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BIG 12 CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 5, 2016

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

West Virginia - 74, Kansas State - 65

THE MODERATOR: We're now joined by the West Virginia Mountaineers with Coach Mike Carey and his two student-athletes Tynice Martin and Jessica Morton. Coach, your thoughts about tonight's fame?

COACH CAREY: First, I thought both teams played hard. Didn't play well but both teams battled and came out and played hard. I thought the first half, man, we struggled to score and struggled to do what we do defensively and that, but we was able to hang in there and keep it close the first half. And then the second half there was a 5-minute span there where we got our defense going a little bit and built the lead up to double figures.

Give Kansas State a lot of credit, but our girls deserve a lot of credit, too. So it was good to get out here and get up and down the floor.

Q. Tynice, when you guys are getting that bench production going like you did tonight, how difficult are you guys to beat?
TYNICE MARTIN: I think we're very difficult. I think we're the deepest team in the league so when we do put the bench in, it gives us another push. It takes some pressure off of our starting five.

Q. Jessica, obviously you guys were a little thin at the point guard position coming into this one. What did Coach Carey ask of you and what was it that you had working out there tonight?
JESSICA MORTON: Just to go out there and push in transition and make defense work. I came out and I pushed the ball, like he said, and we just ran with it.

Q. Jessica, it looked like when you went up for those shots you were really confident, like they were shots right there in your wheelhouse that you could hit. Was I sensing that correctly?
JESSICA MORTON: I mean, yeah, when I think about shooting, I take my time and I just think about, like, making it. So when I was pushing it and I shot it, I felt confident to myself.

Q. Does a game like tonight make it worthwhile for you? I know you've been working the hard, battling all season and to come into a game like this and deliver what does it mean to you?
TYNICE MARTIN: Means a lot. It's a blessing for me to go out there and show my talent and just show my team what I can do and help my team as a whole.

Q. Tynice, how much of a confidence booster was it to come away with the Big 12 Freshman of the Year, and do you feel like you're a different player after receiving an award like that?
TYNICE MARTIN: Honestly, I don't look at it like that. It's just a stepping stone. Even if I didn't get it I would still play hard, so it's just a stepping stone.

THE MODERATOR: Okay, ladies, congratulations on the win. We'll see you tomorrow. All right, questions for Coach.

Q. Coach, going into this one, obviously the point guard position you knew you were going to be a little thin. What did you ask of Jessica and what do you think about her performance? Is Chania going to be go ahead to go moving forward?
COACH CAREY: We didn't play Chania much second half because I just felt she got tired. As far as Jessica, when she gets going now, you just let her play, set her a pick, let her get in the gap and she can shoot off balance. I mean, she's done this all year, off balance, fall aways. It is one of them shots you're holding your breath when you are saying no, no, no, and when it goes in you are saying good shot. That's what happens when she gets it going like that.

Q. Mike, the last time I saw you, your players may have had the worst game they played all year, just a guess, I don't know, I haven't seen them all year. How did things change after that? I'm sure that hit hard.
COACH CAREY: Are you talking about after the Texas game?

Q. Yes.
COACH CAREY: Yeah, that's what I thought you were talking about. It was, we didn't play well and we didn't compete and Texas give them credit, they took it right to us. But we're looking forward to tomorrow's game.

We've got a lot to show and makeup and it's going to be a great battle tomorrow. There is no doubt in my mind welcome out and compete tomorrow, I think it will be a great game for fans to watch. Texas will be ready to play and we will, too.

Q. In the first half the game was back and forth and then one of their players goes down, you guys make an easy layup and go on an 11-2 run and from then it was back and forth. How big of a momentum changer do you think that layup was and that run as a whole?
COACH CAREY: I thought we started playing defense. If you remember we got into the press, got an easy steal, got another layup come down, got another transition layup, that gets us going, to be honest with you. Once we start getting in the lanes, getting our hands on deflections and turning it over a little bit we have athletes that can run up and down the floor and finish.

There's a lot of things in a game that get you going a little bit but to me it was our defense got us going.

Q. Coach, at this point in the season I'm sure you agree Tynice sipped a freshman anymore. Is there anything she does out there on the floor that surprises you at this point?
COACH CAREY: You talking about good things? (Chuckles.)

Q. Yes.
COACH CAREY: No, I mean, she can score, Tynice can score. She's athletic. She can get up and down the floor when she wants to. She can defend also and get her hands on a lot of balls.

You know, we know coming off the bench we're going to get some scoring, I think today was 47 points, that's a lot of points off the bench. If you saw who I started back up the fourth quarter I started a lot of young players and that and they helped us build the lead or maintain the lead and that give a chance for Bria Holmes and some of them to sit down a little bit and build up the lead which was big.

Don't take -- Kansas State, man, they had it going here at the end. So they came out and battled and showed us a couple of things the first two times we played them. So let's give them credit, also.

Q. (No microphone).
COACH CAREY: Well, Breanna Lewis started hurting us in the paint. She started hurting us in the paint and what I thought we didn't do a good job -- she was taking two or three dribbles and nobody was helping down. We just let her dribble, dribble, dribble -- you can't do that. We got to get to the ball quicker especially when she has her back to us, and I thought she played extremely well for them, too.

THE MODERATOR: Coach, thank you. Congratulations. We will see you tomorrow.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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