|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
BIG 12 CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPMarch 3, 2018Kim MulkeyKalani BrownDekeiya CohenOklahoma City, Oklahoma Baylor - 83, K-State - 54 THE MODERATOR: We are now joined by the Bears from Baylor University, Dekeiya Cohen and Kalani Brown along with Coach Mulkey. Coach, would you like to make an opening statement? KIM MULKEY: No, I'm good. THE MODERATOR: We will go to questions for our student-athletes. Q. Kalani, can you just talk about getting through this one without Kristy and the way that y'all were able to dominate inside? KALANI BROWN: Nothing really changed. We went out and played our game and Kristy gave us some motivation before we huddled up, and we've got to do it without her. But I think we all played well. Lex stepped into the role and hit great shots. It was a great team win. Q. Kalani, this time of year the shortened rotation that you have even further now. How important was it for you and Lauren to be able to rest that fourth quarter given how many games you will be playing in a short period? KALANI BROWN: We've got three games in three days, so it's very important that Coach rests us so we can have legs at the end of the stretch. But in order to do that, we also have to establish the lead and I thought we did that so we took care of business today. Q. Other than just winning this tournament, what would you like to accomplish before you get to the big tournament in two weeks? DEKEIYA COHEN: Probably getting our bench prepared to play a lot of minutes in the stretch because we don't have Kristy anymore. So a lot of players that aren't used to getting big-time minutes are starting to get big-time minutes. So them just getting adjusted to that and getting comfortable and being able to help us. KALANI BROWN: Exactly piggybacking off what she said, it's going to take all eight of us to get where we're going and I thought today was a great start. Q. Dekeiya, what does it say about this team you have been through adversity, and now with Kristy, how has this team been able to get through it all? DEKEIYA COHEN: We have a strong bond and we have faith and we have a lot of heart and every time adversity comes in the way we overcome it. Every time we come together we talk about it, we heal together and we move on together. That's the only thing we can do is move on as a team. Coach keeps us together. She let's us know we can handle everything that life throws at us, so we keep coming together and move forward. Q. Kalani, what did you think about y'all's defensive performance this afternoon? KALANI BROWN: I thought our defense was amazing. It was part of the reason why we were able to establish the lead and me and Lauren were able to get rest. I thought my help side defense was good, I've been working on that. But all together, team defense was great. Everybody was for helping each other and helping one another so it's great. Q. Dekeiya, you were on the floor at the end with Juicy and the three freshmen. What message did you have for them closing this one out in the fourth when you are expecting tougher competition coming up ahead? DEKEIYA COHEN: Really just maintain the lead. We were up by a big amount, so we wanted to keep that lead going into the fourth quarter and just maintain it through the rest of the game. It's important for them to take those minutes at the end and take it seriously so that they can be prepared for the pressure moments when we really need them and not take those for not granted. I told them to take care of the ball. We need to make shots to keep scoring because they're scoring sometimes as well. Just stay composed and take care of it. THE MODERATOR: Okay, ladies, thank you very much. Questions for Coach? Q. Coach, what impressed you most about the way you guys came out defensively in the second half, shut 'em out about the first six minutes? KIM MULKEY: Just how we played defense, but that's not something that's unusual. I think we're pretty up there in the defensive stats with the NCAA. We make it very important. If you come to our practices every day we're going to spend 30, 45 minutes on defense and a lot of days early in the beginning of the season we may spend a whole practice on defense. I'm not surprised by our defense. I thought Morris -- everybody is looking, Kristy is gone, what are we going to do without Kristy? So let's start with Morris. I think Morris brings something to the table that you can't coach or teach and that's quickness. She has tremendous quickness. She made a bounce pass in the open floor in front of our bench on a breakaway. I think it was to Moon and she fumbled it and overpassed. But Morris can play and she has been playing with Kristy all year, and now her minutes will extend more because we don't have Kristy. I think Juicy is playing the best basketball on both ends of the floor since I've had her. They are playing with confidence. They understand we had a big obstacle with Kristy's injury, but we keep plugging away and keep playing. Q. Kim, it's not a surprise, but the way that Dekeiya has played down the stretch here and then today, is that a senior stepping up, knowing you need that from her? KIM MULKEY: She has done it all year. Dekeiya is the best mid-range shooter we have. She can score at will and doesn't hesitate to pull the trigger. I think when a lot of attention is given to Kalani and Cox, Dekeiya is going to nail the shot for you. And then lastly, she is the best offensive rebounder we have. Now Kalani got a lot of offensive boards today, but Dekeiya is going to get you those offensive boards when you least expect it. Q. Coach, Michelle Kahue and Darrlyn McDonough that you had suit up and get some time in there today. When did you decide to make that happen and when did you decide to put them in the game? KIM MULKEY: Even before Kristy's injury those kids have been on the roster for NCAA practice purposes, NCAA doesn't allow us to practice four coaches on the floor making passes and you can't have managers do this and graduate students do that. So if you put 'em on the roster and put 'em on scholarship. We did that a long time ago and if the opportunity every presented itself in a game where we could rest kids you just have the uniform in a bag behind the bench and I just thought today was a good day to do