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BIG TEN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 7, 2008

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA

THE MODERATOR: For Ohio State we've got Head Coach Jim Foster and Marscilla Packer and Jantel Lavender. We'll forego the opening statement and go ahead and take questions for the student athletes.

Q. Marscilla, how surprised are you by this outcome, having played them twice before, is this the type of game that you thought you were going to get?
MARSCILLA PACKER: For sure. We definitely expected them to play hard and play like they did. Obviously we expected to win the game, but they played great. Harris did well for them and so did Bjork, her three. She got high, open looks. It was hers in the end.

Q. Jantel, you only got eight shots in this game. Maybe five in the first half. Did they do anything different to you in the second half to keep you from getting more offensive looks?
JANTEL LAVENDER: I think they were playing good defense and maybe our guards had some open looks, better looks than maybe I had. I think basically this whole game I think we went away from some of the little things that we should have did in total. Like just everything. So I mean we were kind of out of our aura. So that's just a reflection of that, too.

Q. How much did it hurt you guys that Shavelle, you didn't have her defensive pressure throughout this game?
MARSCILLA PACKER: She does a great job whenever she gets in and plays. I think Maria came in, did a great job for us. We had two great point guards. And I think Maria did a good job when she comes in. Shevy can go all the way when she comes in, makes a difference in the game. But we definitely miss her. She gets the balls, gets some steals and some easy transition points for us.

Q. How are you going to approach tomorrow Jantel? What are you going to think about as you guys prepare probably for the NCAA tournament?
JANTEL LAVENDER: I think that we need to really focus on defense a lot. And we need to focus on getting three stops, like the drills in practice that we do every day, get three stops in a row. And we just need to transfer those things we do in practice over to the games.
And I think that we're a pretty good team once we start reversing the ball and we continue to do the things that we are good at. And I think for the NCAA tournament we know those teams are very tough teams and we have to come out and we have to play hard for 40 minutes.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, ladies. Questions for Coach Foster.

Q. Coach, were you surprised at all that they were able to penetrate and get to the basket the way they were? They said that was a big part of their game plan; that they were going to not try to shoot a lot of outside shots, they were going to try to go to the bucket?
COACH JIM FOSTER: Well, I think they're very quick. I don't know how much they penetrated when Smith had 13 shots. 15 3s. I think there were three or four breakdowns where they got to the basket. I don't think they got there that often. I thought Harris played very, very well. I didn't like our start. We left Bjork wide open by turning our head and main emphasis was not to let her have those free looks. And we gave her two or three early. That really gave them a lot of confidence.
But I thought their quickness at the guard spot hurt us a little bit. But I think it was our guards playing fast that hurt us more.

Q. Jim, when you look at the numbers, Ashlee and Marscilla had 29 shots and Tam and Jantel had 16. Was that a large problem?
COACH JIM FOSTER: Without a doubt. I think we got into a period of time where I thought we were taking very quick shots and not to the level of quality of shot that you would like to take. I think a floater is a nice shot to have in your game. But I don't think it's a nice shot to take with 22 seconds to go on the shot clock. I think it's a nice shot to have in your game when you're in a shot clock situation you have to get a shot off.
I think we rushed at the guard position and weren't patient enough to take advantage of our inside presence. Tam and Jantel's lines are terrific. More shots would have helped I think in the second half we rebounded much better. We were more active on the glass. I think the players produced some of their own shots.

Q. Was there a time in the game when you actually verbalized that to your team, asked your team to go down low and it just didn't get done?
COACH JIM FOSTER: Yeah, it was topic of conversation a few timeouts.

Q. How early on?
COACH JIM FOSTER: Early.

Q. Coach, can you talk a little bit about the Marscilla Packer run there late in the half, 11 points in four minutes, really took off?
COACH JIM FOSTER: Marscilla is that kind of street player. She can get unconscious and score a lot of points in a very short amount of time.

Q. Roughly how limited were Shavelle and Ashlee? They didn't play their full complement of minutes that they usually play.
COACH JIM FOSTER: Shavelle's better. I think she's got to get back to being able to practice a little bit and get some of her timing where we would like it to be and her intensity. We have two weeks for that to happen. And Ashlee I think tightened up in the second half.
And a couple of freshmen came in, if they would have -- Alison I thought had a couple of opportunities to take some shots. And first big game for a freshman. I think she'll be ready next time we go out there. I think she'll be able to help us. And Brittany rushed hers, but I think experiences make you a better player. And I think we'll be healthier and ready to go.

Q. Again, was this the kind of game -- this is the Illinois team you've seen a few other times. But was this pretty much what you expected from them?
COACH JIM FOSTER: Yeah, they only play one way. If there's one area that, especially when you come down to a game this close, switching off on screens there's probably four or five field goals they got that we did not do a good enough job communicating or transferring responsibility from one to the other. At this stage of the season I would view that to be a little disappointing.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach.

End of FastScripts

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