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MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 9, 2007

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA

THE MODERATOR: Joined now by University of Wyoming head coach Joe Legerski, student-athletes Megan McGuffey and Hanna Zavecz. Coach, if you just want to begin with some comments on the game, please.
COACH LEGERSKI: I was really proud of the way we came back and took the initial first 10 minutes. I know on Wednesday New Mexico jumped out to a big lead and then just kind of managed the game. I was really proud of the way we responded and got back into the game by halftime.
But I thought we were overwhelmed on the offensive glass in the second half. That was a big part of giving them more opportunities than we had from the field.
THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes.

Q. Hanna, can you talk about how difficult it was playing most of the second half with four fouls? Did it affect you on one end of the floor more than the other?
HANNA ZAVECZ: Yeah, it was definitely difficult. I had to back off a bit on the offensive end and defensive end. I mean, I wasn't being as aggressive towards the basket.
Defensively, I was -- you know, I couldn't do much. I just stood there with my hands up and did what I could. Yeah, it really limited me in my game.

Q. Either player, you had two big games scoring-wise. What were they doing defensively on everyone else to frustrate you guys?
COACH LEGERSKI: Do you want me to answer that (laughter)?
MEGAN McGUFFEY: Well, we've always had, you know, our three main scorers in Jodi, Hanna and Czarna. They'll pretty much get double-teamed all night. I mean, Hanna is so athletic, she's great to the basket, has a great outside shot.
I think they were just really doubling down, making it tough for Jodi and Czarna out there, kind of getting them out of their games.
HANNA ZAVECZ: You know, Megan is right, they were really pressuring the ball. You know, they were really aggressive. They tried to get us out of our offense and it worked at times.
They took away our strengths in some places. They took away, you know, we like to shoot more three-pointers, especially Jodi and Czarna, and they didn't give us what we usually get.
So they did a good job of getting us out of what we're used to.

Q. Hanna, New Mexico has some great tournament experience. You're still getting there. Do you think that made a difference in that second run, second half?
HANNA ZAVECZ: Yeah, definitely. I mean, experience is a big part of this tournament because it can go either way. Really, the experienced teams are the ones who usually pull it off. So, yeah, it played a part.
THE MODERATOR: Ladies, we'll let you two go. Thank you.
Questions for Coach Legerski.

Q. Defensively for New Mexico, Megan and Hanna had big games, but no one else could really get going. Were they doing anything else to try to take the other players out? What did you see out there?
COACH LEGERSKI: Defensively they were switching our motion offense. We have faced teams that way before. You know, New Mexico's very talented. They're long, aggressive, and they make things difficult.
You know, we cannot survive having three starters go 3 for 18. It's very difficult. When I take a look at the box score I think one of the big lifts that New Mexico had was they ended up having five other players score four points, and that's 20 points off your bench from that scenario.
That is a huge lift for any team. We just have to be able to find more points from a number of players. When we're able to do that, we usually come out on the top end.
Tonight, New Mexico was able to make it difficult for those three to be able to score.

Q. You talked about their offensive boards. Julie Briody was a big part of that. Having coached against her her whole career, what changes or improvements have you seen in her over the four years?
COACH LEGERSKI: I'll tell you what, she's very talented, first of all. She has a great desire to win. I think that's something that you can see out on the floor. Julie gets after you both offensively, defensively. She's a threat from three-point range. She can shoot off the dribble. She can really take a smaller guard down inside and post up.
But I probably, you know, taking a look at competing against her, her desire to win is very evident.

Q. Your team was able to pull within six a couple times late in the game. It seemed like New Mexico would come back and hit a big shot. Did you feel like you were one stop or one big shot of your own away from getting the momentum?
COACH LEGERSKI: I tell you what, I thought we were 1-3 from Justyna from swinging a little momentum. She went 0 for five today from three. I thought she had three really good looks at the basket. I think that's what's difficult, is that when you're trying to build a program you're trying to scrap and find a way to be able to get one.
New Mexico answered every time. They came down and made big shot after big shot. All of a sudden you're playing well, but you're not closing the gap. I just thought that that's what ended up happening today.

Q. You don't have any control, but post-season hopefully in front of this team, what are your thoughts? You're going to be playing in the post-season in some tournament? What do you think your NCAA chances might be?
COACH LEGERSKI: You know, first of all, you're right, I don't have any control. I wish I had some. I think the Mountain West Conference plays at a very high level.
Hopefully there's a place somewhere for a team that wins 21 games, ends up getting a No. 2 seed in this tournament. It was a long two months in the Mountain West Conference. This team responded for those two months. Very proud of this group.
Hopefully there's a place in post-season for Wyoming.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, coach.
COACH LEGERSKI: Thank you, everybody.

End of FastScripts

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