Double Duty

6:30 p.m. She sits in the locker room waiting to give the pregame pep talk. "The babies are kicking," she says, putting two hands on her belly. "They're excited for the game."

She stands in front of a white board and makes a few last-minute points about the Buckeyes. "Be ready to rip through the pressure," she says. "They are going to be in your shorts."

Nobody out-rebounds us this season, she demands.

Before the game she ceremonially presents a toy to a pair of Marines as part of the baby shower promotion. Then she compares notes with Kelly Meury, an assistant for Ohio State who is also pregnant. "That's something you don't see much," says one fan. "Two coaches talking baby talk courtside."

7 p.m. During the game, Frese sits in her padded leather chair, which has been rolled from her office to a spot next to the bench. Park does the subbing and shouting. Not far away Mark Thomas sits with his parents. He yells at the refs, claps for hustling players and speaks to various fans. He even sends text messages to parents who can't be at the game.

The Terps play precision basketball. They choose shots wisely. They box out on rebounds. They push the ball up the floor. They dive for balls. And they seem to love the game. At the half, they are up by 14.

Frese's sonogram operator walks past. "She's the only person in the world who knows what we are having," Thomas says.

The Terps win, 77-53.

"We're the first team in the country to go 10 and 0," Frese says, referring to this intensely competitive season, and that they can still say no team has out-rebounded them, because Ohio State and Maryland brought down 42 rebounds apiece.

"Hell of a job," she says.

Frese stops by the media room for postgame questions. Thomas is there with the final stats.

9:30 p.m. As they walk toward their silver SUV, Frese pats her belly and sighs. Thomas carries her bags. They talk about the game and people they saw. And he tells Brenda what his mom cooked for the victory dinner: a chicken and broccoli casserole.

They will eat it when they get home.