NCAA WOMEN'S FINAL FOUR

March 31, 2002

Laneishea Caufield

Sherri Coale

Stacey Dales

Rosalind Ross

COACH SHERRI COALE: I could be a whole lot happier right now, but I couldn't be more proud of this basketball team and the season that we've had and the journey that we've been on. And I'm sad not because we lost, but because it's over. These guys are extraordinary. And I knew this afternoon when I went for a run, that I was going to be really sad tonight either way. Because for us it has never been just about winning, it's been about the process of it. And the process of this particular group is over. And we lose six seniors who are just incredible kids, and to have them absent from our lives on a daily basis is what makes us sad. But forever they're going to remember what it feels like to be a part of something that's right. Because let me tell you, while we weren't good enough to beat Connecticut for the National Championship tonight, our squad was right. And when you're a part of something that's right, you know it, and it affects what you do for the rest of your lives. So that's why we do this thing. How lucky am I to get to do this thing. I have to give tremendous credit to an extraordinary basketball team from the University of Connecticut. I'm happy for Geno, it's an unbelievable, amazing accomplishment to go undefeated, not just once, but twice in your career. They made plays when they had to make plays. But I'll tell you what, I think we scared them.

STACEY DALES: Very physical, very talented. They get under-recognized, certainly, under-rated for what they do for their team. And they produced inside tonight. They took advantage of our -- the height disadvantage, and rebounded some that we needed to rebound and credit to them.

STACEY DALES: We battled as hard as we could. We played Oklahoma basketball.

STACEY DALES: Yeah, I mean those plays are crucial down the stretch, and I was playing with four fouls, you take your chances.

STACEY DALES: We were expecting that. That's Connecticut, they're a physical team. They have a very physical presence.

ROSALIND ROSS: This is a National Championship, why should I give up. I don't think anybody on our team came out here just to give up. We want to play as hard as we can, and I always made a promise to myself I would do the best I could do, and I think that's what I was going to do. I don't care if we had 3 seconds left and down 15, I was going to play my best. My teammates played as hard as they could. I think Connecticut's post really outplayed our posts today. They just rebounded the heck out of the ball. We couldn't do anything about it. We were blocking them out, but they're so athletic, they could jump right over us, even when we had bodies on them. I give Connecticut credit on their post.

LANEISHEA CAUFIELD: I don't think it was a momentum swing, they were executing plays and we weren't scoring. We weren't getting the ball to fall in for us. That happens when the team executes and scores, and we're not able to get baskets doing in, of course you're going -- they're going to have a run.

LANEISHEA CAUFIELD: If she came in for a post player, we had four guards on the floor for a true post player. And it made their post people had to guard a guard, which they're probably not used to doing.

STACEY DALES: Connecticut is going to have their runs. Oklahoma is going to have their runs. We had some runs, too.

ROSALIND ROSS: Personally for me it's been a great experience, learning how to play better, with players that want to do good and change something. Stacey and LaNeishea have been awesome with coming in and helping me out and developing my game more. Coach Coale is just a great coach. And I respect her because she told me from the beginning you're going to have to work hard, and I don't mind doing it. She always told me I expect more from you, Rosalind, you're one of the tough players on the team, and I want you to show it day-in and day-out. I think without her and LaNeishea and Stacey, that I may not be the player that I am today. A lot of that I give her respect and I'm going to miss these three people, and I enjoyed it while I was here, and getting to the National Championship. You couldn't ask for anything more leaving your senior night.

STACEY DALES: For me, Coach -- she's pretty awesome. And I'm more upset -- I'm upset that I'm going to have to leave these guys and her, because she's taught me a lot about basketball and more about life.

LANEISHEA CAUFIELD: Like Ros said, it's been a great experience, and for Stacey and I it's been -- we weren't there when things were really bad, but we were there when they weren't so good. And just to be a part of building the program and working with Coach Coale and the coaching staff and the players has been really nice and fun and great.

COACH SHERRI COALE: We were putting the ball in the basket, that's what we were doing right. When Connecticut scores 22 points at the free throw line, it's hard to guard them from the three point line. Probably the rest of their percentage of baskets came up from lay outs. And that's from getting tangled up and not getting the loose ball, and prevent the easy put back. And occasionally it's a reflection of being out-muscled inside. But primarily the way we were able to play late in the game is that we forced them to take some perimeter shots, contested them, and we rebounded and were able to score at the other end. That's what didn't happen in the final four or five minutes of the first half.

COACH SHERRI COALE: I think it's very taxing in both of those categories, more physical than mental. They're a very, very physical team, and have a size advantage at almost every spot against us. And I think that continual battling inside wore on us a little bit. But I don't think that was the difference in the game tonight. I thought mentally we handled their runs extremely well, and I watched them play a game on tape where somebody didn't have to call time out in the first two minutes of the game just to survive. I thought we handled everything mentally extremely well. If we'd have hit a few more shots in that little stretch in the first half where we strung together about four or five consecutive stops and got good looks on offense. Our execution was excellent, got good looks, couldn't get the ball go in the basket. We knew we were going to have trouble rebounding with them, I think that might have been the difference in the game. Second half I felt if there was a mental, emotional struggle going on the second half I felt like it would be theirs. I felt they were on the ropes in a position they hadn't been in before with us surging back.

COACH SHERRI COALE: We went into this game just like we have gone into however many we played before. We went in and said we're going to guard them straight up, play fundamental, jump to the basketball, we're going to take away their position, make them run their position, a step slower, a step later, a step further away from the basket, try to disrupt our rhythm. I thought early on our guards did a great job of picking or choosing when to bluff down and help them post players. I think it helped what they did offensively. I don't think when Connecticut turned it over 21 times before, but I think that's rather significant. The bottom line was that they buried us too much under the basket. And we began to emphasize fronting the post late in the second half. That's something that we always do if they're trying to get position on the block. We don't like to front any higher than the block, but we began to say front them wherever you are, and try to prevent that pass. Because they would back us in. We had the position, but they'd back us three feet closer to the rim and shoot a lay up. Probably shoul have gone to that full front from any situation a little bit earlier, but I thought we defended the heck out of them. Like I said, it's hard to guard that free throw line.

COACH SHERRI COALE: That was the plate of the game, and there's never just one, you know that. I thought Dionnah did a great job, she had her arm up, had a wide base and was holding her. And Diane a doubles deep in size, and she just kept dribbling and backing up and backing up until she got so deep, and Dionnah did a great job. She was lift lifted off the ground a couple of times. What else are you going to do? And that's when Stacey gets the foul and that changes the game.

COACH SHERRI COALE: Kind of a flood of things. A little bit of dad-gummit, I want two more minutes on that clock. A little bit of really, really proud of these kids. I winked at Geno, because I'm very happy for him. And it's an amazing accomplishment. Just an appreciation, an appreciation for the blessings of this year.

COACH SHERRI COALE: Obviously nothing because it never changed. You just -- you challenge your kids to battle, you know? What am I going to tell Jamie Talbert. She did everything she can. She's doing everything within her power to do what I asked her to do. What am I going to tell her? Keep battling, Jamie, keep battling.

COACH SHERRI COALE: I thought she was huge. I thought Dionnah was big time. She's a freshman, she's in her first National Championship game and she's guarding Diana Taurasi, are you kidding? She might be the best player in America right now, I don't care if she's Kokak All-American or not. I watched her all summer, guys. If she don't want to be guarded, you can't guard her. I thought Dionnah was pretty darn good.