Maryland entered the 2018 Big Ten Tournament having won each of the last three since joining the conference the 2015 season, never losing a game in the Tournament – until they met the Buckeyes on Sunday night.
Before Sunday night's championship loss to Ohio State, Maryland head coach Brenda Frese had quite the confident message for her squad, throwing some shade at the Buckeyes in the process.
Frese's pregame speech, as captured by ESPN:
"I told you, right? Before we left Maryland. What'd I tell you before we left Maryland? I told you, when we left Maryland, 'this tournament championship runs through us.' You know what the difference is between our locker room and theirs? You know what the difference is? Their locker room, Ohio State, they're a team. Maryland, we're a program. Tonight is no different. Tonight is about playing Maryland basketball for 40 minutes. Go get what's yours."
Evidently, the pep talk didn't work. The Buckeyes beat the Terrapins 79-69 to take the Big Ten Tournament title and add it to their outright regular season championship, placing them firmly, and undisputedly atop the Big Ten.
Now, the difference between Ohio State's locker room and Maryland's is that the Buckeyes have two trophies from this season – the Terrapins have none.
