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BIG TEN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 5, 2015Kim Barnes AricoNicole ElmbladShannon SmithHOFFMAN ESTATES, ILLINOIS Michigan State – 69 THE MODERATOR: We're joined head coach Kim Barnes Arico and student‑athletes Nicole Elmblad and Shannon Smith. Coach, an opening statement. COACH BARNES ARICO: I thought Michigan State played really well tonight. They made shots early. And I thought we got a little bit tight. We couldn't get anything to fall. And we always felt like we were battling back from a position of being down, because we were. Powers played extremely well for them in the first half. I thought we forced some turnovers. We did some good things in the second half. But we really couldn't get out of the shooting slump. So even when we forced turnovers and got shots we weren't able to knock them down. Credit to Michigan State, they played really well. THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student‑athletes. Q. This is the third straight year you guys have lost to Michigan State in the Big Ten tournament. Do they just have your number in the one account, in a big tournament like this? SHANNON SMITH: They just played well tonight. Each year is a different year. I think they just played well tonight. Q. Nicole, it seems like in the previous two matchups your defense was focused on neutralizing everyone except for Powers, everyone was not scoring very much. What was different today about their offense or your defense? NICOLE ELMBLAD: You know, we went in really kind of keying on them as well. And you gotta credit Michigan State. Their kids, their players really just knocked down shots and kind of took us out of that defense and really just did a good job themselves. After halftime you guys came out with a 5‑0 run, what did you guys talk about in the locker room during then and what did you want to change your focus going into the second half? SHANNON SMITH: Just staying positive and just work hard. When you work hard, good things will happen. But like Nicole and Coach said, credit to Michigan State. They played well. For either of you, do you think today's game was more of just a mental battle more than anything? NICOLE ELMBLAD: I think anytime you get down big in the first half, you kind of really have to battle yourself mentally. But unfortunately we weren't hitting shots and they were. And I guess once you kind of get, dig yourself in a hole it is kind of a mental battle to stay focused and really keep playing hard. What would you attribute, like, the final outcome to? Because obviously in the past few games Michigan dominated. So what's like the main thing that you think went wrong? SHANNON SMITH: I think all five players on their court played well for them. I mean, they just played great team basketball. We weren't able to get stops. That's what happens. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. Questions for Coach. Q. I've heard coaches say beating a team three times in one season is hardest thing to do, especially when it's a rival because there's a lot of motivation on the other side that can't be created on your own side. Could you talk about that a little bit? COACH BARNES ARICO: I always knew about the Michigan/Michigan State rivalry. But I didn't know how great it was until I became the coach at Michigan. And we think‑‑ and I think it's been proven‑‑ that it is the greatest rivalry in college sports. And there is always fire between our two teams. And it's always a tremendous game. And for the most part, Michigan kind of hasn't been on the winning side of that a ton. Michigan State has always had one of the best programs in the country. And Michigan really hasn't been at that level. For us to be able to beat them twice this year was a great accomplishment for us. It just seems like we always have a matchup with them in the Big Ten Tournament, which is kind of a bummer. Suzy said to me before the game our men have had a matchup in program history and it was for the Big Ten championship. Mind you we've played them eight times since I've been the head coach here. And that's three seasons. So I think I wish we didn't have to play them. I think it's a great rivalry, but we beat them twice for the first time since 2001. So we're trying to beat them three times for what would that have been the first time in program history? Yeah. So that's pretty difficult. Michigan State was fired up about losing the first two contests because that's something that they're not really accustomed to doing. And I'm sure they were ready to go. They really played well tonight, though. They shot the basketball extremely well. We didn't. And they really took advantage of those runs that they made. Q. Cyesha Goree only five points I think it was the lowest scoring output this season. What were Michigan State's bigs doing to shut her down? COACH BARNES ARICO: You guys watched the game. I thought she missed a ton of easy shots. I don't know if they did too many other things than they've done before. I mean Cyesha has been really successful against them in both of the first two contests, and today she really couldn't get her shots to fall like she did the first couple of times. She missed uncontested shots. Contested shots. Free throws. I mean, she seemed to miss every opportunity that she was getting. And it's kind of a bummer for her to have that as a senior against Michigan State tonight. But she's had such a tremendous season for us this year, I don't want this to take away from the year that she's had for our team. Q. Does it get harder to defend when you're not making shots because you're so frustrated on that end of the floor. Seems like especially the start of the second half, you made that early run and you had some energy and then as you missed more shots it just got harder? COACH BARNES ARICO: Yeah, it was unbelievable. One of my assistants said, well, our shooting can't get any worse in the second half, and actually it did, which is incredible. And I think our kids really tried to fight. We tried to come out in the second half with