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MOUNTAIN WEST WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPMarch 9, 2016Ryun WilliamsElin GustavssonKeyora WharryLas Vegas, Nevada Colorado State - 60 New Mexico - 42 THE MODERATOR: Coach, if we could start with you and get your thoughts on tonight's game. HEAD COACH RYUN WILLIAMS: Yeah, very physical game. I thought defensively, again, we were outstanding. We had some nice individual performances. I think you saw our kids settle into the tournament a little better tonight. And we had a ton of respect for New Mexico. We had a really hard-fought battle the first time we played them, and I think our kids knew that. We were in for a really tough contest tonight. I really liked how we came focused, I thought really well prepared. The execution was much better tonight. Really good team win against a New Mexico team that we respect the heck out of. Q. Coach talked about the first meeting. Since then you've beat five straight opponents by an average of 18.8 points per game. Was that one-point win over New Mexico sort of a wake-up call and kind of a good reminder what you're capable of? And two, have you been taking a leave no doubt mentality with you on the court against any opponent? ELIN GUSTAVSSON: The first game we played against them and won by one, and I don't think we went in and underestimated them. They're a really good team. Even though we just won by one, we were awake. But it was just more like this time we wanted to beat them by more. But we know that they're a really good team. And like we need to play really good defense to make it a win. KEYORA WHARRY: We definitely didn't doubt them. We don't doubt any of our opponents, we know at any given moment anyone could come in and play as well as us, make any shot and we could be on our toes. So we definitely don't doubt any of our opponents. Q. Obviously it's been a goal of this team to get to the NCAA tournament. The only way you can do it for sure is to win this conference tournament. How determined are you to go out and do that and accomplish that goal? ELIN GUSTAVSSON: We're super excited. And I feel like it has been our mentality since the season started, even though, for example, when we won in the regular season, we were super happy but we were not done yet. This is what we've been waiting on the whole season. We're prepared and we're super excited. Q. Sort of along those lines, how much does last year's loss in this tournament kind of sting and play into the way you're taking these games now this year? KEYORA WHARRY: It's hard to say. Well, we can look back at last year or we can just reflect on the success we're having this year. And if you think about last year, different team, different girls, so we're just looking at what we're capable of and what we're going to do. We're not focused on the past. ELIN GUSTAVSSON: We're focused on what we can do from now on. Q. Last night in the quarter final round Khadijah Shumpert goes off for 26 points and 11 of 15 shooting, she still ends up with 13 points tonight, but 9 of those came at the free throw line on 2 of 10 shooting. What were you able to do against her in particular to make it such a tough shooting night for Khadijah? KEYORA WHARRY: I would say we guarded her better. We added more focus on her. We knew we could not let her go off or the others would, and it would get the crowd riled up and we didn't want that. So we calmed that down real quick. ELIN GUSTAVSSON: It was not just one player, it was the whole team. Everyone we were playing. Everyone was guarding her at the same time. Maybe you didn't notice it, but that was the plan. So we guarded her together. Q. How much more comfortable did you feel on the court today as compared to yesterday and just the team in general? KEYORA WHARRY: I was pretty comfortable yesterday, it was just a different ballgame. They guarded me different. I just take what comes and I go with it. Q. Have you ever been in a zone like this offensively? Putting together back-to-back games like this? ELIN GUSTAVSSON: Yeah, I think I have, but I don't know -- yeah, I guess. Maybe not here at CSU, I don't know. I don't have a good answer, I'm sorry. Q. When you guys played New Mexico earlier this season they had that big 15-point fourth quarter comeback. Was that in your minds in the fourth quarter, was that in your minds thinking about we can't let this team get back in the game? KEYORA WHARRY: Oh, yeah. We knew we didn't want the fourth quarter to be a hassle. We didn't want to keep going back and forth. So third quarter we put our foot down and we made our mark. So we just cut that off real quick. Q. Just how critical was it that you guys really in the second quarter kind of took control, built that cushion. How much did that help having a double-figure lead going into halftime as far as just your mentality for the rest of the game? ELIN GUSTAVSSON: Well, of course, it feels better to be up at halftime. But at the same time it's kind of when you start the second half it's like a new game, so 0-0 again. And like Key said, they want it as much as we want it. We were ready for them to come. We were prepared. We're not just like, Oh, we're up. No, it's just bring it. Q. How much has your confidence grown in that jump shot? Obviously you've had the moves around the basket the last year and a half. But it seems like really toward the end of the season your confidence in your jump shot has grown a lot. KEYORA WHARRY: I've always had confidence in my jump shot, I just haven't used it as much as I could. People were starting to cut me off more going to the rim. So I'm just pulling up and jumping over them. Q. How nice is it knowing that no matter how you play offensively your defense is going to be just dominant? You held them to 24-percent shooting. Does that give you a little bit of a cushion