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Brenda Frese hits 500 career wins at Maryland, passes Chris Weller for most in program history

Frese currently has 547 wins in women's college basketball. She has been the Terps coach since 2003.
Credit: AP
Maryland head coach Brenda Frese, second from left, huddles with her players in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Delaware, Thursday, Dec. 20, 2018, in Newark, Del. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Maryland women's basketball coach Brenda Frese captured her 500th win with the Terps after a victory over Nebraska on Sunday 95 to 73. 

Frese recently tied Chris Weller for the most wins in program history when she snagged her 499th win against Wisconsin on Feb. 4.

Under Frese, Maryland won a national championship in 2006, reached the Final Four three times and became a dominant force in the Big Ten after moving from the ACC in 2014. 

This season, Frese has her team atop women's basketball again. Maryland has a 14-2 overall record and the Associated Press Coaches Poll has the team ranked ninth in the country.

Frese currently has 547 wins in women's college basketball.

Credit: AP
FILE - Maryland head coach Brenda Frese gestures during the second half of an NCAA college basketball semifinal game against Indiana at the Big Ten Conference tournament in Indianapolis, in this Saturday, March 7, 2020, file photo. Frese stands one victory away from tying Weller for most wins at Maryland, with No. 499 ripe to be plucked on Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021, when the 10th-ranked Terrapins (12-2, 8-1) host struggling Wisconsin (4-11, 1-11). (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Lured from Minnesota to take over for the Terps, Frese endured a miserable inaugural season that featured 18 losses and a one-and-done appearance in the 2003 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.

Yet as the Terrapins headed home from North Carolina following their final defeat, then-athletic director Debbie Yow knew she made the right choice for the successor to future Hall of Fame coach Chris Weller.

“I was on a plane with them and I heard Brenda say to her coaches: ‘OK, this year is done. If we ever miss the NCAA Tournament again, we’re not doing our jobs,’” Yow recalled this week. “And I thought: ‘OK, all right. That’s not what every coach would say.’”

Given a full year to recruit a new crop of players, Frese rebounded to go 18-13 the following season. That launched a stretch in which the Terrapins went to the NCAA Tournament in 15 of 16 years, winning 21 games during their only miss. They'd have made it last year, too, if the tournament wasn't canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Credit: AP
At left, in a March 5, 2002, file photo, University of Maryland women's NCAA college basketball head coach Chris Weller announces her retirement in College Park, Md., in a Tuesday, March 5, 2002, file photo. At right, in a Nov. 5, 2019, file photo, Maryland head coach Brenda Frese reacts during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Wagner, in College Park, Md. Frese stands one victory away from tying Weller for most wins at Maryland, with No. 499 ripe to be plucked on Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021, when the 10th-ranked Terrapins (12-2, 8-1) host struggling Wisconsin (4-11, 1-11). (AP Photo/File)

RELATED: Frese poised to tie Maryland school record with 499 wins

RELATED: Terps football lands 5-star linebacker recruit Terrence Lewis

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