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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 Texas Longhorns, head Coach Karen Aston, along with her two student-athletes, Celina Rodrigo and Ariel Atkins. Coach, your thoughts about tonight's game?

COACH ASTON: I think you're always pleased to get a tournament win under your belt, and you never know when you start to play in postseason play how in particular your young players are going to react to being in tournament play and that was something I was extremely pleased with tonight. I thought that our bench in particular, and our young players really give us a lift in the third quarter. We were able to sustain our defensive effort throughout the night.

We didn't shoot the ball well tonight and had way too many turnovers, but I thought our defense was solid all night long and gave us a chance to win. I thought Kansas played very spirited and carried over their performance last night with a good one tonight, and Brandon should be really proud of his team. Glad to be playing another day.

Q. Celina, you're not always the leading scorer for the Longhorns. Was there something about the game that dictated maybe you would be the "go-to" person today?
CELINA RODRIGO: No, I think my teammates were able to find me in the right spot at the right time and I was able to knock down those shots.

Q. Ariel, did the way you guys ended the regular season give you guys extra motivation coming into this tournament to hopefully get another shot at Baylor?
ARIEL ATKINS: I would believe so. We wanted to get to the championship regardless of who it was we were playing, but I think it was one of our goals at the beginning of the year. So it's still our goal today.

Q. Ariel, is the motto "survive and advance" I could be wrong on that. Do you feel like a game like this you kinda got the kinks out, maybe some butterflies, first game?
ARIEL ATKINS: I don't think it was butterflies. We were off for a while. I kinda think we were rusty. We tried to pull is together. And like Coach said, Jordan in particular, she probably didn't do -- like make all her field goals, but she gave us an energy boost. So I don't think it was butterflies. I think it was just rust.

Q. What was the difference between Kansas tonight and the first two times you played them because they played you awful tough tonight?
CELINA RODRIGO: Like Coach said, they came out with a lot of energy based off their last game. They were definitely excited and ready to play. So we took some punches early in the game, and we were able to come out on top. But I think we definitely need to make an adjustment and play better as a team tomorrow.

Q. Celina, four threes, you been doing extra practice on threes or did the hoop look different to you tonight for some reason?
CELINA RODRIGO: I think just seeing it go through the hoop a couple times tonight gave me the extra confidence to keep shooting. But we have all been in the gym together. So same practice, same work.

Q. Ariel, how big of a lift is it when Celina has a game like this, especially from an offensive standpoint?
ARIEL ATKINS: It's a huge lift for us, because we know Celina is capable of a lot. I kinda tell her sometimes we don't think she gives herself enough credit for what she's capable of, so I think it's a confidence builder for us to see her like that.

THE MODERATOR: Ladies, congratulations. We will let the student-athletes go and we will see you tomorrow. Questions for Coach.

Q. Coach, what was working there in the fourth quarter after they cut the lead to 10? Seemed like you got a push there and got some distance.
COACH ASTON: Again, I thought our young players gave us a lift defensively and energy-wise. They just seemed to have a little bit of a different pop in their step and, again, you never know sometimes how older players are going to react to this being their last tournament and maybe a little bit of stress from them, and the young ones don't particularly know any better to be nervous or worried about anything.

I thought Jordan and -- Jordan was a huge lift for us tonight and she's been practicing really well. She's a player that missed some off-season work in the summer and fall. So her progression has been a little slower, but you could tell that it was coming. I thought she gave us a good lift.

And Lashann did, too. They had a different pop in their step defensively and got some steals and some plays in open court.

Q. Celina had the hot hand. How big is it when Celina is able to be that big of a contributor to the offense?
COACH ASTON: Well, I think Celina has to be aggressive offensively and we have been discussing the last week or so that she has not been necessarily looking for her shot, and she has been trying to drive too much; and, you know, when you're in conference play at this point everybody knows every breath you're going to take, and they were playing her a particular way that we've been talking the last few days about her making an adjustment and really just working on catching and shooting a little bit more, because she likes to drive. She likes to create for others.

So I think just the mental note that she needed to start looking for her shot a little bit because they know everything. They know everything we're doing, they know everybody's tendencies, so she needed to make an adjustment and I thought she did a great job of that tonight.

Q. The way you guys ended the regular season, does that give you extra motivation coming in or is it just the Tournament itself being enough motivation?
COACH ASTON: I think it's just the Tournament. Our players and staff are extremely proud of the year we've had. I think they understand how to sorta push the reset button in Tournament play. So it's sort of like -- it's over, whatever we did, it's over, whether it was good, bad or ugly, it's over. We need to move on to this portion of Tournament play and reset for the NCAA Tournament, but they have some goals and I think they understand how to restart.

Q. Coach, talk a little bit about how you prepare for a game in 24 hours and what things you're going to try to accomplish before you play again tomorrow.
COACH ASTON: I think the good thing about -- and actually it was kind of a difficult thing about Kansas because we hadn't seen Kansas in a while and I thought they were dramatically improved. It had been over a month since we had seen Kansas. That was a quick turn-around to try to prepare for them and then on the flip side tomorrow, we'll play a team that we've seen recently, whether it be Kansas State or West Virginia, either one, we've seen them. So I think the preparation will be a little bit more mental not necessarily having to go walk through a bunch of things because we'll be pretty familiar with whichever team we play. So I think that will be helpful with the quick turn-around.

Q. Coach, Baylor won today with a big-time bench and you guys outscored them 24-11. How comforting is it as a coach to know you have that many weapons at any time, look at Celina tonight?
COACH ASTON: I think it's really comforting just from the standpoint of, I think if you try to make a run in this Tournament you do have to have some depth, because you are playing three days in a row and the turn-arounds are quick. So it is a blessing that we have depth at pretty much every position where there is not a lot of drop-off. So I'm pleased with that to know tomorrow it could be somebody else and we should be ready to go. But we definitely have to play better. I don't want to sit up here and say it was a very perfect game, because it wasn't. We've got to play better tomorrow, no matter who we play.

THE MODERATOR: Coach, thank you very much for your comments. We will see you tomorrow.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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