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MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 10, 2006

DENVER, COLORADO

THE MODERATOR: We'll begin with BYU. Joining me on stage head coach Jeff Judkins, Dani Kubik and Mallary Gillespie.
Coach, if you want to begin with some general comments please.
COACH JEFF JUDKINS: Well, we're very happy about the win today. Both teams were very tired. I think both times are very physical and I think it just took its toll on us tonight a little bit. I thought our team really battled through the first part of the game with good intensity, and then second half we came out a little bit flat.
It's hard. It's real hard when you're up 12, you feel like you played a good first half to come in first five, ten minutes of the half and really put it on. We turned it over, gave them some easy baskets. Like this team done all year, they know how to win and they just came together.
I think you can see how important it is in a tournament in this situation to have a real good inside game because when people are tired, that's where you get the ball. I thought Kubik played one of her best games of her career. We really needed her tonight. And also Mallary, I thought Mallary came in and gave us a real big lift offensively. When she's hitting shots and getting into the basket, our team is way more effective. These two young ladies played very well today. I'm very happy for them. We have to move on our arch rival and it will be a great game tomorrow.
THE MODERATOR: Next few minutes direct questions to the student-athletes.
Q. Could you talk about your defensive pressure in the first half, and how you had them out of sorts and trying to get with their offense?
MALLARY GILLESPIE: We just needed to get up on them strong. We needed to have a tough defense. We knew we couldn't give them any open shots, and if we stepped up our defense, it would go with our offense. We tried to take them out of their offence and thus far it worked for us.
Q. Did you know you were going to have a big game after seeing them the first couple of times because you just went off?
DANI KUBIK: Well, I knew I was really prepared for this game. I was really excited beforehand. Big game. TCU is a great team. I kind of knew it was, you know, my turn because, you know, post is right there. I kind of got them, and thank goodness Mallary was there so I could have a ton of assists too. But yeah, I was ready for this game. I was really excited.
Q. Dani, like coach mentioned, both teams were very aggressive, played physical inside. Why were you guys able to have such success on the inside? Rebounds were pretty close but you scored them on the inside.
DANI KUBIK: I think it was more like position, where I got. I don't know. I knew they double teamed a lot, so it kind of helped out to have my teammates open in that area also. But the main thing was getting it down low inside the key in order to score.
Q. Mallary, you guys have Utah tomorrow. What are some of your thoughts about playing the Utes?
MALLARY GILLESPIE: I'm excited. It's always a great game. It is a rival, so it will be a great game. Every game is a great game. I'm excited. They are a good team, they have a lot of good players. We're a good team, we have lots of good players. It's going to be a dogfight. It is going to be tough. And again, hopefully we'll come out on top, so...
THE MODERATOR: Ladies, we'll let you two go. Thanks very much.
Questions for Coach Judkins.
Q. Can you just talk about Utah and the differences in the first two times you played them and what you expect the third time?
COACH JEFF JUDKINS: Utah is a very well-coached team, and they have a lot of veteran players who've been in many big games like this. Kim Smith is I think one of the best players that I've seen in woman's basketball. She always seems to play well in these big games.
The thing that's going to be nice is that either her pr Ambrosia, who are the two MVPs, are going to win a championship, which is nice. I think both of them have worked really hard in that. It will be interesting. I think Elaine's probably right now figuring out what she's going to do. I can't enjoy this win. I have to go back to the hotel room and watch a ton of film and figure out what we can do.
It should be a great game. Both teams are very equal. Both teams are tired. We'll see who really wants it the most.
Q. Between Dani, Mallary and Ambrosia, they scored 54 points to TCU's 53. What kind of performance will you need from that Trifecta tomorrow?
COACH JEFF JUDKINS: Well Coach Elliott will try to take that away. That's her game plan, is take those players away. And hopefully somebody like Keele, or Johnson missed some layups tonight that she usually makes, so she could have probably 10 tonight if she made her layups. But it will be somebody else. It might be Riley coming in. I didn't have to play her a lot of minutes tonight because Kubik was playing so well. So Riley shouldn't be tired. I Shawnee Slade can come in. I think you saw tonight Vanessa hit a big three-pointer for us. She played well the first time against Utah. So hopefully she can step it up.
