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BIG 12 CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 5, 2016

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Texas - 66, Kansas - 50

THE MODERATOR: We're now joined by the Kansas Jayhawks, Coach Brandon Schneider along with his two student-athletes, Aisia Robertson and Tyler Johnson. Coach, your thoughts about tonight's game?

COACH SCHNEIDER: I thought these two young guys up here really played well. I thought AR played as good as she has played all season, especially in Big 12 play. Tyler unfortunately in foul trouble and have to complement Lauren Aldridge who was banged up and playing on one leg to fight like that.

Our frontline had 16 turnovers and just didn't get much out of our power forwards today, but obviously Texas is too deep and too talented today.

Q. How do you guys account for going winless during the regular season but you come here, you play a great game last night and you played a very good game against the No. 6 team in the country. Do you feel like you should have had more during the season?
AISIA ROBERTSON: You know, we just stuck to our game plan last night, and today we just worked hard in practice. We did what Coach Brandon told us and that's what led us to our win in conference.

Q. Tyler, what was it that worked the last couple of nights that maybe didn't work during the regular season?
TYLER JOHNSON: We've just been really shaky in putting all four quarters together and I believe that last night and today even we really put all four quarters together and we really fought hard and we were just able to step it up.

Q. Tyler, I'll ask you, Celina Rodrigo was their leading scorer tonight and I think it's her first time all year. Did she do anything that either surprised you or caught you guys off guard?
TYLER JOHNSON: Texas just moved the ball around really good and we were caught off guard a lot of times. She is a really good player and we didn't execute defense enough to stop her.

Q. I'm sure this is something that neither of you went through in high school, the experience of this season. Tyler, you can start, what was this season like emotionally for you guys?
TYLER JOHNSON: Um, the season was a battle. We just gotta keep our heads up, just keep fighting. Like we showed yesterday and today, we have the fight in us and we just gotta bring that next year.

AISIA ROBERTSON: For me, I would say that it really tested our toughness and winning that game last night and coming in today fighting as hard as we did, it really shows how tough we are and it set us up for great success next year.

Q. What would you both say is the most important thing you learned that year?
AISIA ROBERTSON: I would say communication on defense and being assignment correct each and every play and watching our turnovers.

TYLER JOHNSON: I would say just being able to fight through anything and to execute.

THE MODERATOR: Okay, ladies, thank you. We will take questions for Coach.

Q. Coach, what worked in this tournament that wasn't working during the regular season? You guys looked like a pretty good team out there!
COACH SCHNEIDER: I would say that the last three weeks we've gotten a lot better, and it just hasn't culminated in some wins. We played Oklahoma at our place really tight, ended up being a 6-point ball game. Missed three free-throws at TCU with a chance to win that ball game.

As I did last night, I just credit our players for continuing to work so hard and I just think we're a team that was obviously we're the youngest team in the country. But we continue to get a lot better, and we were able to see some of the fruits of our labor here, you know, at the Conference tournament.

Q. Coach, you just touched on it a bit and you mentioned Lauren playing on one leg. Your players never quit. Is that something you had to instill in them once you got her or something they had when you arrived?
COACH SCHNEIDER: We talk a lot about how you represent yourself, and we talk a lot about toughness and team unit and those things. But I do think that the character that our team showed this year, despite a really rough record, is something that, you know, we can build upon as we're trying to establish a certain type of culture in our program.

Q. You just mentioned a couple of them, but what are some of the things you will take away from this season?
COACH SCHNEIDER: I think we have some good pieces. You know, we have two very good players who are sitting out as transfers and practiced with us this year. I've said all along that it's really important that we continue to develop the players that are currently on our roster while also improving our team through our recruiting efforts.

Q. Coach, Celina Rodrigo was their leading scorer and I think it's the first time this season she has done so. Did they do something to catch you off guard with her?
COACH SCHNEIDER: Well, you know, I think her four field goals were all threes and we're not a team that plays a lot of zone and found ourselves in serious foul trouble especially in the first half and had to play a couple different kind of zones, and Texas did a nice job of moving the ball and we were late to her on several occasions and she stepped up, as a good player should, and made some open shots.

Q. Points in the paint were a big key for you guys last night. What was the difference tonight?
COACH SCHNEIDER: Obviously Texas' size. Those guys as well as Baylor it's tough sledding in the lane and they have multiple people that they can play there, and I thought we missed some people on some cuts around the basket. But I think we had that moment of pause when you have 6-5', 6'7 standing in there.

Q. Do you leave this tournament feeling pretty good about yourselves?
COACH SCHNEIDER: Well, I would say yes. My enthusiasm for what I think we can do at the University of Kansas with our women's basketball program has never wavered. We played with a roster that we inherited and the guys played extremely tough all year long. And I think we have a really bright future, but building in this league is really, really tough because of the competition that you're going to face night-in and night-out, but I'm excited about our program moving forward.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Coach, good luck.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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