Final Four last season.

Maryland joined the Big Ten this season, along with Rutgers.

'It gives the league instant credibility in women's basketball,” Bluder said. 'I think it elevated the image of the conference.”

The Hawkeyes and the Terrapins play just once this season, on the East Coast.

'Initially, when I saw the schedule, I was disappointed that we wouldn't be playing at Iowa, because I wanted to take our kids to my parents' house for dinner,” Frese said. 'But after seeing (the Hawkeyes) live, I'm kind of glad we're just playing them once.

'Lisa and her staff has them playing very well. They're really, really good, so unselfish.”

Iowa collected 32 assists in a 102-99 win at Northwestern on Thursday, a game in which the teams combined for an NCAA-record 32 3-pointers, including a school-record 19 by the Hawkeyes.

After graduating from Washington and playing at the University of Arizona, Frese spent two years as an assistant at Kent State and four at Iowa State before landing her first head-coaching job at Ball State in 1999.

She was there two years and at Minnesota for one before the Maryland job opened up.

'Joining the Big Ten, it's like a full circle of life, because I'm a Midwestern girl through and through,” Frese said.

Frese and husband Mark Thomas have twin sons, Markus and Tyler, who will be 7 in February. Tyler went through a cancer battle when he was very little, but has been cancer-free for nearly five years.

'No question, that has changed me,” said Frese, 44. 'It used to be, I was always on to the next thing. Now, I'm more focused on being present, whether it's with my family or with my players.

'I cherish the little moments a lot more. I hope to think I'm more relationship-oriented that I used to be.”

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com