I told my team in a kidding way, I said, if you want we can play one-on-one Coach Elliott and me, and whoever wins can win the game. They want to play. It should be a great game.
Q. You mentioned the tiredness factor, both teams having played three games in four days. Can you talk about what that does, advantages, disadvantage for your team as well as what you perceive for Utah?
COACH JEFF JUDKINS: Usually what happens when you're very tired is you seem to shoot the ball short. So a team that shoots a lot of three-pointers, it should affect them. That's why I really believe to win this tournament, you have to have an inside game, you have an outside game. You can't have one because it's so hard when you get tired.
We do have the advantage that way. I think we have a better inside presence. Utah has two players who can create and play so well together, and they seem to always have somebody step it up. The last two games we played, Carlsen hit some big shots, and Warburton played very well.
We got to have somebody else step it up, not just Brosia and Kubik. Somebody else in our team has to really step it up for us tomorrow. And hopefully it will be one of those names that I mentioned. They'll have their opportunity and do it. I know we're looking forward to this, you know. I kind of wish we had a day to rest. But I think we have more depth, maybe this could be to our advantage. They played a lot of minutes tonight themselves. It will be a fun game. Both teams know each other very well. There won't be any surprises.
Q. You've been looking forward to getting Kim Smith out of the league for a while. Have you picked out a farewell gift for her and also do you see this game coming down to Ambrosia versus Smith or what really separates these two teams tomorrow?
COACH JEFF JUDKINS: I don't know if it will come down to those two, but I know those two will be big factors in the game tomorrow. I'm very excited that she's graduating. It seems like she's been here forever. I think a lot of people thought that when I had Thorn or when ways with Utah with Andre Miller, some of those guys.
It should be a great matchup between Kim and Brosia. Brosia didn't have one of her best games tonight. So if I know Bro, she will be really focused and ready to go tomorrow and know this is her opportunity to really shine and do it. But Utah does a great job though of taking people out of games. And we're just going to have to hopefully get the ball where we need to and take care of it and hope we have a little bit more energy to really, you know, push the ball and tried to get easy baskets.
Q. Jeff, you've talked earlier about the depth you have on your team. Can you talk about the development of Hutson and Slade and how much they helped this particular game?
COACH JEFF JUDKINS: What I've tried to do, you know, I learned this a long time as a player, the only way you can build a bench is by believing in your bench and by using it. And earlier in the year I played my bench a lot. I had a lot of people say, Why do you play 10 players? Why do you do that?
Well, I do that because they have to learn how to play and they have to get the opportunity. Riley has played so well for us. I really believe she's -- if she's not one of the best big post players, she's right there. I thing Slade has really come on. She gives us a lot of speed and quickness and athletic ability. Vanessa has had a hard year. She's fought an ankle injury. She got sick right after the Utah game the first time and fought back. I think she's starting to get back and feel confident.
I think Nancy will come in and play well for us tomorrow. Those are players that are really there all year for us. As a coach, that's what I try to do, I try to build my bench and believe in them. I told them tonight, I said, tomorrow's going to be a big situation for the bench to come in and really do well. Elaine's done the same thing. She's had Warburton and Joh-Teena and she's had some players come in and play really well for her. That's what it takes to win championships.
Q. Do you believe TCU will be in the NCAA tournament?
COACH JEFF JUDKINS: Yes. They are a very, very good team. We were fortunate to beat them tonight. We were fortunate to beat them the other two times. They cause a lot of problems. They're very well-coached. They've got players that can create -- and tonight probably being tired affected them more than us because of their quickness and their speed. But they are a very, very good team. They played an unbelievable schedule. I mean, Jeff's not afraid to play anybody. He's always been that way. And I think it's made his team improve and that. I really hope they get the opportunity because they will represent this conference very, very well.
THE MODERATOR: Thanks very much, coach.

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