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MOUNTAIN WEST WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPMarch 3, 2020Jaime WhiteAly GamezMaddi UttiHaley CavinderLas Vegas, Nevada Fresno State - 94, San Jose State - 68 THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Fresno State. COACH WHITE: I thought we had a good start. Held a team to 11 points was great, especially a team that can score like they can. And then our scoring was excellent. I thought our kids were really ready to play, focused. Knocked down big shots, drew fouls, got to the free-throw line. So to have 20 assists means we were sharing the ball. Clearly these three have put us on their backs more than once, and again they did it in a big game, in a big time. Q. What was one of your biggest points of emphasis to limit Basallo to only 12 points tonight? COACH WHITE: Well, at our place we held her to four. So we put Hanna on her to kind of keep her at bay, keep her from driving, and hopefully keep her off the free-throw line. She's a really good free-throw shooter. We've just seen her play and put up numbers. We know she has quickness and speed. And Hanna's job was just to stay in front of her. She really did that well. Also we have to have an awareness of where the shooters are. And she's definitely one of those. I thought everybody in our zone got out and got a contest up, and just stayed with it the whole game. Because a kid like her, she can score at any time, so you've got to keep it up, all 40 minutes. Q. Are you noticing a different intensity in your team right now? COACH WHITE: We had a rough end of our season with our Air Force game and going to Wyoming. And I think part of our intensity and our focus right now is because we realized there's still some things we can do and we can get better at. So I think that's part of it. But we always are excited to come to the Mountain West Tournament. We know what it means. And I think our girls are hungry, hungrier than I've seen a team at Fresno State for a while. Q. What's going to be your message to the team before a big-time opportunity -- the Mountain West championship game, a trip to the NCAA Tournament on the line? COACH WHITE: Be ourselves. We've had a good season. We've played well. We've beaten all the teams in the conference, so we know that we can do that. We need to be really good at being us, which means we're going to transition, we're going to contest shots, we're going to rebound, we're going to drive and draw fouls. And we're just going to do the things we've done all year. And then just value the game. It's such a special game. Not a lot of people in the country get to be in championship games. And I think we always grow as we test ourselves. So, it will be a challenge. But if we come together, I think all things work out. Q. Maddi, you guys played a couple of barn burners with San Jose State during the regular season. What was the difference tonight? Why were you able to win by so much? MADDI UTTI: I think we definitely had an attention to rebound better on the defensive end. We didn't let them get very many offensive rebounds. So I thought that was a big point. And also we knocked down some shots early, which was really beneficial to us. Q. Just the opportunity to -- starting with you Maddi -- just an opportunity to play in a Mountain West championship game, when you think about it, what do you start thinking about and what are the emotions? MADDI UTTI: I'm excited. It was definitely something coming in freshman year I wanted to get to. My first few years we obviously didn't. Now it's here and I'm just really excited. ALY GAMEZ: It's a special moment. This is all of our first time. So it's going to be very special for us. And I'm very excited. That's all I can think about right now. HALEY CAVINDER: I'm really excited, just like they said, but I just don't think we're done yet. We want to win it. And we're not satisfied, and we're going to go out there and prove it. Q. This is my first time seeing you guys actually play live but in person. You killed it tonight. What's the method to the madness? I see you guys you're super good at communicating as a team. And passing the ball, it's amazing. I haven't seen this type of play as far as college girls passing the ball so smoothly, all your shots are so smooth. What's the method to madness as far as communication and being able to cope with your teammates with just knowing how to all play the same way? ALY GAMEZ: I think it starts with chemistry. It starts in practice. We've been together all year. So bonding together and knowing where everyone's going to be. Knowing everyone's strengths and weaknesses. I think that's important. And I think just us playing as a team at the end of the day. Q. What will you do to celebrate if you end up making it? HALEY CAVINDER: Ice cream. (Laughter). Q. The first quarter, to close it out, you went on a 20-2 run. Is that the best this team's been playing all season? COACH WHITE: That felt good, yeah. That felt good. As a coach you're like, okay, what are we going to do next quarter. I felt like against a team like that, to feel comfortable at all, you would need to have a lead. And in my mind I thought, okay, if we he can go in the locker room with a 20-point lead we can regroup and work on some things and get better in the second half. It was nice to be able to play our bench. And I thought, too, we were able to get some different combinations in there. I thought Kendyll came in and did a good job. Brooke has been giving us good minutes. Wytalla has been giving us good minutes. And it's important that the whole team feels that out on the court. So that was nice to be able to get everybody in. Q. Maddi, tonight you had 22 points, 15 rebounds six assists 9-of-10 from the free-throw line. Walk us through your success tonight. MADDI UTTI: I just think I was ready to play. I think also the whole team was ready to play, which really helps. We all had a lot of energy coming out. So I think that that just affected everyone. And, yeah. Q. Haley, you've been sitting up there looking very intense all evening long, except you mentioned you were really excited to have some ice cream. When we talked about Maddi's performance, you got really excited. Are you already moving forward and looking toward the championship game? What's your thoughts on tonight's performance? HALEY CAVINDER: I was really happy with how our team played. And I'm looking forward to that game. I think that's what's on everyone's mind, is can 8:00 come sooner tomorrow. COACH WHITE: Let's move the game up. (Laughter). Like 6.00 a.m., so Boise's a little tired, or Wyoming. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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