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MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 9, 2007

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA

THE MODERATOR: We're now joined by University of New Mexico head coach Don Flanagan and student-athletes Julie Briody and Brandi Kimble.
Coach Flanagan, if you want to just give some general comments on the game, please.
COACH FLANAGAN: First of all, I want to congratulate Wyoming. They're a class program. Joe Legerski and his coaching staff are great to work against, to compete against. Their kids play very, very hard. Well, well coached. Very difficult to defend.
We had a little bit of concerns because their post players are really interchangeable. They play just as well outside as they do inside. Very difficult to guard. They probably run as complex or execute an offense as well as any team we've played this year.
So congratulations to them.
Then for our players, I was really proud of the comeback. First half we got out to a good start, then they made a nice comeback, got back within the game. The momentum had shifted. Second half we had to grab that momentum back. I thought our defense was quite good in the second half.
Then as we started to get some movement and get the ball inside, create some opportunities for our inside players, I thought that helped. Then late in the game, our activity on offense bothered them a little bit.
But overall I thought it was a great defensive game for us. We shot 50% the second half. When we shoot 50%, we usually are pretty successful.
THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes.

Q. Julie, you were up 21-9. Looked like maybe you were going to run away with this one like you did Wednesday. When that didn't happen, what went through your mind? How did you regroup?
JULIE BRIODY: I mean, we knew Wyoming's a great team. We knew that they were going to make their runs. We had to make sure that we stayed focused. I thought we did a nice job going into the half. They made a little bit of a run, but we didn't let it bother us. We came out the first four minutes of the second half and just kept taking it at them. That's why we were successful.

Q. For either player, Zavecz had a big game, McGuffey had a big game, but no one else really did. What did you do defensively to frustrate everyone else?
BRANDI KIMBLE: I think our help defense was really good. We knew Hanna was still going to get her points and everything. But just to play her a hard, physical game, and that's what we did.

Q. Julie, with so many of your post players in foul trouble, did you feel like it was on you to kind of take over?
JULIE BRIODY: I mean, I don't know. I mean, I thought we didn't stray from our game plan. But, you know, I just got a lot of good screens from my teammates and was able to get, you know, some decent open looks, was able to knock 'em down, as well as Brandi was and Katie.
I thought everybody, it was just a team effort and everybody did really well to do their part to make sure that we won.

Q. Brandi, what is it about this team this time of the year? It looked like early on when teams would put some pressure you would not regroup, but now lately you've been playing where if teams make runs you're able to withstand those, come out on top. What's the difference between now and earlier in the year?
BRANDI KIMBLE: I think we're playing both halves. We're playing really hard team ball. We're improving. Every game we're improving all aspects of the game.

Q. Either player, do you think your team's greater tournament experience relative to Wyoming played a factor at all in the second half?
JULIE BRIODY: I don't know if that's necessarily true. I just thought that both teams were just going at each other really hard. I just thought that we played with tremendous effort and intensity throughout the game, and that enabled us to keep the lead, you know, and in turn win the game.

Q. Julie, after they went ahead early in the second half, you scored off offensive rebounds. Once you got fouled, you hit both free-throws and then scored off a put-back. Is that something you take pride in?
JULIE BRIODY: Most definitely. Rebounds are going to win us games. I know they were going to need me to do a little bit more than just score. So I was getting in pretty good position on the offensive side of the ball to get rebounds and was able to, you know, get it, you know, score or, you know, get fouled, like you said.
THE MODERATOR: Thanks, ladies. We'll let you two go.
Questions for Coach Flanagan.

Q. Can you talk about the game that Julie had, especially in the second half.
COACH FLANAGAN: Well, you know, Julie's -- this has been an outstanding year for her. By far her best year. She's reached her potential I think as a player this year. She's improved in almost every aspect of the game. She defends well. She's a long player, not really a strong player, but she's strong enough to compete against bigger players.
She's got a terrific repertoire of moves. She can shoot the three, she can shoot the pull-up, and she's got a soft touch. You don't want to foul her because she's one of the top free-throw shooters in the nation. She can drive. Now she's starting to rebound. That really completes her game.
I'm amazed how much she's improved just this year. Usually when they're seniors, you don't see that much improvement over a one-year period of time. She's just been terrific in progressing. She loves the game of basketball. Now she's playing the way she always wanted to play.

Q. Do you think the past 11 games, you talked about confidence, that helped them withstand the Wyoming run, especially in the first half? Do you think this solidified a tournament bid?
COACH FLANAGAN: I think confidence and energy are extremely important in games like this. We want our kids to be confident. I want them to go in the game and believe in themselves, each individual.
Everybody on our team can add to the confidence by believing in themselves - not just the players that are playing but the kids on the bench that are involved in the game, the coaching staff that's involved in the game. I want all of our players to believe that we're going to be successful.
At halftime we're just talking about what we're going to do the second half to play better and play with more confidence, more energy, where we can be effective. I think that's probably the best way to approach a game.
I think as soon as you lose a little confidence you lose that energy, and then pretty soon you're playing, worried about losing. You have a fear of failure. I think this group has overcome that fear of failure.
At some point in the season when we were losing a few games, I think we were a little bit afraid to fail. Now I think we've overcome that and we're playing with much more confidence.

Q. How does this year's team compare to the ones that won three straight Mountain West titles?
COACH FLANAGAN: Well, you know, this team's really a lot different than those teams. This year we didn't have -- I normally have a three player that's a physical player. I don't this year. I normally have a four player that shoots the three, and I don't this year. For about 10 years we had those kinds of players.
Now we're a completely different kind of team. I mean, Timi is not a scorer at all, our four player. She brings a great deal of energy. We found a way for Timi to be effective and help this team be effective.
Brandi is not a big strong three, but her quickness and her aggressiveness have helped put more pressure on the ball than my normal three does.
So we found a way for this team to be more effective. It doesn't compare with the other teams physically, but it does in effort, it does in a belief in themselves, a belief that they're going to be successful.

Q. Could you talk specifically about how tough Julie is, how tough she's gotten over the course of her career? She hits the floor and keeps getting up.
COACH FLANAGAN: It's kind of like a skeleton hitting the floor when she hits the floor. You can hear every bone (smiling). That's why she wears knee pads. In fact, I make her wear knee pads in practice, too, because I know eventually she's going to hit the floor.
She's not afraid of the contact. In fact, she kind of likes to jump in the air through people, shoot the shot, and create the contact type of situation. She's active with her feet. She actually -- I mean, she has an injury that's pretty substantial. We can't talk about injuries.
I mean, if you had this pain you wouldn't be playing the way she plays. So she plays with so much effort. She loves the game so much. She can't play any other way. Consequently, that's the way you see her play.
I mean, she spent three years where she wasn't a great player for us. This year's been so terrific. I mean, I just wish we'd started a little bit earlier getting her potential. But she grew into her potential.
THE MODERATOR: Thanks, coach. Good luck tomorrow.
COACH FLANAGAN: Thank you.

End of FastScripts

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