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MOUNTAIN WEST WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 10, 2019

Las Vegas, Nevada

Nevada - 78, San Jose State - 68

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Nevada head coach Amanda Levens and student-athletes Terae Briggs, Jade Redmon and Emma Torbert.

COACH LEVENS: I give San Jose State a ton of credit. They played well to end their season. Won four of their last six games. Had a players shooting incredibly from the 3-point line coming into our game. And I just felt they were in a good rhythm and playing really confidently at this time of year.

For our team we wanted to defend the 3-point line better than we did. Our goal was to only give up -- was it six? I think six 3s because they've been averaging eight in conference play.

I thought our team did enough to win. We've been relying on Jade and Terae, and they've been doing what they've been doing all season long for us tonight. And this time of year you need everyone to step up, and Emma really stepped up and had a great game and I thought played confidently. And as coaches we believed in her all year, so to see her do the things she can do is really just awesome.

THE MODERATOR: Questions?

Q. You guys obviously made a big run through last year's tournament. Is there anything you can draw on that will help you this week in that regard?
TERAE BRIGGS: Well, the goal was to just get further in the tournament and actually go to the NCAA Tournament. So that's what our goal is this year. And we have to play the full 40 minutes and just playing together for sure.

JADE REDMON: I think from last year we learned that in the tournament it's anybody's game. And it's just a matter of coming out and giving full effort and playing a complete game. I think from last year that's what I'm definitely taking in and trying to tell the younger players that you've just got to play hard. And if you play hard you'll put yourself in a good position to win.

Q. Emma, you guys played Boise, especially that one meeting really close. How much does that benefit you going into tomorrow's game?
JADE REDMON: I think it's just a good reminder that we can compete with anybody, especially the top team in the conference. And I think it's also just a confidence booster that it could be our game.

Q. Jade, you started the game 0-for-6, ended the game leading the team with 19 points. What was going on on the bench. What changed in the middle of the game for you to start like that and finish like you did?
JADE REDMON: Just a desire to win, honestly. If my shots aren't falling I try not to really think about that too much because that's just how the game goes. Sometimes you're on; sometimes you're off. I just tried to make up for it on defense, get my teammates the ball and hopefully that will pay off. And I think it did in the end.

Q. Emma, could you just talk about the 3-pointers you hit? You were 3-for-4, but I guess you're, like, traditionally on paper you're a post, not a guard. What's going on?
EMMA TORBERT: Well, us posts, we practice shooting 3s a lot and we just -- our post coaches just want us to go out there and shoot confidently. And I just try to get as many points as I can to help us win.

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Coach.

Q. Obviously it's not the same team as last season. Are there things from last season that you can draw on for this week?
COACH LEVENS: I think the returners who played here have a sense of confidence. We played well here to end the year. We don't visit this venue all season. So coming back, even for me there's a lot of great feelings and memories of just how fun that tournament was for us last year.

And I think our younger players definitely feed off the older players. So the older players feel good. They feel confident. And just to echo what they said, I think they believe when we play well we can beat anybody, but when we don't play well we can be beat by anybody. So I think this week our goal is just no regrets. Go out and play as hard as we can and see what happens.

Q. You played Boise to within a point earlier in the season. Is that important going into tomorrow?
COACH LEVENS: I mean yes and no. In my opinion, Boise, they're really, really good. And we played them up at their place after that. And they kind of had a double-digit lead the whole game. When they're firing on all cylinders, they're just so dangerous because they can score at every position, even when they sub.

They have four back-court guards that are all juniors and seniors, upper-classmen guards that have won and understand what this tournament's all about, winning the tournament, winning the conference. They have their own set of confidence for different reasons.

And so for us we're pretty much the underdog. But for our team we also believe that we can compete with anybody. Can we win? I don't know, we'll find out tomorrow.

Q. There were 33 fouls called in the game, 24 of them called against San Jose State with Nevada shooting 83.9 percent from the free throw line, 26 for 31. How important are free throws in practice to you, especially considering earlier in the season there was a game where Nevada shot 35 percent from the free-throw line, to go to 84 percent today?
COACH LEVENS: To me it always just shows focus when we shoot over 80 percent or close to 80 percent, I know our team is...

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