knowing that no matter what court or who you're playing your defense is always going to be pretty good? ELIN GUSTAVSSON: I think that goes back to I feel like I always talk about our chemistry. But I feel that is really in our defense. It's not only one player that plays on the ball. It's the whole team. Everyone is playing on the post players. I feel like the chemistry in defense is helping us offensively and everything. Q. Just what can you say about, it seems like your team has really kind of been playing at a much higher level this last month, really since that loss at New Mexico. What have you seen change -- HEAD COACH RYUN WILLIAMS: Yeah, we didn't lose there. Q. The one-point win in New Mexico. What have you seen change? HEAD COACH RYUN WILLIAMS: I don't know that there's been a change. I just think our kids know that the closer you get to your end goal the tougher things are going to get. And I think they've done a great job of -- everybody's ready for our team. And I think they've learned through this last three weeks that we have to be tougher, that we have to execute better, because we're getting everybody's best shot. And I don't know if it was a wake-up call at New Mexico. Like Key said, we do respect the heck out of every one of our opponents. You just see a very determined basketball team. And defensively, that's where we hang our hat. And defensively the last two nights the kids have been exceptional. So just very, very determined. This is the time of year you want to be playing really good basketball. And although it's not always going to be the prettiest of basketball, it's March. It's a battle out there. This is the third time we played some teams, the second time we've played New Mexico, you know them like your own family members. They know tendencies. It's going to be ugly. It's not going to be easy to score. I think our kids understand that. They're making enough winning plays. I think our senior leadership has been outstanding. Is that the longest answer you've ever had? Can you write that on the front page? Q. I know it wasn't the Pit, but did this feel like a road game a little bit? HEAD COACH RYUN WILLIAMS: They call it the Pit West, don't they, the Lobos Nation? It really did. It's a similar arena. Very good fans. New Mexico has great fans and they cheer at the right time. We talked to our team about that. We don't want them to get any momentum. We want to try to keep that crowd out of it as best we can. And I think our kids really -- they played this game with great poise, I thought, very physical game. But we just kept them at bay and kept the Lobos Nation somewhat quiet. But they're great fans. Q. How do you handle tomorrow, having a day off and looking towards Friday? HEAD COACH RYUN WILLIAMS: I'm going to hit the pool all day -- no, I'm kidding. We'll treat it like just normal. We'll get up and we do some yoga stuff to get our bodies feeling good. And we'll have a nice light little practice to prepare for whoever we play. We'll have a film session. We'll keep them locked in, but at the same time get them rest and keep them somewhat relaxed. Q. From your standpoint how much has Keyora's offensive game changed? There was a time there when she scored 6 or 8 points in a row and jump-started that run. How much has she changed not only from two years ago, but this season? HEAD COACH RYUN WILLIAMS: Key has always been a good offensive player. When you come in as a junior college player, it's always difficult. It takes a year to get comfortable. Key has always had this, she's worked on a few things. I think her footwork around the rim is better. She's shooting the jump shot with some touch. And she's worked a lot of hours on her game. You see a very determined young lady. And Key, she just brings -- we don't have anybody on our team like Keyora. She can go get her own shot. And she's saved us a lot of late shot clock situations. And tonight you saw that. I thought the poise that she played at the end of the shot clock was one -- that was senior leadership right there. Q. Defensively did you guys put an emphasis on doubling down on the post? There were times it was two or three defenders, you were able to get steals and transition baskets. Was that something you saw on film that you thought you could get plays out of that? HEAD COACH RYUN WILLIAMS: If there were three down there, somebody was making a mistake, because there was only supposed to be two. Shumpert was a big part of our plan. And you saw her last night. She's an exceptional athlete. She's really gifted around the rim. And you can't play her one-on-one. We don't have that matchup. So I think our kids were really locked into making it tough to catch first and when she did, we brought a quick double and made her pass out. And still, she got to the foul line, and that's what good players do. But that was a huge emphasis, Shumpert, just winning the paint. Just win the paint. It was a big part of our victory today. Q. Have you told Eli to be more aggressive offensively in this tournament or is that just kind of the way these two games have unfolded? HEAD COACH RYUN WILLIAMS: Well, I think it's kind of the way they've unfolded. I think both teams really, San Diego State and New Mexico, they pressured out with their bigs. And Eli is really good at attacking close-outs. So when we get the ball moving side to side in our motion and she reads a close-out, that's where she's really good. That's just been the situation the last two games. She's really locked in. She, too, is very determined. And she's had some really big games in big games. The Colorado game, and that sort of thing. Eli, we trust her, just like we trust everybody else. It's nice to see her have a good tournament. We could use one more from her. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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