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BIG 12 CONFERENCE MEDIA DAYS

October 18, 2006

Cindy Stein

OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA

PETER IRWIN: Welcome Cindy Stein from the University of Missouri.
COACH STEIN: We are very excited to be in Oklahoma City. We think this will be a great place for the Big 12 tournament. We feel as though our team is going to be extremely competitive this year and we are really looking forward to it. We have seven seniors. A lot of them have experience as returning starters. I feel really good about our depth. Feel really good about our young kids and obviously we are very excited. We are undefeated right now and looking forward to a good year.

Q. You were talking earlier about you have the seven seniors but you lose, I think Latoya and Crystal were there for 40 years. How do things change without those two, even though you have a lot of experience? Are roles going to change a little bit for you this year?
COACH STEIN: I think the dynamics of some of the things we did, obviously with Latoya Bond being able to do a lot off the dribble, we set a lot of on-balls for a more high-low-type things with Crystal and Latoya. Obviously, the dynamics of that change as far as we probably won't have that kind of capabilities at point guard, but we have a lot of scoring in Tiffany Brooks as an option, Kassie Drew, Crystal Howard, some kids that are playing off guard that we are going to be able to utilize.
I think our point guard position is probably one of those we are not really sure who is going to win that spot. We have got a freshmen that's come in doing a great job and we have two seniors that have been backup point guards. I think the dynamics of that is going to be a little bit different. I think you will see Eetisha Riddle who played on the perimeter for us, her most natural position is inside. And we are going to move her inside.

Q. Two different things. First of all, just building off of last year and first round exit, what did that leave your team with? What do they want to do? Second, if you can talk about Carlynn Savant and how she has come about being a senior in career?
COACH STEIN: Our players have returned with a lot of motivation. I think we were excited about the type of year we had but not so excited about how it ended. Our last two games are games that I think live in our memory as far as our Oklahoma game at the Big 12 and then our NCAA game with Virginia tech. That left some bitterness in our mouth. We want to make sure we return to NCAA tournament and that we are obviously advancing and playing a lot better, being a lot more competitive. We kind of faded towards the end of the year there. I think a lot of that has to do with Carlynn Savant. I think she is a great leader. She is playing extremely well. She is one of the best three-point shooters in the country. The things we have seen out of Carlynn this year is kind of more of a mid-range jumper. She's has taken it to the basket a little bit more and doing some different things and advancing her game to a whole other level.

Q. Cindy, I know coaches are all about matchups. What do you do with Oklahoma, they got probably the toughest matchup in the country in Courtney. What do coaches do?
COACH STEIN: See, I thought you were talking about matchups what I was going to wear compared to Sherri. I was a little confused. I would say that Courtney Paris presents a problem with every team - not just Missouri, every team because she has got great feet, great hands and great size. And so I think that the key with Courtney is obviously try not to even let her touch the ball. Once she touches the ball, she will be extremely hard to stop. I think you got to put a lot of pressure and a lot of different areas.
One of the things I have learned being in the Big 12 is the fact that you may have Game Plan A on how to stop something, but the coaches are so good, you better have a B, C, D, because you are going to have to keep making different adjustments. So I don't think that you can just go in there with a certain game plan. You are going to go with your game plan as long as that is working.
But Coach Coale is a great coach. She is a great X-and-O coach. I am sure they will work on everything that they can.
The great thing about Oklahoma is not just Paris, it is the other Paris and then it is the Russian. There is a lot of great players there.

Q. Along that same line, does it feel like -- is it tough for opposing coaches to look at it -- a team that went 19-0 last season in the Big 12 and then has the Big 12 tournament right there in their backyard in Oklahoma City?
COACH STEIN: I think it is exciting. I don't really look at it as something that's intimidating at all. I think it is exciting. I think Oklahoma is a great team and obviously they have the potential to be in the Final 4. I think that those are all extremely positive. I think the more our environment, surrounding our tournament, has a lot of energy involved, I think those are all positives. I don't think it can ever be a negative. If you are a good team it doesn't matter where you will play.

Q. Coach, which of the new players do you think might make the biggest impact?
COACH STEIN: Right now I would tell you that we have a freshman out of Fayette, Missouri, Jessra Johnson. She is not the fastest thing, she doesn't jump the highest. She gets the job done. She is always around the ball. She is always on the floor. She gets a lot of deflections. She is doing some good things because of our work ethic. She scores extremely well. Finds a way to score. She looks very good right now.
I will tell you that our point guard out of Detroit, Toy Richbow is looking very good. She does remind a lot of people that watch us of the Latoya Bond on the way she holds herself and the way she brings the ball down the floor and obviously her defense is very good. I think all of our freshmen look good and very solid.
Crystal Howard is another player that plays a lot like Tiffany Brooks. She can play point guard or any of the perimeter spots. Those three probably in particular stand out.
PETER IRWIN: Coach, they let you off easy. Have a great season.
COACH STEIN: Thank you.

End of FastScripts...

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