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MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 9, 2015Marquelle DentJoe LegerskiKayla WoodwardLAS VEGAS, NEVADA Wyoming – 70 THE MODERATOR: We're ready to begin with Wyoming. Coach, some general comments on tonight's game. COACH LEGERSKI: Hard‑fought basketball game tonight. Both teams were out competing and never seemed to be a real flow to the basketball game. In the second half, we talked about coming out after halftime and winning the next four minutes. And to Air Force's credit, they did that. Then in the next four‑ to six‑minute segment, I think they made six of seven shots. We just matched it. They ended up getting our 17‑point lead cut down to 11. Then I thought Marquelle Dent's four‑point play was as big a play as there was out there. She ended up getting that lead back up to 14 points, gave us a little more breathing room. You take a look at the stat sheet, I thought Kaitlyn got us off to a great start shooting threes. Kayla was solid throughout the whole evening. And then I thought Marquelle's second half was tremendous. Kaylie Rader gave us a great lift off the bench. Throughout the whole game to have four players in double figures, we needed each and every point. THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions for the student‑athletes. Q. You got off to a good start. How big was that? KAYLA WOODWARD: That always helps to get the lead right away. It gets all the nerves out. Obviously it showed, we were a little nervous at the beginning. But we got it together in the second half, handled their run in the second half, too. Q. In the second half they did go on a little bit of a run. Did they do anything different? Coach said they won those first few minutes. KAYLA WOODWARD: I just think they're always going to fight. We knew they were going to have a little push in the second half. We still played tough defense, stopped their run, I guess. Q. Marquelle, tons of assists for you guys throughout this game. How big was it to penetrate the way you did and dish off to people around the rim? MARQUELLE DENT: That's huge. That was one of our biggest things we talked about before the game is we like having a lot of assists on field goals. So that's great for us. Obviously people were knocking down shots. But to penetrate and pass out to people who are knocking down shots are huge for us. Q. Kayla, what was the focus defensively? KAYLA WOODWARD: We knew a few of their players can shoot really well. We had to get out on their three‑point shot, take control of their drive. They have some tall girls, so we had to help out in there. Overall I think we played some pretty good defense and stopped them. Q. You have this first game out of the way. You have a big test against Fresno tomorrow. Do you have a game under your belt, do you feel like the nerves and all that is out of there? MARQUELLE DENT: Yeah, I think so. I mean, it's nice just to get out and play. Obviously we talked about the first half, we definitely had a little bit of nerves. That's going to be good for us going into the next game knowing we can shoot here and all that kind of stuff. Q. Kayla, four‑year all‑conference honor. Two years in a row pre‑season Player of the Year. In the end they honor somebody else. Any kind of chip on your shoulder to come out and prove something? KAYLA WOODWARD: Not really. Pre‑season Player of the Year is a huge honor. If you don't get it in the end, it's all right. I have great teammates, too. It's nice, if we win the Mountain West championship, I think that's a bigger award. Q. I know you're an elementary school major. After four years, everything you've been through, no matter how this season ends, what sort of lesson will you learn and take to your major? KAYLA WOODWARD: I just think it's been a great ride. You learn how to just relate to so many people. You make great friendships. It's so much fun to be around players that are like Marquelle. You learn how to talk to people, be around. Teammates, you get to relate to them, see how they play, see how they are as people. I think being an elementary teacher, I think it's fun to see how that is, too. Q. Marquelle, how does Kayla bring the rest of the team up? What have you learned and been inspired by her? MARQUELLE DENT: I think the biggest thing is she's always having fun on the court and off the court, too. She keeps everything pretty light. I think that helps us a lot. We try not to get too frustrated on the court. She's just a great leader. That's about it. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, ladies. We'll continue with questions for Coach Legerski. Q. You mentioned Kaylie Rader's play off the bench. Air Force isn't the biggest team you're going to face. How big of a game is that for her getting post play like that? COACH LEGERSKI: It's something throughout the whole year that I think our post play has been very good defensively, and we're a very perimeter‑oriented team, one specifically with the motion offense. It really helped us to have the play of Kaylie and Jordan Sibrel. When you take a look tonight, the two combined, they were 8‑13, 17 points. You look at it and go 13 rebounds. That's a double‑double out of a position. I thought both of them played extremely well. Kaylie gave us a bigger lift with some of the baskets. We were able to find her in transition. Q. At one point you had 12 assists on 14 field goals. When your team is driving like that, how important is that for your offense? COACH LEGERSKI: That's our game. We like Marquelle getting to the basket. When she has that opportunity, I trust the decisions that she makes. We ask her to make those decisions. In the first half I thought she showed nerves, dribbled the ball off her foot one time, had more turnovers in the first half than points. But she came out in the second half and stepped up like the all‑conference player she is. Made great decisions, was able to make big shots. Q. You mentioned that stretch where Air Force was hitting pretty much everything in the second half. Did you change anything where you were able to hold them off there? COACH LEGERSKI: What we talked about during the second media timeout is it was a push score‑wise. We were matching them. Not to get frustrated in what we're doing. Everybody is going to make shots, going to make a run. Then we changed up some of the things we wanted to do defensively with the on‑ball screen. I thought that gave us a little breathing room. As I mentioned, Marquelle's four‑point play. When you take a look at it, we missed two shots in that possession, and Jordan Sibrel gave us an extra rebound and so did Jordan Kelley, then Marquelle hits her shot. Getting those second opportunities I thought was big tonight. Q. To get this first big game, get the jitters out of the way, how big was this? What will be the challenges tomorrow night? COACH LEGERSKI: This team's had a tough year. When I look back at all the close games that we lost in January, we were 2‑5 in conference play, and they fought back and won 9 of the next 11 basketball games. So they came back. They never gave in. I knew tonight was the same thing. They had to step up and be able to play. There's going to be shaky points throughout. The big challenge for us is always going to be that we do not have a great deal of depth. I have two forwards that are out for the season, one with a broken thumb and one with an ACL injury that we really were counting on. We've had to use Jordan Kelley, a two guard, at the four all year. We know we're out‑manned. Yet this team doesn't give in. It's going to be important for us to try to get off to a good start against a very good Fresno team and try to do well on the glass. But most importantly we got to make shots. So a big challenge for us to come right back within 24 hours and play again. Q. Marquelle said Kayla makes it fun for everybody on the court. It seemed at a certain point, they were having fun. They kept it serious, kept the task at hand. How do these two leaders make it easier on you? COACH LEGERSKI: One of the things we talked about was to enjoy the moment. This is the only chance you get with this group of young people to be together. There's a different team, a different mix next season. There was a different group last year. So to enjoy this opportunity that you have with your friends, your teammates. We talked about the bench doing that as well as the players on the floor. You can see how much fun Marquelle has when she's out there. Anybody that can get up and down the court like she does, she can get to the rim, she can make shots, she finds players for assists, and that energizes everyone. I think it's very important never to lose sight of that. I always tell them, 25 years from now, nobody is going to remember if you won or lost, but you're going to remember good times you had with friends. And I think these two take it to a different level for this team. Q. It always helps as a coach if their point guard or team leader is an extension of the coaching staff on the floor. Is it both of them? COACH LEGERSKI: It's both. They bring different components to this team. Kayla is a shooter, a rebounder, very humble. Marquelle is a little outgoing, has a little more fun, a little more of the flash. I think you see that with them. Coach Legerski doesn't have much flash to his game anymore (smiling). When you take a look at them, I think they help this group out just the way both of them are. THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much, coach. COACH LEGERSKI: Thank you, everyone. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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