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MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 9, 2005Elaine ElliottKim SmithShona ThorburnDENVER, COLORADO JIM MILLER: We're joined by University of Utah head coach Elaine Elliott; student athletes No. 4, Kim Smith; No. 10, Shona Thorburn. We'll start with you, Coach, if you could just open with some opening remarks and then we'll open up some questions for the student athletes. COACH ELLIOTT: Well, I thought it was a good first game. I think Air Force does some things really well and they're really committed to the hustle plays, and I think that's what makes them so tough. They did a really good job on the offensive boards the first half. We did a better job of trying to shut that down a little bit in the second half. Just trying to get going, feel comfortable and feel like you can maybe improve your play each day as the tournament goes, and that's what we'll try to get done. I really think that Air Force has a nice club and I've told her so and I think they've done really well and they're going to make a difference in this league in the next couple of years. Q. Kim, what was it from your perspective that was allowing Air Force to do so well in that rebounding battle, particularly in the first half? KIM SMITH: They were just going harder than we were, I think. We weren't pushing them back and they weren't chasing the balls as hard as they were, and that was what we tried to change in the second half, and I think we did a better job at times. Q. Either one of you, can you talk about how difficult it is to play a team you've beaten twice already this year and trying to get up for the game? SHONA THORBURN: It's easy to get up for a game in a conference tournament. Any team we play, come across, it's very easy to get up for any game here, so that's not something we need to worry about I don't think. Q. For either of you, the three-point shooting was so strong and high percentage. I'm just wondering, maybe Kim in particular, how many threes you'll put up in a practice or after practice or in a pre-game? KIM SMITH: The number? I couldn't tell you. I mean, I work out after practices with the coach and just a rebounder or manager and just put up some extra shots every day. Your extra time in the gym is always going to pay off. That's always how I've played and how I've thought. It's starting to, and our whole team, we all put up extra time in the gym and we try and get up more shots. JIM MILLER: Ladies, you can be excused. At this point we'll open it up to questions for Coach Elliott. Q. How much if at all are you really gearing toward hoping to meet New Mexico again in that championship game? Do you think that far? COACH ELLIOTT: No. Q. What do you need to improve on for the next game over what you did tonight because you'll have a much better opponent, whoever it is? COACH ELLIOTT: I really feel like we sort of kicked in and our play has improved each game. I think in any kind of conference tournament, a three-game set like this, you're going to have a game, if not two, you hope not two certainly, but there's going to be a game in there that you're going to have to gut out, and if you're going to win it all, you're going to play well, but you're probably not going to sit and think after three games that every one was your best game. You have to be okay with that and step on the floor and gut out the next play, do what it takes to gut through those times, whenever they hit, and hope by the end you're playing your best. JIM MILLER: Thanks, Coach. End of FastScripts... |
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