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BIG EAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 8, 2015Doug BrunoJessica JanuaryChanise JenkinsROSEMONT, ILLINOIS DePaul – 87 COACH BRUNO: It's all about focus at this time of the year, and I was really proud of our players' focus and readiness to play. No matter what has happened or transpired during the regular season, you have to put yourself in a one‑in‑a‑row mode or possession‑by‑possession mode, and I just thought our players were really ready to play tonight. When the score ends up like the score ended up tonight‑‑ Xavier is a good team, and they beat St.John's just in the last eight, nine, 10 days. They had a really nice win yesterday. This is a team that's very, very capable, and just because we've won a couple games this year against Xavier, you cannot take for granted that you're going to win the third time out. So it's just really important that your players understand the focus of the moment, and I just thought our team was really ready to go tonight. I thought we also dodged two foul‑‑ first half, two foul bullets a little bit. I thought we could have got ourselves in a little bit of trouble there with Britt picking up two and Hrykno picking up two, and I think Centrese McGee had two. So we dodged that pretty well, as well. When you shoot the ball, the game is always easier, and I think the players did a good job shooting the ball, also. They shared the ball and shot the ball. Q. Jessica, could you talk about how prolific this offense is and what makes it go and work so well together? JESSICA JANUARY: Well, we definitely have really good players on this team. Coach always says he gives us an offense to run, but it's about the players that run it. I think we did a good job spacing the floor and like attacking and trying to get to the rim and also kicking it out to our shooters. Q. Chanise, did you feel like you were in the zone tonight, or what transpired for you that made this game as prolific as it was? CHANISE JENKINS: I guess in the zone, but before every game, Coach always tells me to be ready at the jump, and I think these past couple games, my teammates and I have done a very good job of being ready at the jump. It was just all about being focused. Q. Jessica, how about for you? JESSICA JANUARY: I would say the same. I think we were all just really excited to play and have the opportunity to win a game and compete, so yeah. Q. Jessica, with the team's relatively slow start offensively, how do you avoid pressing offensively and kind of sit back and wait for your chances to come? JESSICA JANUARY: Yeah, we did start off a little slow, but I think our defense picked up and we used that energy and that translated into our offense, and then we started to get going. Q. Being the defending Big East champion, how much pride do you take in not letting this get taken away from you this season, that you want to defend your championship? JESSICA JANUARY: Well, I think not only just this championship but every game. We're all really competitive players, and we want to get out there and give it our best shot, so we're going to do whatever we can to try to win. CHANISE JENKINS: Just the defending part, we can't rely on what we did last year. We're a totally different team with a totally new identity, and I think we have to be ready to bring it every game because every team in this conference is really good. And we're not just defending the championship, we're defending the name on our chest, and we've just got to fight hard every game. Q. Coach, could you talk tonight about your bench play? COACH BRUNO: I think our bench play has been very, very important all season long. The way we play, our style of play requires depth. I just thought it was really important that the players that have been coming off the bench, Mart'e Grays hit a couple big shots early in her entrance, and then Brooke Schulte at this did some good things, and it wasn't a great Brooke Schulte night, but at the same time she did a couple things that don't show up in the box score, and then she settled down and started to play a little bit more about the player that she's been off the bench. Ashton Millender did a nice job. I just thought we were able to get a rotation going, and then we're still trying to‑‑ I had to play with the foul situation in the first half, so you don't want‑‑ you just don't want Brittany Hrynko or going into the second half with three and you don't want Brittany Hrynko not playing the entire ‑‑ you don't want to bench her the whole first half, either, because she's got two. So that's a fine line there. So I thought the bench was very important. But the pressure that we use, I think, is really important. At the end of the night here I think I'm going to look down at this‑‑ I haven't looked down at it yet, but I'm going to guess the minutes are in the 20 to 25 range for our starters. I had to put T.T. back in at the end there because Schulte at this was wearing out and those two share a spot almost. I think the minutes were pretty well preserved, as preserved as they can be in one in a row, three‑night consecutive basketball. We're going to have our hands full tomorrow with whoever wins this next game, and that's what makes tournament basketball, league tournament basketball, so different than even the NCAA. The NCAA Tournament you still get the day in between, whereas tournament, conference tournament basketball, is one in a row three times or four times, so it's just a really different style of ball and a really different style of usage of your bench. But we've been using the bench all year. I don't think you saw anything different than what we've been doing since we've lost Rogowski, this has become the rotation. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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