Brenda Sue Frese (born April 30, 1970)[1] is an American women's basketball head coach and former player.

She was a four-year basketball letterwinner, an Honorable Mention All-American and Iowa state champion in 1988, and an all-state and all-metro player from 1986 to 1988.

Upon graduation, she immediately began pursuing a career in coaching, driving across the country to attend an NCAA Final Four and working various basketball camps.

In her very first game as a head coach, Frese led Ball State to an upset win over Minnesota.

After turning around the Minnesota program, Frese became a sought-after coach and drew interest from Maryland, Ohio State, and Florida.

[4] When Frese arrived at Maryland prior to the 2002–03 season, she brought with her the buzz of a rising star in the women's hoops coaching world, as well as a remarkable recruiting acumen.

Frese's high-octane Maryland program has also produced 16 WNBA Draft picks, including 10 in the first round.

In the final game, Maryland's Kristi Toliver tied the game with a jump shot over center Alison Bales with six seconds left, forcing Duke into overtime, and eventually led Maryland to a win by a score of 78–75.

In October 2006, Frese and writer Chris King released a book chronicling the Terrapins' rise to their 2006 championship win entitled Overtime Is Our Time.

They were also set to debut star Tennessee transfer Sa'de Wiley-Gatewood, who was unfortunately limited by tendinitis in both knees but still contributed on and off the court.

The team, however, did not deliver a performance as stirring or convincing as in their championship year; they went 0–3 in the regular season against ACC rivals North Carolina and Duke, were eliminated by the Tar Heels in the ACC Tournament and were upset in the NCAA tournament's round of 32 by Ole Miss.

Maryland had beaten Ole Miss decisively (110–79) during the regular season at a tournament in the Bahamas.

During the season, Coach Frese gave birth to twin boys- Markus William Thomas and Tyler Joseph Thomas- on February 17, 2008.

Kristi Toliver won the Nancy Lieberman Award, which is given annually to the nation's top point guard.

In 2010–11, Maryland bounced back from a year's absence from the NCAA Tournament with a fourth-place finish in the ACC regular season.

Four freshmen under Frese have won the ACC's Rookie of the Year award (Langhorne, Coleman, Kizer and Thomas).

Frese and her staff led the Terrapins to an unprecedented level of success in their first year in the Big Ten in 2015.

After losing five starters from the 2019–20 Big Ten Championship squad, Frese and her staff reloaded with five newcomers and the return of five sophomores.

Frese's Terrapins did not miss a beat in 2020–21, earning a record of 26–3 overall, 17–1 in league play and winning the program's sixth Big Ten title in seven years.

The Terrapins advanced to their ninth Sweet Sixteen under Frese and led the nation in scoring with 90.8 points per game.