it. We were resting Cox and Kalani in the fourth quarter. I needed to get Morris off the floor and I did that with Natalie, and then it was a 40-point game at that point or something like that, and I thought, you know, isn't this what college athletics is about? So go write that story instead of a negative one, two managers, probably the highlight of their life was today! You saw our kids passed up shots to try to get them shots! That's the kind of bunch this team is. That's the kind of group I get to go in the locker room with every day and just unselfish kids that want to see people have fun and do good. Q. Kim, you mentioned Nick Foles and a couple of other things at the media session earlier this week, about moving to the next level and the next person up. Did you see anyone blink at all? KIM MULKEY: The only time we had a meltdown came from me at halftime of that last game when she got hurt. But you have to have a feel for your basketball team and if there's one thing most people will tell you, there are no secrets with me. What you see is what you get. I got a beef with you I'm going to let you know. It's not personal and I had a meltdown that needed to be addressed in that locker room because it was the big white elephant walking around in that room, oh, my God. So we all cried and as I say had a "come to Jesus." But you've got to have faith. You've got to have faith. Who are we to question God? Who are we to keep feeling sorry for ourselves? It's natural, and we do and we cry. You've had some bad things happen to some really wonderful kids starting with my daughter and son-in-law. Then you go to Natalie Chou and then you go to Trinity Oliver and then you go to Kristy. The list goes on. These are big life events, but we handle it, we cry and we deal with it and we keep playing. That's what this team I have no doubt will do. South Carolina wins a National Championship last year. Can you name the big starting post player went down as they headed to the playoffs, Alaina Coates, so I could use that team example and I told you about my boy, Nick Saban having the guts to put in a freshman to help win a National Championship last year, those are the things that I've told our basketball team. Q. Coach, how important was it for your team to build up that lead so you were able to rest some players? KIM MULKEY: It was very important. You never know going into a game how it's going to turn out, but absolutely if I could rest Kalani and Cox a whole quarter for every game it certainly will help us. But then again we're not going to have a period after the next couple of days where you have to play back-to-back-to-back. So we're very smart in practice and we just do what we have to do in the film room and a minimal amount of time on the floor where you can rest their legs but when you're back-to-back-to-back for three days it's really important. Q. Kim, you did put Natalie in there at the end but how much confidence do you have and will you gain as she is able to play more? KIM MULKEY: Natalie can play more. I just didn't put her in today. Natalie is full speed ahead at practice. You never like to see an injury but when you are a shooter and you never use this hand anyway it's just there for balance, and it's probably going to make Natalie a better shooter in the long run. I have the green light to play her. I have had the green light to play her, for, gosh, days now. I can't remember when she was cleared. It was the day that Kristy got hurt. That morning at 8:00 they called. So I could have played Natalie more. I think it's important that Morris get a lot of experience here. What's more important is we want to win a Big 12 Tournament, who doesn't? You play to win, but it's not more important than the NCAA tournament. These games will be oh so valuable to Alexis Morris and Juicy and those kids without our leader on the floor in the backcourt with them. Q. Coach, other than winning this tournament, what would you like to accomplish before you get to the more important tournament? KIM MULKEY: You didn't get the answer you wanted from the players, so you're going to ask me the same question. What did you want me to say, Rick? What are you looking for? I don't know how to answer that. We are looking to get better. We want to win. I want Alexis Morris to gain more experience. You want to play to win. I guess that's what we're looking for. I'm not looking out there and going, oh, my God we're not going to play good because we lost Kristy. We expect to win. You expect to win when you build a program like this. It's next man up or I better say woman, heaven forbid, it's next woman up. But, Rick, I will say this: Thank you for being here. Your team is not playing and you're going to do a big spread in the Austin paper for us. I know it, man. Thank you for being here. Q. What aspect of Alexis' play stood out to you this afternoon? KIM MULKEY: Her composure. Actually her defense, she put a lot of pressure on Goth, and I know Goth got 24 points. But a lot of it is posting up. And those guys think I'm crazy, but I wrote in the corner of the board today, "Expect Goth to post you up today." How many times did she post up and score? A lot! I can live with that. That takes them out of their offense. I thought her defense, getting overscreens, she didn't have to rely on the post helping her a lot. Secondly, I thought she made crisp passes or I should say the right pass at the right time, and thirdly she pushed the ball. She looks to run. She is very composed for a freshman. We all know that Kristy deservedly so gets all the attention because she is just -- you know, guys, Kristy Wallace honors the game. You hear many times people say, gosh, you know, respect the game. She honors the game. And because she honors the game, we all love her. She could be horrible that night, and because she honors the game makes you love her. And Alexis Morris gets to see that every day, not just in games. That is the way that kid plays, and I think Alexis Morris is competitive enough, confident enough, good enough. Okay, Coach, I will be your freshman quarterback and try to get you there. She is not afraid to fail. She is not afraid of the challenge, because she has been prepared by Kristy. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. 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
|