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MOUNTAIN WEST WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPMarch 3, 2020Gerald MattinsonTaylor RuskQuinn WeidemannLas Vegas, Nevada Boise State - 79, Wyoming - 71 THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Wyoming. COACH MATTINSON: I thought it was a hard-fought, scrappy game. Both teams had to dig and scratch. We started out like gangbusters, kind of let some things get away from us, but we battled back, fought the whole way through. And Boise is a very talented team. They're well-coached. And they played very well tonight and took us out of some of the things we wanted to do. And we just came up short. THE MODERATOR: Questions? Q. In that second quarter I think they shot 73 or something from the field, but outside of that I think they only hit like 36.5 percent. What was it in the second that they were doing, was it making shots or defense, what would you say? COACH MATTINSON: I couldn't tell you without looking over the film. We were playing. You look back, I know some shots were good shots. Some shots I think they banked one in, something during that period. Without looking at the film I really couldn't tell you what happened. I know they shot the ball well. I know we got confused a couple times on what we wanted to do with their on-ball screens. But without looking at the film I really couldn't give you a good answer. Q. You spoke a little bit about it yesterday but you brought up that New Mexico game in February as kind of a major turning point for you guys. I think you win six in a row after that until this one. What was it about that game specifically that kind of turned the corner for what ended up being a strong season overall? COACH MATTINSON: I think that with a young team there's a couple of things that you have to do. And we're a young team. I know we have Taylor as a senior. What has to happen is that they have to buy into what they're doing. They have to really want something bad and at that point of the year they were prepping. They were preparing. They were studying. They put a lot into it and we made a couple of mistakes and they knew it and it hurt. And it hurt and it hurt some of them bad. And the next day in practice, or in film, they stepped up and said, you know what, this one was on me, this one was on me, this one was on me. Each player to a T bought it, took the accountability. And from that point on that's a growing phase that you need to have to be able to do what this group did. Q. You had the most wins of a first-year coach in Wyoming history. Obviously this loss hurts, but what can you take forward moving into next year? COACH MATTINSON: I take forward, obviously we don't take Taylor forward, which means a lot to our program. She's had a great four years. But what goes forward is a great group of young women who have, like I said with the previous question, have learned to study the game, who have learned to apply the game, who come every day hard and compete in practice, who come every day hard and play. We don't always do the right things but that's the game of basketball. So going forward I have a great group of young women who we just talked about in the locker room. Now, they've had enough experience that they've got to take some things upon themselves and go, what do we need to do now in the offseason to take the next step. And I'm looking forward to being able to work with this group and see how those next steps go. Q. Quinn, you have different perspectives on this. You're coming back next year. But likely your last game unless there's a postseason berth of some sort. I believe there's 11 players coming back for next year's team. From your perspective, Quinn, how optimistic are you about what's to come? And, Taylor, what do you see the future of this program looking like? TAYLOR RUSK: Like Coach said, we were really young this year. So that was not a disadvantage this year, but next year they can definitely use that. A lot of girls got experience, big minutes and had to step up. And they definitely learned a lot of things this year and can move forward into their sophomore, junior and senior years. QUINN WEIDEMANN: I agree. I think we got most of our starters except for Taylor got a lot more experience this year. We didn't have those minutes that we played last year. So I think it was a big learning experience to kind of be in those tough games, close games, whatever, and be able to win. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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