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BIG TEN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 2, 2007Jolene AndersonJanese BanksLisa StoneINDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA THE MODERATOR: We will take an opening comment from Coach Stone and then we'll go to the student athletes for questions. COACH LISA STONE: I am so proud of the Wisconsin Badger women's basketball team. I could not be more proud of them. They battled, they fought, got down by eight in the second half and didn't waver. We competed, we battled against one of the top teams in the country into over time, and just played with tremendous resolve, tremendous intensity. People stepped up and did what they needed to do. We out-rebounded a great team, and the way we played, I hope that somebody takes notice because we competed at a very, very high level. And with 19 wins and taking Purdue, who's just tremendous, they've got great, great players and very well-coached, and again, I couldn't be more proud of our players. They gave it everything they had and left themselves on the court. I feel bad for them because this is a win that I thought they deserved. Q. Jo, they took you out of the game a little bit the first time around, you had 11 points and Gearlds and Wisdom-Hylton did some of that. How did you find openings today and talk about your day. JOLENE ANDERSON: They played us the same as the first time at home. But I kept on attacking. I knew they were going to be at my feet when I caught it, so that's been something I was working on, penetrating to the basket more, whether it was kicking or going up for a layup. My effort was okay today. Obviously is would have been better if we got the win, but you've just got to live with that. Purdue is a great basketball team and they're going to go far in the tournament. We just can't hang our heads. We battled as best we could and unfortunately came up short. Q. Jolene, if you could describe a few plays that you were involved with. The runner you made at the end of regulation time and the half court shot, I guess, and then obviously at the end with the two-point shot rather than a three-point shot. JOLENE ANDERSON: Well, the first play at the end of regulation it was a double stack play. Obviously I was going to come up and get the ball from Janese on the inbounds and Rae was supposed to set an on ball screen. Danielle Campbell had a great hedge but I knew she wasn't coming up and forcing me back. I just took her to the basket. The fans were cheering down the clock so I just kind of threw it up there, and I knew once it left my hand it was going in, but the game wasn't over there. We had to get a stop on defense and that's what we did. Unfortunately I looked at the clock and it was a half court, and I had to go up; I had to give our team to win a chance to win the basketball game right there, but it didn't go in. With the second play, you'd rather score. If I took a three-point shot and I missed it, that doesn't help us, so the two-point shot obviously gave us a one-point -- we were still losing, but it still gave us an opportunity to win the basketball game at that point. Q. Janese, can you just talk about how this team battles? As Lisa said, you guys played really well, played defense, hit some tough shots, and especially the first half you guys played strong. JANESE BANKS: I think everyone on this team knew we could win this game. There wasn't a doubt in my mind. I looked up I think with two minutes left, we were still down four, and I thought, We're not losing. We were either going to take it overtime or we were going to win this game. I just think we just kept battling and that was a great mindset and we've got to continue this. Like Coach Stone keeps saying, the biggest thing about this, we're not done yet, and each and every game we've just got to keep battling like that, no matter who we're playing, the No. 13 in the nation or if we're playing a team that's not ranked. Each and every game, we've got to come out and battle like we did today. Q. Janese, at halftime were there specific adjustments that you made or was it more of a -- just a mental adjustment to get the comeback that you did right away? JANESE BANKS: I don't think we did anything specifically. I think we focused a lot on rebounding and I think we accomplished that. I think we talked about getting to the basket and getting the ball inside. I thought our post players played very well today. So I think that was maybe the only adjustments. We didn't make any. Defensively, they thought they were playing really well. Like I said, even though we were leading at halftime, Coach Stone wanted us to emphasize that even more. Q. Could you talk a little bit about your young players, especially Mariah and Rae Lin and how strong that they played in this tournament and how you feel that will impact the team going forward with postseason? JOLENE ANDERSON: They played great. Not just Mariah and Rae Lin; obviously all of them did, all the ones that haven't been here before. It's been an adjustment for them, and they accepted the adjustment, they