|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
PACIFIC-12 CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 5, 2015Jillian AlleyneLexi BandoKelly GravesSEATTLE, WASHINGTON Washington State – 66 THE MODERATOR: Welcome, we've got the Oregon Ducks head coach Kelly Graves, Jillian Alleyne and Lexi Bando. Coach, some opening comments on the game? COACH GRAVES: Thank you. Sorry it took us so long to get here. First of all, I want to congratulate Washington State. They played a great game. They deserved it. I thought down the stretch especially they appeared to want it maybe a little bit more, and they made some of the bigger plays. But I'm really proud of our basketball team. I thought we fought hard today and we fought hard all season. I think one of the traits of this group is we never gave up. We had a lot of games where we were down big and we always seemed to find a way to come back. It's always hard this game when you know it's the last for the seniors and we have a really gracious and great group of seniors that we just said goodbye to a second ago. Q. Jillian, could you tell us what was going through your mind when you made that three pointer, your first career ever? JILLIAN ALLEYNE: I just knew there were two seconds on the clock and I didn't have time to pass the ball or give the ball to anybody else, so I just shot it. Lately we've been doing this drill in practice where we have ten seconds down the court to shoot. And that's the only chance I've ever had to take a three, so I saw an opportunity, and I took it. Q. Coach, can you take us through that last sequence there, the last few seconds obviously just trying to get a shot up at that point and no timeouts? What was going through your mind? COACH GRAVES: Well, you know, you work on that. We know that's what we want to do, it just took us a little bit to get the outlet to Drea and then, you know, I think she wanted to make the pass a second earlier and couldn't quite get it out of her hands. But she saw Lexi there. At that moment, that's what you do. Even if you have a timeout, you push the ball as quickly as you can. But had a pretty good look, it was just a half second too late. Q. After the win against Stanford, you guys talked about how you thought you'd be able to carry the momentum forward here in Seattle. What happened? What was the mentality set up for today? COACH GRAVES: Well, I thought we were ready to play. We came out and had a good start. It was a fun game in terms of runs. I mean, both teams would get leads and the other would battle back. And then in the late second half, it was just a basket‑for‑basket game. So I thought we were ready. I thought we were prepared. We met a good basketball team who had an elite level basketball player who led an amazing game. I mean, Lia Galdeira does that, and there is not a whole lot she can't do. We probably gave her too many good looks, but once she gets in a rhythm, even the bad looks become good because the basket becomes really big for her. No, listen, I'm proud of how we competed and played and conducted ourselves all year. On and off the court, in the classroom, this has been a really good group. Q. Jillian, Lexi, is there a moment in this season that really jumped out to you? A game, a play, a basket? Something that you think that this whole season embodied? JILLIAN ALLEYNE: I would probably say when we played UCLA I thought that was one of our best games we played at home, and it came down to the very last second and Lexi Petersen and Jill were in a pick and roll, and Jill hit the last‑second shot. I think that game showed everyone that we were ready to compete, we were ready for more. And we had a six‑game losing streak in the beginning to start out PAC‑12. But we came back. I mean, it's been a really great year. It's been a year of development and learning, so that would probably be the game. LEXI BANDO: For me, I would say it was the Stanford game because everyone contributed every single play. I think that also showed because we had just lost to Cal by some odd number of points and to come back and beat Stanford who is an elite team and ranked like that just shows the heart of our team and how hard we can compete and how good we can really be. It's been a lot of fun. The seniors have been the greatest class that I've had go before me, and it's hard to let them go, but it's been a fun year. It's been a lot funner than a lot of people expected. Q. Coach, in the first half, you dropped 64% and then 44%. What in your mind was the difference there? COACH GRAVES: I thought all night we got pretty good looks. I thought we handled the pressure better in the second half. But the first half, I thought the entire thing was we had too many turnovers. When we did shoot, we shot a good percentage and got, for the most part the, shots that we wanted. Second half, still 44% is pretty good for us. That's not awful, but you can't‑‑ you know, I think when you turn the ball over, you never really get it to the rhythm that you want, and offense sometimes is a lot about rhythm. Especially us, we don't have a ton of play‑makers, quite frankly. We have to do things right. We have to set screens and space the floor and make baskets. Even so I thought we had some good shot at the end of the game, the one that would have tied it was a lay‑up. Contested but it was a lay‑up shot at the rim. Q. I guess, Jill and Lexi, what are you most proud of that you feel like you accomplished this season? LEXI BANDO: For me, I would honestly say I think I've learned so much this year. I have obviously three more years left. The coaches have been awesome with us. We basically went back to the basics and started over with developing a new offense and learning the basics on defense again because we weren't that good at defense all year. But we got better. I think just seeing us develop as a group, which is awesome, we got better and better each day at practice and in the games. It was just a great group. Hat's off to the seniors. They were awesome, and they were a great group to look up to, especially all the upperclassmen. But overall I thought it was a fun year, and I can't wait for the next three. JILLIAN ALLEYNE: For myself, I would say my development as a player. I think that I've made a lot of leaps and bounds, and that's because of my teammates and my coaches. I think this year compared to my first two years, I was really pushed to my limit. Before it was kind of just like Jill's going to do Jill. But this year, whether it was Coach Kelly or someone else, I had them always on me, and that really brought out the player inside of me that I can be and I will be in the future. And I credit all my teammates because I couldn't have done that without them and without the coaches. Ultimately, our record is 13‑17, and I think that is the best 13 games that us as a team have played since I've been here at Oregon. Q. Lexi and Jill, you guys mentioned seniors as you looked up to them. Obviously you guys are returning for next year. What can you take from the season? What is the biggest takeaway you can bring into next season? JILLIAN ALLEYNE: The biggest takeaway is to have a leader on the floor at all times. Amanda did a really good job with that, as well as our seniors. They were the glue to our team and kept us in check. Just to be a leader and now me about to be a senior and knowing what college basketball's about, just leading my team and being an example and working a hundred percent in every practice and trusting more and more what Coach Kelly has for us. If he has a great offense and defense, just a great basketball play for the University of Oregon, so just going forward and building. LEXI BANDO: Piggybacking off what Jill said, I think it comes down to every possession counts and every practice you've got to like play it like it's your last in every game. I think that's what I'll take away from this year mostly and bring to next year. We just have to step up and play hard every game because four years goes quick, as the seniors were saying. Q. Lexi, one last question. Keeping it on the perimeter and stuff. I wonder if you could comment on Lia's game. Seemed that she got open quite a bit for somebody that hot. LEXI BANDO: She got what? Q. It seemed she got open quite a bit for being as hot as she was. Why did you think that was happening and what did you think of her performance? LEXI BANDO: Lia Galdeira is definitely a player I look up to. She played an amazing game and hit some tough shots that I didn't even think that would go in. She played great. I think Lexi Petersen was starting for the most part and she was crowding here. But Lia made space for herself. She's such a high‑level athlete, and she just went off tonight and played her best. Q. (No microphone)? LEXI BANDO: I subluxed my shoulder, so it partially came out at practice. So, yeah, but I played today and don't need surgery or anything. Q. Is it just a partial separation? LEXI BANDO: Yeah, but it's fine. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|