NCAA WOMEN'S FINAL FOUR

March 27, 1997

Stacy Himes

Wendy Larry

Clarisse Machanguana

Ticha Penicheiro

WENDY LARRY: We are very excited to be here in Cincinnati. We have a former player that lives about a minute from our hotel, former very good player, as a matter of fact. It has been twelve years since Old Dominion has had an opportunity to represent their school and their city in the Final Four, and we are back.

WENDY LARRY: We will contain them for 40 minutes.

WENDY LARRY: Certainly a breath of fresh air, first of all. You know, in the world of the Kate Starbird's and God knows she is one of the finest players the world has seen, and Chris might be the best player on that Stanford team right now. She is rebounding with reckless abandon, shooting the balance with a great deal of dimension. She knows the patterns, obviously a smart young woman. I just think that she has taken them to a completely different level.

WENDY LARRY: Well, that certainly would be a switch, but we are excited that there are four women representing four of, I think, outstanding programs that have been -- in 3 of them in particular have been involved in women's basketball for a very long time, and that there are three of us in particular have been there at least ten years or more in each of our institutions. So, I'm just happy that there are still women that are given the opportunity to lead their programs in society now that has placed such an emphasis on winning at all costs in some regard.

WENDY LARRY: Okay. Thumbnail sketch? We have been able to stay healthy. We have tremendous chemistry. This is an unselfish basketball team to fault. They believe in the defensive end of the floor to create their offense, and that at times we are very, very effective getting the ball to the rim in an attacking manner.

TICHA PENICHEIRO: I think our team was not finishing the ball well and missing a lot of easy shots. We cannot do that on Friday to beat Stanford and we have to make many of the easy shots and be executing our players and let the defense create the offense, as Coach Larry said. I think if we emphasize a lot of our game on defense, we just want to play good defense and then finish the easy baskets. My wrists are all right and I'm ready to go. I am excited to be here. It is my first time here. We just want to do real good on Friday.

WENDY LARRY: It became a numbers game. Back twelve years when we were pioneers and consistently the dominant team or one of the dominant teams, there were probably a handful, I'd say two dozen teams that had placed a great emphasis on women's basketball. Now, it has become the flagship sport as far as women's athletics are concerned, 320 plus divisions, one team, and Old Dominion is a fairly small school. We are not a private, all girls Catholic school, but we are small, about 17,000 strong. Where basketball has been the student base support sport. And we have been able to, with great administrative support and Dr. Jerry's vision, been able to keep up with the megaconferences with the group of IA football schools.

WENDY LARRY: I think we have stressed the point that defensively it will be a key for us. I think transition is a key, defensive transition. I think Stanford is a tremendous basketball team in the open court. I think Kate Starbird gets her confidence in the open court. One of the things we did well initially was contain Kate in the open court and also Jamila because she certainly makes the machine run.

CLARISSE MACHANGUANA: Are you asking if it is time to relax?

CLARISSE MACHANGUANA: We shouldn't panic, but also take care of business which is playing seriously.

WENDY LARRY: I think it is the color of the uniforms. No. Actually I do. I think that there are times that we play at a level, and you know, I know what you guys are looking for me to say and I'm not going to say it. We had great wins outside our conference in Old Dominion. George Mason beat Auburn. American beat Virginia. We knew we were a favorite going into our conference play, but I think a lot has to do with being the hunted versus being the hunter. We know we are the underdogs going into this basketball game and we will love the battle and do the best we can.

WENDY LARRY: Well, there is really nothing to talk about.

WENDY LARRY: An ugly win is a heck of a lot better than a pretty loss. I can tell you that. For this basketball team to get through what I think was one of the toughest brackets that is the NCAA could create, we are here and we will do the best we can to eliminate some of the problems that we had in our less than impressive struggle through the Mideast regions.

WENDY LARRY: I certainly think it is an advantage. We know the personnel and we have gone to war with them at one time before. Our basketball team knows what we have to do to play with Stanford. There is no question about that. The only new dimension is Kristin Folkl. We never had a chance to play against her. So, there is something to look forward to.

WENDY LARRY: We played against some very efficient offensive basketball teams. LSU and Florida both can produce a lot of points in a short period of time. You know, those basketball games, for the most part, were in the 50s and 60s. These young women believe in our defensive philosophy and help each other very well. We are going to need that effort and then some from not just our starting five, but from our bench that's been questioned all year long. Truth of the matter is that they are the ones that got us here.

STACY HIMES: I think that we weren't really focused on any kind of pressure. We wanted to get to the Final Four. I think it was all about us. It was a goal that we set. You know, we didn't get much media coverage during the year. I mean, that's not something that we set out to do, oh, let's, you know, say, well, they didn't give us any coverage. So let's go to the Final Four. It wasn't anything like that. We wanted it. That's what we came out to play and that's what we played for.

WENDY LARRY: No. There are four or five people in the program that put together what we would call unbelievable check (something (as far as transformation in terms of their high school body to Division 1 player and Aubrey is one of those people that placed a lot of hours in the gym this summer working on her shot and working on other parts of her game, specifically her foot quickness, defensively, and even her ability to put the ball on the floor. Check automobile reap has won some big games for us and she doesn't show up as much in the statistics sometimes with other things like her shooting but done different things like zones. She has /SORBGD and she has come a long way in a short period of time and I know she holds some records for 3 point shooting with Old Dominion.

TICHA PENICHEIRO: I think I probably have the advantage of height because I'm a little bit taller. She is a terrific player. I think this is a team game and whoever plays the best will probably win the game. I think it is true, that we both play and we have to drive the sheep. We came a long way. The first time I played them, our team was more successful and now you have to be concentrating and focus to win the game again.

STACY HIMES: I mean, we can't focus on that. I mean, we might, you know, we realize it. It is something that we see. But we can't focus on that at all. We can't put any attention on that. We can't get a chip on our shoulder. We have to stay focused on what we are doing, and that's playing our game. We have to stay focused on that.

STACY HIMES: We were the underdog in that game as well. We were No. 4 and they were No. 1. We go in with nothing to lose. We get to play our hearts out. I think that's how we will go into this game. We are the underdog. I guess there is a 7 point spread, I heard, not spread, line. I don't know what it's called. But we are the underdog by 7 points. So, we have nothing to lose. That's how I believe we are going to play, put our hearts on the line and go out and play and leave nothing on the court.

TICHA PENICHEIRO: Well, being all the way across the Atlantic Ocean, I never heard about Old Dominion until Coach Greene talked to me about it, and she called me and I was about to come on a visit. When I arrived at Old Dominion, there was some tradition that I saw, the banners hanging on the field house, and the National Championship trophy. It has been a great place for the program, as well as Old Dominion, which means 3 great years and the time flew so fast. It was just like I got here yesterday and it just means we got to play hard and we are excited to be here. It has been a great place for me.

CLARISSE MACHANGUANA: I think it would be different from what happened in the originals. We came in physical and we have to play aggressively, possibly. And we sure have to have good position. I am not worried about who I'm going to guard because I think everybody will come strong, the person in front of me, of course.