played great the whole tournament. They're young and they're excited, they want to win. So we're just going to battle back and practice next week. We'll just go at it. We can't stop now. Our season is not over with. We've just got to continue and go for what we want to go for. THE MODERATOR: We'll continue on with Coach Stone. Q. Lisa, same question for you. Just how you think your freshmen did, specifically, like I said, Rae Lin and Mariah really had a big impact in this tournament in particular. COACH LISA STONE: Without question. Starting with Rae Lin, certainly, she has 19 assists in two games; that's pretty good. That's nine, ten assists -- that's unbelievable. She plays with poise and confidence and is a -- has been just a true joy, there's no question. We go on her. She was so mad at herself for missing layups early on, and after that we -- after that point she didn't waver. I mean, she could have panicked and didn't. It's a great match-up; FahKara Malone is tremendous. Those two are going to be fun to watch for four years. It's a run match-up. Mariah Dunham got an open look for a three that I thought was in. From my angle it looked like it was a little bit long. We got the offensive board, we're going to need to clean that up a little bit. But Mariah, too, both of them are emotional leaders for us in their small way. They're young and they're freelance, but I love the way they play. Defensively they've gotten better, offensively they've gotten better, as well. But we needed Brittany Heins today, too. When you go to our bench and look at our bench production throughout the year, it's been terrific. And a lot of those kids are 18 or 19 years old. I stood before that team and I said, "Ladies, we're not done playing. That's the best part of this." The best part of it is we're not finished playing this season. We've been here many times before where this is it and then you're done. We're going to take the week off and we're going to practice next week and we're excited about playing postseason, and my hope is at the highest level. But these young players, the experience that they gained today playing against one of the best teams in the country in overtime with a lot of freshmen on the floor, it's a great lead into what's to come in the future for us. Q. I was actually going to ask you about FahKara Malone a little bit. It seemed like she actually hurt you guys with a couple of rebounds here and there, some clutch free throws, even though she missed one. Can you talk about her overall impact on the game today? COACH LISA STONE: I think when you talk about FahKara Malone you talk about how fast she is. I think it's a little bit underestimated. If you tried to go out there, if all of us in this room, there's no way we could stop her. She is very, very quick, deceivingly quick. We talked to Rae and our guards about tracking and transitioning just to keep her in front. Don't go for the steal, just keep her in front of you. That's the main thing. I thought Rae Lin did a great job. I thought our guards -- Rae Lin is a safety and someone else picks her up, but their run in the first half, that four-minute stretch, came from our quick shots and they got the ball -- they were in transition, and they were in transition because of her quickness. She finds people. She also in the second half and in overtime got inside us. We've got to stay on Lawless. We've been there, done that with her, scoring -- I'm sorry, Gearlds. And we had to stick to her, so it gave her a driving lane, and she finishes. She's very quick, a very solid, great leader for them, and again, it's going to be a great match-up for the next three years. Q. After the tie ball with 15.4 seconds left and you had the ball, what were you looking for? Being down three -- COACH LISA STONE: A three. You know, you can go, you can look at that a lot of ways. It's a stack four. It's a ball screen flare screen. Jo lost her balance a little bit and took a shot. There's more plays to the game than just that one. It's unfortunate because that may have gone in, may not have gone in. She did so much for us that that is not the reason why we lost the basketball game. But the play is designed to -- it's a ball screen flare screen play. Everybody in the world runs it. We got a score out of it, as she had mentioned, just a little bit too late. They came out and they scored I think their first three or four baskets in overtime and we got our backs against the wall. So I think you can go back to that. I stand behind my team and a great player in Jolene Anderson. It's more than that. But once again, a courageous battle by a great young feisty little team. Q. I guess you can talk about your postseason hopes now. Just your thoughts, I mean, very strong tournament -- COACH LISA STONE: I think we looked like an NCAA team today. I don't know if anybody in the room wants to disagree with me, but I thought we looked like one today. We played hard, we did a lot of great, great things out there. I just hope they take a look at us. End of FastScripts |
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