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MOUNTAIN WEST WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 13, 2019

Las Vegas, Nevada

Boise State - 68, Wyoming - 51

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Wyoming head coach Joe Legerski and student-athletes Bailee Cotton and Marta Gomez. Coach, an opening statement.

COACH LEGERSKI: I thought tonight's game, Boise State played as well as I've witnessed. I thought they were really the aggressor tonight, both offensively and defensively. Made us rush in some things that we normally take our time with.

We didn't get the shots to go down that we needed early. I thought we got off to a good start. And then they made a run in the second quarter that it seemed like we could never recover from.

We had it cut to 11 a couple of times and missed some open looks. And then Boise just came back and, like I said, they played extremely well. And I give them all the credit, because definitely they were the aggressor.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. Questions?

Q. For any of the players, just as Coach said, seemed as Boise was clicking on all cylinders tonight. What was the most frustrating thing? Was it just shots not falling or you having trouble defending them? From your guys' perspective, what was the most frustrating aspect?
MARTA GOMEZ: Well, I think just, we couldn't get going. They were defending us really well. And then they were just, on offense they're a really good team. And I think it was hard for us to just get going both defensively and offensively, and that kind of frustrated everybody. And then once they made the run, as Coach said, we just couldn't figure out a way to come back.

Q. Did you feel like -- they were hitting shots seemed like endlessly. Do you feel like your defense was pretty good and they were just making shots or were they doing something that was exploiting something that you were trying to do defensively?
BAILEE COTTON: Their offense with running their on-balls is well executed, so when we were able to take away their shooters they were able to find their bigs. So it was tough to defend it overall, and they were able to find their open kids when they needed to. And honestly they just executed it better than we did.

Q. The second quarter, they really seemed to bog you guys down offensively. Did you feel like that was the difference in the game when they're scoring just about every time down the floor?
BAILEE COTTON: Yeah. Yeah, it was a little -- they had all the energy in that second quarter. And so it's tough to come back when your shots aren't falling and they're getting everything that they shoot; they were getting 3s. We were trading 2s for 3s. And so it was just tough to get our energy back.

Q. I know you guys will probably play in the WNIT again this year, but is this one a little more disappointing just because of how close you guys were tonight in getting to the championship round?
MARTA GOMEZ: Yeah, it is just getting here and getting beat is never fun. But I think we need to stay with the fact that we actually made it here.

We are the first one in Wyoming to make it. So I think that's pretty big. And it didn't end up well for us, but I'm pretty sure that there's more of this to come for the freshmen and for the rest of the team.

Q. Joe, you guys obviously getting this far and it was competitive with you and Boise State kind of on top of the regular standings this whole year, is the program, this league closing the gap on Boise State, do you feel at all? Or what's your take on that?
A. I look back the last three years, we have been in the top 3. And last year we played Boise State for a championship. And they ended up getting that victory to secure the championship. So it's a situation where we split with them a year ago. We split again this year.

But there is no doubt they were the better team tonight. And I think their experience of playing in these big games really makes a difference.

When I take a look at this team that we played tonight, they basically had five players in double digits scoring. You take a look at four in doubles, one at eight, and that put a lot of pressure on us because they were scoring from every position. So it wasn't like you could focus on one player.

And I think Marta said it best in the locker room tonight: If you would have asked us in September if we were going to be in the championship game, I don't think anybody would have said yes.

We had to replace Liv Roberts, the player of the year from last year, so I give credit to this group. It's a disappointing night. But they'll figure out that they were a team that got to the championship game, and that's something that they need to hold their heads high about.

Q. There will be postseason, probably WNIT. Is that something you look forward to as seniors to continue to play even though it's not probably what the goal was since you wanted to win this championship and play in the NCAA Tournament? You look forward to playing another game, at least another game here soon?
MARTA GOMEZ: That's definitely a plus right now after losing this game because we really have a special group this year. We really have a special team. And we just want to keep playing as many games as we can together and just keep enjoying the year that we've had. It's been pretty big so far. So we just look forward to what's coming next and just keep enjoying the ride.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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