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MOUNTAIN WEST WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPMarch 7, 2017Joe LegerskiNatalie BakerLas Vegas, Nevada Fresno State - 58 Wyoming - 48 COACH JOE LEGERSKI: First of all, congratulations to Fresno State. I thought they were the aggressor tonight, right from the start. Had us back on our heels and always in short shot clock situations. And I thought that offensively we really struggled to get a good look at the basket. And that's a credit to Fresno State. I'm pleased with the way we ended up competing right through to the end. When you get down the way we were, things aren't going your way for three quarters, some teams will just have a tendency to just finish out the night and we weren't going to let that happen. To get it close back down to seven points is a testament to the fight these kids have had all year. There's a number of people that really wondered after we lost Liv Roberts if we'd ever win again. And to this group, they ended up going 3-1 after Liv went down, and found a way just to be able to keep competing and making plays. And tonight we just came up short. But I'm very proud of what they've been able to accomplish all year long. But as I said, give Fresno State credit. They played as the aggressor. Played very well. But it's just another learning experience for a young group. I know I looked at it one time, I had two freshmen, two sophomores, and a junior on the floor. And they were learning what it's all about to play in the Mountain West Tournament. Q. What was the difference in the fourth quarter, where you were able to get some offense going, where the first three quarters were tough, what changed, I guess? NATALIE BAKER: I'll just say our fight. We don't give in, and yeah, there was a chance for us to give in when you're down 20. As long as there's time on the clock we're going to fight. And just in the fourth quarter we were just trying to fight as hard as we could. We weren't going to give up. And the ball didn't drop our way. Q. The first three quarters there, what were they doing so well on defense to kind of set you guys off on offense? COACH JOE LEGERSKI: I can answer that one for you. I think one of the things is their press really slowed us down. We took too much time to get the ball across half court. And by doing that you're caught in a short shot clock situation. And that's not how we play best. We're very much an oriented emotion team, make the right decisions, but we need more time. And so I would say their pressure up front to keep us in that short clock situation. Q. I know there's still some season left, and you finished second in this conference, there's probably a postseason opportunity. Are you looking forward to whatever that may be, and to still be part of this team and let them keep playing? COACH JOE LEGERSKI: One of the things I told them in the locker room, the tournament lasts for three or four days. In our case one night. You put four months in, that's what you get measured by. This team was picked 8th. We had so many question marks coming into this season, trying to figure out who our point guard was going to be, who the leader of this team was actually going to be. And I think from day one they bought into wanting to play defense. I even thought tonight we played well defensively. But I know our offense was always going to be a challenge for us. And I thought tonight really showed not having our leader in Liv Roberts. She was one that's been able to settle us down throughout the whole season. And we're looking forward to it. This league was the 13th, 14th best league in the country, to finish second in this league is a real credit to this group and what they've accomplished, and now we sit and wait and hope there's a possibility of playing in the WNIT, and we look forward as competitors to be able to want to play again. Q. No. 4 on their team seemed to have some success inside. Was it tough to match her size inside, especially with some of the foul trouble early on? NATALIE BAKER: Yeah, she's an all-conference player and all-defensive player, and credit to her because she had an amazing game. And I would -- yeah, the matchup was definitely a mismatch at some points, Bailee getting in foul trouble didn't help us out in any way. But credit to her. Great player. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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