Emotions can flare up during March Madness with the National Championship at stake. And Maryland’s second-round NCAA Tournament game against North Carolina served up exactly that as an intense courtside conversation involving Oluchi Okananwa and head coach Brenda Frese went viral, and the star had to break her silence.

An animated Brenda Frese had some words of encouragement for Okananwa after the star struggled with her free throws. But her way of telling the Maryland guard she believes in her became a point of discussion postgame.

The junior was asked about the moment in the post-game interview, and she responded maturely to the press.

Okananwa said, “Coach understands I’m a competitor at heart, and I have told her this before, and I’ll keep on telling her… I love to be coached hard, and that’s what she does with me every single day… I feel like after that conversation, that’s when I went back out and did what I had to do for the team in that moment. So, I am forever appreciative of that.”

Okananwa ended with a game-high 21 points as Maryland conceded to North Carolina in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

This is a developing story…