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BIG TEN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 8, 2008Allyssa DeehanKalisha KeaneSuzy MerchantINDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA THE MODERATOR: We have Head Coach Suzy Merchant, Allyssa DeHaan and Kalisha Keane. Start with an opening statement. COACH SUZY MERCHANT: They always had the mind-set that they were going to take this game from us. I give Illinois a heck of a lot of credit. THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student athletes. Q. Allyssa, can you talk a difference in the Illinois team you faced today compared to the game at the end of the regular season, seemed like they were attacking you a lot more inside and actually aggressively going to the basket. ALLYSSA DEHAAN: I think they played with heart. They just wanted it more today more than us. Q. Can you talk about what was going on mentally with the team in the second half in the run that Illinois went on at the end? ALLYSSA DEHAAN: Not only in the second half but this whole game was a totally different team than how we showed up to play yesterday, and we really didn't play as a team and we really weren't focused and didn't play together and just fell apart offensively and defensively for us. We didn't have the same heart. We didn't have the same emotion and we just weren't the same team that we were last night. Q. Allyssa, what did they do defensively on you? Obviously yesterday you were able to get posted up and get down low late in the game. Did they do anything different defensively on you? ALLYSSA DEHAAN: They were aggressive on the inside. They doubled down. They sunk a lot of people on the paint. They were just a lot more aggressive on approaches on defense and attacking us. And we showed them and we didn't handle the pressure very well. And we just -- our offense was very mixed up and we just didn't handle it very well. Q. Allyssa, I was wondering if you could talk about the rebounding out there. Seemed so many times you were in position, it was like you had it, didn't have it as far as rebounds. Those little instances seemed to add up. Is that kind of what went through your mind as it transpired? ALLYSSA DEHAAN: Rebounding isn't really, I don't know, there's not really a technique or skill to it. It's all heart. Like we've been saying, they just had a lot more of it than we did. And we're just as capable of pulling down those boards. But we just didn't come out with the same heart and intensity as they did. Q. You guys are now in a holding pattern until next week; what do you talk about in this next week and how much do you think about what's going on, what the potential NCAA berth? KALISHA KEANE: We finished out our season. We were seven over the last 10 so I think we came to -- we're kind of coming in with a good win against Minnesota as well. We didn't play our best tonight, obviously. But I think with a couple of wins we have under our belt we still have a hope for the NCAA tournament. That's what our main focus is going to be. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, ladies. Questions for Coach Merchant. Q. For the last four or five years the women's program at MSU has set high standards. How do you handle, say, if you don't get an NCAA tournament bid especially being a first-year coach knowing you had to go through injuries, probably had to play a lot more people than you felt you were going to have to at the beginning of the year? How do you handle something like that if indeed you don't get an NCAA tournament bid? COACH SUZY MERCHANT: I don't think you can control any of that stuff. I feel like we belong there. Our RPI is right up there. We've got five wins, I think, maybe six over top 50 teams and won seven of our last 10. We had one bad night. One bad afternoon. We beat a great Minnesota team. And I think we just had a little let-down. How do you handle it? I don't know, deal with it when it comes. We put ourselves in position to be in a situation where they need to consider us. I think we are an NCAA tournament team. We didn't play that well tonight but I think we belong there. So until that time I'm going to think nothing less than that. I know we had our injuries and we had some tough times fall on us. But I thought our kids battled pretty hard from where we started to where we finished to finish as strong as we did with an RPI. I think we had one of the toughest schedules in the league and a lot of those were on the road. So I feel good about where we're at. Q. Talk a little bit about Rebecca Harris's performance in the second half, specifically with the switch-off with Brittney in foul trouble, how much of a factor that played? COACH SUZY MERCHANT: She's just been carrying them. I feel like she's been the difference-maker for them. She's what makes them go. Obviously Jenna Smith is a great player, but I think Rebecca Harris, down the last few games, has given them a lift. She was a senior who said she wasn't going to lose. She's taking her team to a place where she can hopefully continue their season. You have to give their seniors a lot of credit and they've really stepped up down the stretch. But you're right, taking Brittney out in foul trouble, it's frustrating because Brittney was, defensively she was not there today. She had that dumb foul with six seconds to go and had her third foul. And I just think those were things, I said to the team in 25 seconds of play to start the game we had two fouls. And our first eight possessions we had six turnovers. We were not focused. We didn't have the same energy and the same fight in us that we did the day before. And as a young team, that's something that we have to learn from and we're going to fight to see another day. Q. They're notorious for coming apart at the end of the game like this season. Did it all surprise you how strongly they finished the game and in the second half even though you guys were up they had a run and came back? COACH SUZY MERCHANT: I just felt like for us really obviously you credit what they did. They're a good team. They had some tough losses. I think we all do. And I certainly felt like there's kids on that team that were just not willing to go home yet. I think they outplayed us. They out hustled us, outplayed us and outworked us. That's a hard pill to swallow when you're a coach. You never want to see yourself, I felt like we beat ourselves in some respects. And another side of the coin I thought they really, they just wanted it more. So I'm happy for Illinois. They've had some tough losses and it's good that they were able to come out strong. I just wish it wasn't against us. Q. Before this tournament, people were saying only three teams in the Big 10 could get in. Now there's a potential Illinois, Purdue, yourself all could be battling for maybe one or two spots. Make a case of one reason why you think you should be in, like one game or one win and one thing that might keep you out, like one loss that may have kept you out if it happens. COACH SUZY MERCHANT: Those are hard questions, honestly, Chris, because you can't predict what the NCAA people -- I know the criteria. Look how you finish, seven to ten. Good deal. What quality wins do you have. I think we have five or six. Five over top 50. And we beat Kansas state and Ohio State and Iowa and Purdue. We beat the top three teams. We beat Minnesota. There's top four. I think there's a lot of parity in the Big 10 and it's quality basketball. I don't think it's down this year. It's just better, top to bottom. That's just the bottom line. We added two more games to our schedule. And we beat up on each other two more times, hasn't ever been done in the past. Do they look at that? I don't know. But I feel good about what we accomplished. 19 wins with an RPI and seven out of 10. We just didn't play well today, but certainly feel like we're very worthy of being there. THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Coach. End of FastScripts |
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