|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NCAA WOMEN'S 1ST AND 2ND ROUNDS: AUSTINMarch 19, 2016Freda Freeman-JacksonJasmine PeeplesDanielle ClarkAustin, Texas Texas 86 - Alabama State 42 COACH FREEMAN-JACKSON: First of all, I want to thank the NCAA for giving us an opportunity to actually be a 15-seed. I thought it was a hard-fought ballgame. Our girls played extremely hard. It was a night that we were just out-manned, and they out-rebounded us. We normally out-rebound teams, you're talking about 50 rebounds to 29, so it was just a situation, Texas, they was ready to play. We did everything we can do, but they were on fire and we just couldn't even catch a break at all. So I just have to commend Texas on a job well done, and I thought my young ladies did a great job as far as playing hard. Q. Jasmine, they had a big difference in points in the paint, I don't know exactly what it was, 40-4 or something. I'm sure you didn't expect that coming in. What made the challenge so tough in the paint? JASMINE PEEPLES: All of their guards have ability to get to the basket really well and they have a lot -- they are able to start in transition on them really well. That really made it hard for us to get back on transition -- some things like get some layups and let them get to the basket. I really feel like we worked hard in playing great team defense. Q. Danielle, they had a lot of depth. It seemed like they come at you in waves, especially with the big guards they had. DANIELLE CLARK: Yes, they did. Q. And what did that do to you all when they keep emptying their bench? DANIELLE CLARK: We just had to come out and be ready, and they impacted our offense because we couldn't get into the offense effectively because their guards were so big. And it was hard for us, again, to get back on transition. Just couldn't take care of the ball. Q. You guys gained some confidence in the first half by keeping it close. DANIELLE CLARK: Yes, sir, I did -- we did, we felt like we had a chance. We tried to come out with more energy and a great mind-set and tried to stay focused. Q. Anybody in particular impressed you from the Texas team? DANIELLE CLARK: I would say No. 24. She shot the ball well from the field goal. Q. What was the biggest difference between the halves, what do you think? JASMINE PEEPLES: Well, we had some break downs early in the second half. They let them get going, really gave them some confidence. I really thought that was the difference. The first half, we really wanted to just endure and grind out, keep the lead, the gap between us really small. In the second half, we came out, they were like you said, they were rotating in a lot of waves and stuff. We let them get a few easy baskets and get their confidence going and they got hot the second half. Q. For either of you, Texas has amazing depth and you didn't play as many bench players. Did you get tired at the end? Did they wear you down? JASMINE PEEPLES: Any athletic event, you're going to get tired, and especially with them rotating out, three players at once, four players at once, it was pretty tough. But at the same time, we took it as a learning experience, work hard, get better in the off-season, especially for returning players, and kind of give everybody the want and not just hindsight to work better. We'll be more prepared next year because we definitely plan on coming back next year. Q. How intimidating is the presence of Imani, 6-7 post? JASMINE PEEPLES: Not that intimidating. I know she's a big body behind me, but I would rather play a slim, tall person rather than a wider person, wider big. Q. You're a senior, right? JASMINE PEEPLES: Yes, sir. Q. Do you feel like you're leaving Alabama State in a better state now than when you were four years ago? JASMINE PEEPLES: Yes, sir, I do. I know a lot of players that are here now that came here since I been here, we all want to win and we all want to have the discipline to be excellent college basketball players. And especially Coach Jackson and all the coaches just telling us, just to grind on defense, first and foremost, have the discipline as a student and also a student athlete. I feel like we're definitely building a new course of winning at Alabama State. Q. After they took the big lead initially, how were you able to come back and make it into a game? JASMINE PEEPLES: We played from behind a lot of times this year, getting slow starts on defense or offense. So even though they got the lead early, we still knew that we wasn't going to lay down and just give the game away. We just kept fighting hard, kept fighting back defense, working, grinding. Q. Were you hoping you would come back with some big hits -- since you were a 15-seed? JASMINE PEEPLES: Not really. I just really wanted us to have a good game, a good, competitive game. And if anything everyone needs experience; use that experience. Q. How good is Texas in your opinion? JASMINE PEEPLES: I feel like they run their offense really well, transition really well, and their guards, I don't feel like their posts hurt us that much tonight. But I feel like their guards, they were really able to rotate and they are also good. They have really great guards. Q. What changed in the third quarter? COACH FREEMAN-JACKSON: If I can remember correctly, we got off to a terrible start the third quarter, and you're talking about, you was already down ten or 12 points or what-have-you, and we just started off sluggish. I think we ended up turning the ball over. They hit a basket, missed an assignment on defense; they hit a 3-pointer, and everything else was history. Because you're talking about a team like Texas, you already