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BIG TEN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTMarch 2, 2018Tyler ScaifeC. Vivian StringerIndianapolis, Indiana Ohio State - 82, Rutgers - 57. C. VIVIAN STRINGER: I feel like we went through a grinder, so what else can I say? I think that the easiest thing for me to do is to go past this and act like it didn't happen, but to give a great deal of credit and recognition to the outstanding play of Ohio State. I thought that they played brilliantly. I thought that we were calm at first and tried to exploit what looked like was their weaknesses, but honestly, we were just overpowered. I thought that when you have four people that score in double figures as efficiently as they do, they're a tough team to beat. I'm sorry because we've been having games like this where we have maybe one person that's scoring in double figures, and then we have a most difficult time getting -- just getting the second and third scorer, and you can't win a basketball game like that. I don't know if you know of any team that's kind of -- that kind of discrepancy. It just can't happen. You've got to have people that can flat-out get it done, and we didn't do that. Q. What's the message to the team in the locker room about things are a little bit uncertain with the committee next week? What was the message in the locker room to the team? C. VIVIAN STRINGER: Well, I thought that -- I wanted to try to hone more on the positives because we have had tremendous growth, and I think that's rather obvious by our record. That doesn't necessarily mean that that's enough to do -- to get done and the invitation that we would like to have to the NCAAs. The greatest thing that you could ever hope for is to be able to control your own destiny, and long story short is you have to be grown ups about that. We had a chance to control our destiny, we have had a chance throughout the year, and we have to accept whatever it is and let that be a lesson in life. And I'm hoping that we have an opportunity to play at the NCAA because I do believe that we are really unique in our style. We can be probably the most -- the most unique to any team that's out here. So if I were another team, I wouldn't want to play us because I think that a lot of teams can fit in the category of a great deal -- I'm talking about skill and all the other things, a lot of outstanding skills and well-rounded and the whole thing. But I think that the kinds of things that we can do and hopefully will work in the next couple days, I think within our arsenal we have the capability of doing a number of things that can be nerve rattling to anybody that we're playing. So we've just got to keep our heads up. We've done this to ourselves. Be grateful and happy for the opportunity, should we get it, and take advantage of it. So I'm pleased and accept whatever is happening. Q. After yesterday's hard-fought game, does the quick turnaround have anything to do with today's performance? C. VIVIAN STRINGER: You know what, I think it matters, don't you? I think it matters. You have to get up at 5:30, 6:00 in the morning. I think it matters when you don't have a chance to even go and walk through the patterns of another team, know what I mean, especially a team like Ohio State. I think it matters a great deal. We had to work extremely hard in the game we played yesterday, and I mean, if you think about it, every team, football, basketball, ice hockey, it matters what kind of rest times that you have between the times that you're playing. It would have been better, honestly, had we had a later night, just giving us a chance to sleep a little bit longer. But as I was sharing with the team, it's not just us. I mean, it's not me, because all the coaches have to prepare games, because you want to so badly cover everything, then we're operating on very little sleep. And yet because we've got to be able to present that to the team, and so the question would be, would it be better for us to actually practice and go through the things that we know that they're going to do, or can we just show a tape, talk about it, and save their legs, and that's what we chose to do. I think it matters. But honestly, the reason why this is so good is because it prepares you best for the NCAAs. Most people, they haven't played at that level, don't know. But as you know, in order to win at the NCAA level, the team has to be extremely flexible, and they don't complain about anything. It's like, what's next, what's next, and they're able to retain information. They're so grouped in their desire to be the best in what they do that it's very easy for a coach to present things and be able to change things. They're upset if they don't get what they need. This is good. You know, I wish we could have won another game at least because that would have been better preparation for the NCAAs. But I think the closest we came to that was in the WNIT, and Tyler knows about that because we went from city to city and one game after the other, but the NCAAs is a little bit more rugged than that. Q. Tyler, you sat on the sidelines last year the team only had six victories. What in your personal opinion has been the biggest growth from last year to this year that you've witnessed? TYLER SCAIFE: I just think we -- this season, this off-season we really practiced hard, worked hard, and you can kind of tell because now we've got 20 wins. Q. Tyler, what are kind of the emotions going through right now fresh off that and the possibility that this could be the team's last game? TYLER SCAIFE: Well, we don't think like that. We definitely think we're going to be going to the postseason, so we're just ready to take a couple days off and get back at it. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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