Last Sunday the Mount St. Mary’s women’s team had a 32-PT win over Wagner in the NEC tourney title game to earn an automatic bid to this week’s NCAA tournament. The Mountaineers entered postseason play with back-to-back losses but won 2 in a row last week to get back into the NCAA tourney for the 1st time since 1995. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Kendall Bresee about winning a bunch of awards and making the NCAA tourney.
You grew up in Maryland and began your career at GW: why did you decide to transfer, and what made you choose Mount St. Mary’s? I committed when I was just 15 years old, and then 2 weeks before I reported for summer session the coach left for Wisconsin. I ended up leaving after my sophomore year, visited a lot of local schools, and felt that I would be the most successful at the Mount.
You play for Coach Maria Marchesano: what makes her such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have learned from her so far? She is there for us no matter what. She understands how hard it can be because she played at the college level herself. She taught me what it takes to be the best: it is not always pretty but if you put together a few good hours or a few good days it will help.
You led your team in several stat categories this year: how do you balance all the different aspects of your game? I just go into every game and try to see what my team needs from me: scoring/passing/rebounding/etc. We have so many talented players on our team from 1-10. There are some games when I do not have to score or make all the crazy passes, but some days I do.
Last week you were named NEC POY/DPOY: what did it mean to you to receive such outstanding honors? It was a very humbling experience. To be in the company of such great players in our conference is extremely rare: I have a couple of teammates who could have won those awards as well.
You majored in criminal justice and are now getting your MBA: why did you pick those subjects, and what is the post-graduation plan? I have always been super-intrigued in organizations like the CIA/FBI and have not changed my major since my freshman year. If that does not work out then I will need a backup plan and you cannot go wrong with an MBA.
What is it like to be a college basketball player during a pandemic? Strict! It has been crazy to say the least. There are pros/cons: if it was not COVID then we could just drive 40 minutes up the street to play at Maryland, but now we are stuck in our rooms in San Antonio while it is 80 degrees outside. However, we are very grateful to be a part of it.
You lost back-to-back games at Wagner to finish the regular season: how were you able to get things back on track last week? Coach said in a recent interview that it was a “championship hangover”. We won our championship a few games earlier and had played 10 games in a row but were completely out of it at Wagner. After that we locked back in, scouted every day, and finally had a real practice rather than just a half-speed walk-through.
Last Sunday in the NEC tourney title game you had 10 PTS/8 REB/8 AST in a 32-PT win over Wagner: what did it mean to you to win a title, and how big a deal is it to give the Mount its 1st NCAA tourney appearance since 1995? This team has been through a lot but we came together and won a title despite the adversity: that meant the most to me. My teammates had some of the best games of their lives on both offense/defense and it was a feeling of euphoria. It was an out-of-body experience: the rest of that day is just a blur!
Your parents Meghan/Richie played college sports, your brother Bryan was ACC defensive ROY as a member of the Clemson football team last year, and your younger sister Ella is already 5’10”: who is the best athlete in the family? Me, without a doubt! My brother is pretty good at what he does and my dad would probably vote for himself.
How do you feel about being a #15-seed, and what do you know about a school that you grew up an hour away from (Maryland)? I am excited. We were supposed to play them earlier this season and did all the prep for it but had to turn around after getting 20 minutes away from College Park. They have a great offense/players/coaching staff but I am excited for the opportunity. They are an amazing program.