COLLEGE PARK -- A little more than two weeks after giving birth to twins, Maryland women's basketball coach Brenda Frese returned to practice yesterday and declared herself back and ready to take over the team ... sort of.

Frese, who delivered twin boys on Feb. 17, said she feels "about the best I've felt in seven months," and has an increased capacity to "breathe and move," which moved her to return to the fifth-ranked Terps in time for this weekend's Atlantic Coast Conference tournament in Greensboro, N.C.

At the same time, Frese said the decision on whether she or acting head coach Daron Park will roam the sideline during games is "day-to-day."

"For me, it's always been a check at the door for myself," said Frese. "If I didn't feel mentally or physically that I was ready to come back, I wouldn't have."

Frese, who had not traveled with the team on road trips since December, made an impromptu decision to join the team Sunday in its regular-season finale at North Carolina State.

Frese said her parents as well as her husband Mark Thomas' parents will make the trip to Greensboro to baby-sit her sons, Markus and Tyler, at a hotel during the games.

milton.kent@baltsun.com