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NCAA WOMEN'S FINAL FOURApril 2, 2006Sylvia HatchellErlana LarkinsIvory LattaBOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS DEBBIE BYRNE: We will allow the coach to make an opening statement and then please address your questions to the student-athletes first. SYLVIA HATCHELL: Really proud of our team. I thought we had a great year. Today just we didn't play well. Rebounding was a big key. We knew that was going to be a big factor. And we just, we couldn't make a three point shot. We actually took too many. I didn't want us taking that many. I wanted the ball inside more, because Erlana was playing really well. But I think the good things are that they had 26 turnovers, and that we had 16 steals, and we did some good things. But they're tough and they, their inside players were tough and I thought they were tough down the stretch. I felt like we got the ball inside to Erlana there at the end and I felt like that she was going to score and get fouled there, and I thought it was a big turning point because that would have tied the game up. But it didn't happen, so that, but anyway, we didn't have a good shooting night, especially from the three, and the rebounding was a big factor. So I thought it was a very physical game. I expected it to be that way. But again, we are really disappointed that we lost and we're not playing for a national championship, but we'll have to learn from it and move on. We have got a lot of these kids back next year. Both these will be back here and I'm sure this will be motivation for them for next year. DEBBIE BYRNE: Questions for the student-athletes. Q. Ivory, let me ask, how much effect did the fall have on you in the first half as far as your ability to jump or take a shot or even concentrate? IVORY LATTA: It affected me a lot. But I tried not to think about it. I just tried to go out there and play hard for my team and try not to think about it. Q. Ivory, why do you think you guys just had so much trouble getting offense, things going offensively? IVORY LATTA: I think that, I don't think we had trouble, I think that Erlana did a great job down there for us, there was a lot of calls that we didn't get down the stretch. And I thought we should have gotten them. And like Coach said, rebounding was going to be the key to this game and we got outrebounded. That was that. Q. Ivory, could you just describe what happened on that play where you injured your knee and were you concerned that you were going to be able to come back and when did you feel like that was going to be so? IVORY LATTA: I just know I made a cut and I felt like I got pushed in the back and I came down and I pretty much hyperextended my left knee and I just heard, I don't think I can remember, Erlana was saying, "We need you," and that right there, I just tried to forget about the pain and just try to go out there and help my team win. Q. When you say it affected you, what did it take away from you for the rest of the game? IVORY LATTA: As far as my cutting and pushing the ball up and down the court as far as the things that I usually do and things like that. Q. Erlana, just could you talk about the balance side. Why were you able to do what you did offensively? ERLANA LARKINS: I think they did a great job of double-teaming me. But I also think I did a good job of finding my teammates and I tried to mix it up with the reverse pivot and the shot and the right shoulder turn. I tried to mix it up more, so I think that's why I was kind of successful. Q. For Erlana, what about the defensive pressure you faced from Maryland. Do you think they had some more balanced scoring, more people crashing the glass it seemed like? Did it seem like one against four at some times? ERLANA LARKINS: Sometimes it seemed like that, but I knew I had a five teammates out on the court. I just think Maryland from the tip of the ball, they wanted it really bad and they showed it out there today and they came out with the W. Q. Ivory, you came down hard on the floor another play in the game, was that from us just frustration? Was that just your body coming down? What happened there? IVORY LATTA: When? Q. The last few seconds of the game. IVORY LATTA: Talking about the tie-up? Q. Yeah. IVORY LATTA: I just tried to tie the ball up. It wasn't nothing. I didn't try to slam her or anything. I just tried to tie the ball up and she just twisted and we both fell. It wasn't nothing at all. Q. Ivory, how much pain were you in and it just seemed to take a lot of the joy out of the way you were playing and maybe your teammates, too? IVORY LATTA: Well, when I went down I was in a lot of pain and still is in a lot of pain right now. But I tried not to let it affect me and I think that I let my teammates down, you know. But like Coach said, we just got to look forward to next year, and me and Larkins will be back and we're going to go at it again. DEBBIE BYRNE: Ladies, thank you very much. We'll let you head back to your locker room area. Now we'll continue with questions for Sylvia, please. Q. Coach, if you could just talk about Maryland. They seemed feel like even now they still haven't really got a lot of respect and I'm sure that's because they spent so much of this season in your shadow, Duke's shadow. Talk about what this team can do. Obviously they beat you guys twice but what they can do in two days here? SYLVIA HATCHELL: Well, they're a great offensive team, there's no doubt about that. Their five starters are all very good scorers. But they can just all shoot the ball. They got big bodies inside. They're just a great offensive team. I knew we would have to score a lot of points to beat them. The two games we played this year was 98-95 and 91-80, I believe, in the ACC Championship game. So I knew we were going to have to score a lot of points to beat them because they're just a very good offensive team. So, but you know, we'll learn from it. Q. Is there something they figured out about you guys or maybe they just have a good match-up with you, have you figured that out? SYLVIA HATCHELL: Well, I didn't feel like we were in rhythm today, especially after Ivory got hurt. Because she's our spark that gets us going and all. I just felt like that the energy that we normally have wasn't quite there and when she got hurt there. And it was pretty physical out there. So, but we just weren't hitting on all cylinders today like we normally do. I do think a lot of it was because of when she hit the floor and everything, and Tangie was, she was not her normal self. She was having problems breathing over on the side and so we had to keep taking her out. And she couldn't, couldn't breathe. And normally she gives us a lot of rebounds, and the last in the ACC tournament she had, she usually gets a lot of rebounds and helps us a lot. So, but Maryland played a great game and it was just like I said, we're just going to learn from it. Q. Jessica Sell hit those two threes and put you ahead for your last lead of the game and you took her out almost immediately, can you explain that? SYLVIA HATCHELL: No, I didn't take her out immediately; she was still in there awhile. But she was tired. She was tired and she then, she asked to come out. I didn't take her out immediately. But she -- and actually where we put her, we put, let's see, we were trying to get some more rebounds, I think, but I just took her out because she was tired and we were trying to mix it up inside, outside. But those, there was really no -- and normally we have several people that make threes, but we just, none of them were hitting those tonight. Except Jess had two. Q. What contributed to your guys's inability to make defensive stops down the stretch, especially a lot of them lay-ups by Maryland? SYLVIA HATCHELL: Yeah, our rotations on the back side and I felt like Camille being in foul trouble, she wouldn't gamble, but I felt like some of our rotations on the back side, they get the ball out of the trap and make the extra pass, and they were getting some things off of that. So we actually came out of those traps for a little while. But then as the clock ran down we had to start putting more pressure on them again. But I thought they did a nice job. We'll watch the tape, we'll come up with another scheme, so hopefully we'll have something a little better when we play them next year. Q. Your trademark has been your team's ability to run but it seems like you got caught in a half-court game. You almost chose to do that with Larkins underneath. SYLVIA HATCHELL: You're right, we didn't run. A lot of that had to do with Ivory, you know, but we didn't, didn't push the ball like we normally do, get it out and go. So you got to get the rebound before you can do that. Some of that was our not getting the rebounds. DEBBIE BYRNE: Sylvia, thank you very much. SYLVIA HATCHELL: Thank you.
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