know you are already out-manned, and to get behind and then you start the third quarter not ready to play, it caused us major problems. And I think the game at that junction, within the first three or four minutes of the third quarter, they really stretched out the lead and it was just hard for us to match that. Because we struggle all year on the offensive end, okay. We are known for our defense. In a game like this, you have to be able to score also on the offensive end, and we had a total scoring drought in the third quarter. Q. What do you think hurt you the most, the inside or Davenport and Atkins from the outside? What hurt you the most? COACH FREEMAN-JACKSON: Today, the guards hurt us the most, because between the two bigs that I was mostly concerned with, Boyette and No. 40, I think they only had like 10-points combined. So that didn't hurt us on the offensive end. But it killed us on the defensive end; we couldn't get anything done on the offensive end. So in essence, they did their job on the defensive end and caused us to be able to -- not be able to score efficiently because you're talking about Britney Wright our leading scorer, she ended up with seven points and couldn't get anything done, okay. So I hope in the off-season she realize she's going to have to learn to play facing the basket, because Big 12 and these girls, you're talking about true centers. So I really thought guard play really killed us. Just like they came in waves, two or three, substitution, they didn't relinquish anything, and you're talking about Atkins. I think she's one of the one that is killed us on the inside and outside, because she's a guard. I'm talking about posting up our guards, swinging to the outside, hitting threes, getting to the basket, the whole nine yards. I thought she was the most effective. They just did a job on us. Everybody knew coming in, we was the underdog. I thought my girls had the right mind-set coming in, trying to do the best that they were able to do. But Texas, they was ready. With all the upsets and everybody been talking about the 15 and No. 2 seed, so they knew their P's and Q's and they was ready for us. I have to commend them. They did a great job, and at the same time, we did what we were capable of doing with all the odds against us. Q. Do you think Texas kind of came out irritated because y'all were close the first half and you got their full attention that third quarter? COACH FREEMAN-JACKSON: Oh, yes, I'm pretty sure the coach really talked with the girls at halftime, because we were right there. We had great momentum going into halftime and they was on fire coming out, and we couldn't buy a basket. That was the biggest difference. The game was won by that fourth quarter. Q. Talk about the good recruiting tool. You're in the NCAA Tournament, playing in an atmosphere like this, just talk about what a good recruiting tool this will be for you and your program? COACH FREEMAN-JACKSON: Yes, this is a huge recruiting tool for my program, because any time you get an opportunity back-to-back to be a 15-seed, to get an opportunity to play against a Florida State and now today to play against Texas. So that is really huge to let everyone know that we're Division I, near Division I, and if you do what you supposed to do in your conference, win your conference tournament, what-have-you, you have an opportunity to play with the big dogs, so to speak. But I'm really proud of what we've accomplished and that should increase our recruiting efforts. Q. You mentioned Britney Wright briefly, seven points on two of nine, must have been one of her worst shooting games. Was there anybody in particular, anything in particular that prevented her from getting hers tonight? COACH FREEMAN-JACKSON: Yes. Imani, she was a big factor. Britney, she's what I call a tweener. She's a player that's undersized and she plays with her back to the basket and she's not comfortable at this junction to take folks off the dribble. She's capable of doing it but she's not comfortable with doing it because she's extremely athletic and she has the capability. Now she has to get the confidence to be able to do that, because playing as far as on the Big 12 level, you have to be able to do that. So I'm hoping she's inspired to see what it takes in order for her if she have any hopes of being able to play on the next level, that these things, she has to do. That's one of the things she's going to have to convert to actually be a guard. So you're talking about guard size, trying to play against true center, 6-7, okay, so that's not going to -- that's going to be the end result the majority of the time. Q. You watch a lot of women's games during the year -- I don't know if you have time to do that or not, but when you do catch glimpses of other teams, how do you think Texas stacks up? COACH FREEMAN-JACKSON: Yes, Texas stacks up with the best of them. I was really impressed with their guards, because they really, really play together as a team, and Texas also has the size, okay. Imani and also No. 40, you're talking about a 6-7, 6-5 and then you have a couple other girls that's about 6-4, 6-5 themselves. So it's going to be tough for teams to just beat them. They don't have to beat themselves. But I think they stack up with the best of them because I had an opportunity to really watch South Carolina early on in the year in person, and I really -- it's a comparison with them, especially with the bigs. So they are doing a great job and if they continue to work, I think they are going to eventually be right there to win a National Championship. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|