[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 42 (Wednesday, April 5, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H1538-H1539]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           A DYNASTY IS BORN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, for years, the University of Maryland 
Terrapin sports fans have advised our opponents that they should ``fear 
the turtle.'' Well, tonight, in my opinion, we can alter that 
formulation somewhat. They should ``revere the turtle.''
  Tonight, Mr. Speaker, I want to extend my congratulations to Coach 
Brenda Frese and her coaching staff and the University of Maryland 
Women's Basketball Team on winning the national championship last night 
with an exciting, nail-biting 78-75 victory in overtime over a 
talented, courageous Duke University team.
  Mr. Speaker, there is a deep, long-standing rivalry between 
University of Maryland, my alma mater, and Duke University. But I think 
anyone watching that game last night, regardless of who they were 
cheering for, had to be unbelievably impressed by the athleticism, the 
teamwork, the sportsmanship, the determination shown by the women of 
both teams, the University of Maryland and Duke, two great 
universities.

                              {time}  1930

  Quite simply, this was college athletics at its finest, and I might 
say, at least in the second half for me, the most entertaining. Who 
could not be impressed by this awesome display of basketball 
fundamentals, from shooting, to passing, to rebounding, to sound team 
defense.
  In their come-from-behind win, the Terrapins erased a 13-point 
second-half deficit. The largest deficit that had been overcome, except 
for a 14-point deficit, and the freshman guard, Kristi Toliver, hit a 
3-point shot with 6.1 seconds left to play, and she hit that shot over 
an extraordinary center who plays for Duke who is 6 foot 7 fully 
extended, and she got that shot over her outstretched hand. Kristi is 
not lacking in confidence, you can tell.
  Terp Marissa Coleman said, ``We've played like this all year. Nothing 
gets to us. We never thought we were going to lose this game.'' That 
positive psychology led to victory.
  The Terps win caps a tremendous 34-4 season and makes Maryland only 
the fourth university in America, and the gentleman from Connecticut is 
here, and Connecticut is one of those universities who has had both of 
its men's team win the national championship and its women's team win 
the national championship. They are two extraordinary programs, both 
the men and women in Connecticut. Stanford is one of those four, and 
then there are two ACC schools that fit that category, the University 
of North Carolina and the University of Maryland. Our men's team won 
the national championship just a few years ago in 2002.
  The Lady Terps' championship quest was not paved with ease, however. 
Before reaching the final matchup with Duke University, the team 
defeated Sacred Heart 91-80; St. John's, an outstanding program, 81-74; 
and defending national champion Baylor 82-63; Utah in overtime 75-65; 
then perennial powers North Carolina, 81-70. And lastly, for the 
national championship, the extraordinarily good Duke team.
  Mr. Speaker, this was a consummate team win for the most unselfish of 
teams. In this championship game, for example, three Terps scored 16 
points each. One scored 12 points, and another scored 10 points. In 
other words, all five starters were in double figures.
  And, what makes this championship win even more impressive is that 
the Terps have no seniors on their team. They started two freshmen, two 
sophomores and one junior so we are going to be around for a little bit 
of time. The Lady Terps are extraordinary young women, proud today, as 
they will be tomorrow when I think we are visiting the White House. 
They are: Charmaine Carr; Marissa Coleman; Shay Doron; Laura Harper, 
who was voted the most outstanding player of the tournament among a lot 
of outstanding players; Crystal Langhorne, an All American; Kristi 
Marrone; Kalika France; Ashleigh Newman; Aurelie Noriez; Jade Perry; 
Angel Ross; Kristi Toliver and Sa'de Wiley-Gatewood.
  The coaching staff, in addition to Head Coach Frese, includes Jeff 
Walz, Erica Floyd, Joanna Bernabei, and Director of Basketball 
Operations Mark Pearson.
  Let me say that Head Coach Frese deserves extraordinary credit for 
turning the Maryland women's program around in just 4 short years she 
has been at Maryland. We got her from Minnesota. I know Minnesota is 
sorry to have lost her, but what a great gain for us. Brenda arrived in 
College Park in 2003 from the University of Minnesota after leading the 
Gophers to a 2-8 record in 2002 and being named the Associated Press 
National Coach of the Year.
  In 2003, the Terps went 10-18 in a rebuilding year, and in both 2004 
and 2005, just the next season, Brenda Frese saw her teams advance to 
the second round of the NCAA tournament with records of 18-13 and 22-10 
respectively in those years.

[[Page H1539]]

  Let me also note the extraordinary leadership and vision of the 
University of Maryland's athletic director, Debbie Yow, who recruited 
Brenda Frese to take the head coaching job.
  My colleagues will be interested to know that some years ago one of 
the curmudgeons and one of the real characters, and I think one of the 
most popular Members of this body came up to me, the gentleman from 
North Carolina (Mr. Coble) and he said to me, You are a friend of the 
President of the University of Maryland.
  I said, Yes, I am.
  He said, Well, you have considered a woman for Athletic Director. Her 
name is Debbie Yow. She is from North Carolina.
  Now this curmudgeon does not always impress me as being a feminist, 
and I thought to myself if Howard Coble thinks this woman can be the 
Athletic Director, and I had never met her, but I knew she was an 
impressive lady.
  The next day I picked up the phone and called the President of the 
College Park campus and said I don't know Debbie Yow, but I will tell 
you this, in North Carolina she has a Congressman who thinks she is 
absolutely one of the best talents around. I think we ought to hire 
here. Within a week we hired Debbie Yow to be our Athletic Director. 
Shortly thereafter she brought Ralph Friedgen to lead our football 
team, and he had three 10-win seasons back to back, although we have 
not done too well the last 2 years.
  But in closing, let me say that we are extraordinarily proud of the 
Lady Terps. As the father of three women in particular, I am proud of 
the extraordinary talent displayed and the courage displayed and the 
athleticism displayed by not just the Maryland team but by all of the 
young women who played the NCAA tournament.

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