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MOUNTAIN WEST WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPMarch 9, 2016Jaime WhiteToni SmithBrittany AikensLas Vegas, Nevada Fresno State - 66 UNLV - 60 THE MODERATOR: Coach, if we can start with you and get your comments on tonight's game. HEAD COACH JAIME WHITE: Really good game, start to finish. You know, I thought we did a really good job starting the game and then starting that second half. We made a little run and got the score up where we felt pretty comfortable. UNLV is a great team. Brooke Johnson, the Gonzalezes, Rohde, really hard to guard, long, athletic, I thought they did a really great job. I thought we did a good job inside, rebounding especially. To out-rebound a team like that, we knew we were going to have to rebound. We could have taken care of the ball better. Really proud of our girls. All year we've had to adjust and adapt during games, and we continued to do that. Q. Was there a lapse or something that you saw starting late in the third quarter? Do you think a mental thing or what do you think happened? HEAD COACH JAIME WHITE: No, I thought UNLV did a great job defending. They started to trap on the wings. And then we missed a couple. So we were transitioning, and we didn't really transition the best. You know, I thought we were okay, even with a ten-point lead, when we lost some of it. But less than ten I was getting a little nervous. And then we had a couple of turnovers. We've never turned the ball over like that in the late-game situation. I think maybe we celebrated a little too early. Q. Can you, maybe not celebrate, but can you find any satisfaction in making it to the championship game? HEAD COACH JAIME WHITE: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it's funny, because of our tradition at Fresno State that this is the expectation. I'm just that person that just wants to get better every game. So when we lose a lead or when we see those turnovers happen that's disappointing. But you can't undermine this team. We have continued to do this all year long. And especially after a preseason that set us back a little bit I thought we've just continued to fight. And I think that says a lot about our players. Q. When the tournament began what did you guys talk about? Did you talk about goals, expectations? HEAD COACH JAIME WHITE: We really haven't all year. We've just tried to get better every game. Three games before the tournament I just kind of brought it to the kids, We've got three games, let's treat this as the tournament, same thing as the tournament, three games. And just kind of getting ready and preparing for those games similar to a tournament game. And I thought all three up to the tournament felt very similar to that. And so then once we got to the tournament we just take one at a time, do the best we can. Hey, every team has been good. Every game has been a fight. And I kind of like it that way. Our kids, they don't lose a lot of interest that way. I feel like if we're within ten everybody is still really kind of tuned in. So I thought we -- our goals obviously are always to win a championship, always to excel in the NCAAs or advance in the NCAAs, but you've got to get there, and now we're there, and now it's one game away. Q. Yesterday we talked about Bego and how she is the go-to person, defensive player of the year. Yesterday she stepped up offensively. Toni, you take over at a certain point and clicked. Brittany, you came up with a few key plays, as well. Did you see that Aley and Amie's physical nature on Bego that you had to do that? TONI SMITH: Yeah, I knew they saw yesterday's game, and they would be doubling down on Bego. I knew I had to open up and be more physical and be option. BRITTANY AIKENS: If we hit shots from the open it makes it easier so they don't double in. We worked on coming up higher, so the guard can't help in on the double. Q. How do you feel about facing Colorado State in the final now? Obviously you guys gave them a really tough game the one time you met this year, and getting another crack at them? HEAD COACH JAIME WHITE: I felt like we played well for three quarters. And a hard place to play and a great team. Obviously you love to see one and two in the championship and that's -- and I think it will be a great game. It's just all about matching up and our strategy to how we're going to approach it. And it's just exciting. As a coach it's just fun. And you have to respect what they've done. And we definitely do. But you have to respect what we've done. And I think we've played some big teams in our preseason. We've played a lot of tight games. And we've come out on top. And so I expect it to be a really good game. Q. What do you have to do better this time? TONI SMITH: Definitely be more patient. They like to double a lot in the post and that's just their thing to do. So be more patient and be a lot smarter and just be more physical with them. Q. Late in the game you're such a disciplined team and you play so well inside, outside, hit your shots. They took over, knowing their guard playing, knowing the Gonzalez twins and Brooke can hit from outside, was it sort of frantic for you and your teammates to get in defensive mode and stay focused at both ends suddenly out of nowhere? BRITTANY AIKENS: I don't think so. We've been in tight games before. There's a few games in our conference where it's been a huge lead, it's always been within ten points. I wasn't nervous, I was calm and so were my teammates. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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