some fire and with some fight. But it's incredible. Kids are funny. And as much as you want them to feed off coaches, you always want them to feed off defense. That's what I preach every day. They feed off making big shots and making plays and we couldn't get one of them to fall. And it's a shame that it had to happen tonight. And we came in shooting the ball pretty well. Had a week of or a couple of days at least of getting some shots up, getting some extra shots up. We felt pretty confident about that. And it just didn't go our way. Q. You touched on some of the mental aspects of the game already. With Cyesha and with Siera and Katelynn shooting 3 for 16 do you think frustration came into play there? COACH BARNES ARICO: The funny thing about Kate, and she's a baby, she's a freshman. So she's learning. Her success in her mind is based on her making shots. And that's what we're trying to emphasize as a coaching staff. But you know, this was the big predicament, I think, from a coaching staff. We subbed Danielle Williams in, and we had a lineup, I think it was Danielle, Jillian, maybe Bird. Might have been Madison and maybe C. And Michigan State went four minutes without scoring. Pretty good, right? Right. But all of our scorers weren't in the game, too. So that's the catch. When we put our scorers in, they were giving up points on the defensive end and they weren't making shots tonight. So that's what kind of dug us a little bit more of a hole. So I think Katelynn, she does get super frustrated and she believes that if she's not making shots she's not contributing. And I think she just needs to get better at being able to do other things for us and believing that she's contributing without her just making shots. Siera didn't make shots either. But I thought she really tried to do a good job on the defensive end. She did a pretty decent job at times on Jankoska. It was just a bad night for us, when they're shooting the ball well, we're playing well. Q. Thompson had 15, 16 points in each game you played against State. And then five today. Talk a little bit about that a little more. COACH BARNES ARICO: Well, I mean, if you say her‑‑ I haven't even looked at the stats‑‑ but you told me that ‑‑ Cyesha had five and Siera had five. That's not a good sign for us. And in the Illinois game, the game we're coming off before that, Cyesha didn't have much and, yeah, and Katelynn didn't have much. Right. So I mean, if those guys aren't scoring for us, it's tough for us to be successful. Q. Why do you think that Nicole had a bit of an off game? She ended the first half without any rebounds. And it seemed like Jillian and Kelsey Mitchell kind of came in to clean up for her and had meaningful minutes. COACH BARNES ARICO: I think teams know she's such a great rebounder that they really block her out and really make her a point of emphasis from the point of rebounding. They did a great job of blocking both her and Cyesha out in the first half. But speaking of‑‑ I said there weren't very many bright spots. But if I can take one thing from tonight, it gave us an opportunity at times to play with a lot of our younger kids, being Jillian, Madison, Siera, Katelynn and Kelsey. And I thought they all provided really good minutes at times. So as much as devastated by the loss of our senior group and really super concerned about next year, it was great to see those kids step up and give great minutes. Jillian did a really good job and I thought Kelsey gave us a spark as well. Q. I think Michigan State was coming into the game with a three‑game winning. You guys had just lost to Illinois. Did that have an effect on the game? COACH BARNES ARICO: Michigan State was playing really well. They've been playing a lot better. I think the last time we got them and we had talked about this earlier in the week, their other three in their lineup were really not producing the numbers that they are. They've since that time have gained a ton of experience and played a ton of minutes and have really worked on being more confident and comfortable. And No. 24 came out tonight and just knocked down shots from the get‑go. So I think they have continued to improve as a team. And their kids that were inexperienced the last time that we played them are really more experienced now. And they're playing with a lot of confidence. I think they're playing with a lot of confidence. They have one of the best kids in the country on their team. If you have a kid at any time can make plays like she made plays tonight, they're pretty tough. Q. You already understood the Michigan/Michigan State rivalry. After today do you understand it maybe a little bit more? COACH BARNES ARICO: I said a minute ago, you know, three years ago when you look at Michigan/Michigan State, I knew of the rivalry. When I got here three years ago, the senior class, Jenny Ryan, really taught me and showed me what it meant to play against State and what that really meant. And I had mentioned earlier, for so long, we had been the underdog. And we had been the one that could never really get that win. And Michigan State has always been a top 20 program. And Michigan has never been there. We've always been the one trying to catch them, catch them, catch them. And now this year, being the first year since 2001 that we have beaten them twice in a season, was incredible for our program. But definitely motivation for their program. And I'm sure that's something that they probably‑‑ that hasn't happened since those kids were little kids, since their players were small. So I'm sure that's something that that has been on their mind. I mean, Lexi Gussert came out and had a career night tonight. She's a Michigan kid that grew up knowing about this rivalry, probably lives and dies Michigan/Michigan State game. So for her it's a credit to her and what she did to have such a great game tonight. But the rivalry is to me and to the University of Michigan and I'm sure to the people at state, it's the greatest in college athletics. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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