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BIG 12 CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 12, 2008Carla CortijoGail GoestenkorsBrittainey RavenEarnesia WilliamsKANSAS CITY, MISSOURI THE MODERATOR: We're joined by the Longhorns from the University of Texas, Coach, would you like to comment about the win? COACH GOESTENKORS: Thank goodness for second halves. Just really proud of the way my team responded. First half I thought we started off well, and then when Brittainey and Ashley got their two fouls, we kind of lost our composure, and, you know, Baylor took advantage. They played an excellent, excellent first half. They were going on all cylinders, they were hitting 3's, that he had their transition game going, and we lost our composure. I told the team at halftime the thing that upset me most was that we weren't playing with that same passion, desire, hustle, intensity that I had seen over the last several games. That's what makes us a very good team. We have to have that. We've got to make the hustle plays. We've got to play with passion. We've got to be able to rely on our defense. So I just felt like the second half was going to be a tremendous test of our character, to see who we could be. And we've been in this situation before, at A&M and we came back in that game, and we ended up losing that game, but we knew we could come back. There was a confidence having come back in the past. This time we were able to come back and close it off. So just very proud of the team. THE MODERATOR: We'll take student athlete questions first. Q. Were you in a zone tonight, Carla? CARLA CORTIJO: I don't know what got into me the second half. Some kind of fire got into me, but my team did a great job, Brittainey Raven did a great job on the defensive boards, and I'm just so excited right now. Q. Carla, can you talk about how you turned up the defensive intensity the second half? CARLA CORTIJO: It was all about the team. The intensity just went up, like, all of the sudden and Ashley said -- it was just everybody, we were talking, we were huddling and we were having fun the second half. Q. Earnesia, could you talk about your defense and rebounding in the second half? EARNESIA WILLIAMS: Defense, I was concentrated on Rachel Allison, because she is a more aggressive player and strong and physical and a good offensive rebounder and she knows how to get the ball, so I was trying to defend her, limit her touches and try to keep her off the boards. I don't know what got into me, either, whenever the ball missed, I was there, snatching it down! Very glad that happened! Q. Brittainey, can you describe the halftime scene? Did she threaten to take away your meal money? BRITTAINEY RAVEN: No, we just got into a slump and we had no energy in the first half, and we knew we weren't playing as good as we've been playing the past couple of games. So we talked to each other, tried to motivate each other to get each other back up. We can play with this team; they're making us look bad. We tried to get stops and we did and we just -- we built off that. We kept going. Q. Earnesia, was there a lot of talk at halftime about the defensive rotation? They got a lot of chippy layups off of the extra passes and y'all shut that down. EARNESIA WILLIAMS: As a team, we weren't talking on defense. They got some -- a lot of transition points and what they -- how they did score was easy layups behind our back, and we weren't really talking and nobody knew where the shooters were. So we turned it up and started talking, looking for the shooters, cutters, and helping with screens and talking, stuff like that. Q. Brittainey, can you talk about the attitude of this team? You guys have obviously earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament, but you still look like you're playing with something to prove. BRITTAINEY RAVEN: We are, because we still have to gain a lot of people's respect and just -- we're trying to show people that we are good and we can play with top-ranked teams and we have a lot of confidence right now and a lot of fight in us to play every game the same way. We didn't start off the first half that way, but we got ourselves back together and got back on the same road we've been on. Q. Earnesia can you talk about the way the team ended the game, finished the game; you were on the floor with 10 seconds to play when you had the game in hand. EARNESIA WILLIAMS: We were team oriented, huddled after every free-throw, trying to keep the focus. We knew the game wasn't over at 55 seconds, 33 seconds; just played till the clock was out. People got happy, tried to calm them down. We still got to play the game, but we were on a roll, everybody was in the zones, hitting shots, E-Bai coming in playing defense, hitting shots; Ashley, Brit, we were connected, very connected. Q. Carla, you came up with steals the second half. Were you all getting in the passing lanes? CARLA CORTIJO: Yeah, we had a lot of pressure on the ball, and on Tisdale, and she was making 3's the second half and we shut that down. We were pressuring the ball and getting into the passing lane. THE MODERATOR: Carla, were y'all discouraged in the first half with the way the offense was going? How would you assess your mood? CARLA CORTIJO: They had their moments. You know, everybody is going to be making the run, and that was their moment in the first half for them, but in the second half we came back and we beat them. THE MODERATOR: Ladies, thank you. We'll take questions for the coach. Q. Gail, can you talk about -- I know right now it's right after the game, but what does it mean for a team that can be down 14, 16 points and turn it all around into a 15-point win in just 20 minutes? COACH GOESTENKORS: Like I said, I thought it was going to reveal our character. We talked about that at halftime. I told 'em, you know, I love challenges. I didn't want this to be easy. So the fact that we're down, to me it's a tremendous opportunity for us to show other people and ourselves who we are and what we're all about. Q. Baylor has had their way in the conference, you've beat them twice, swept them twice; was this a statement on the season, on the conference, having so much success with them? COACH GOESTENKORS: No, not really. For me, it's about -- as a new coach in the Big 12 learning and growing. Not necessarily making a statement, but trying to show and build our foundation. We talked so much about a foundation of what we would become. I think as the season has progressed, you're starting to see who we are and who we're going to be in the future, and that's a team that will never say "die," will never give up, is going to be mentally and physically tough through tough times. So this is all about forming our identity and foundation for here and now, but also, more importantly, for the future as well. Q. (No microphone.) COACH GOESTENKORS: Right, Carla, she's come a long way. There is a lot of pressure on her, the fact that she is our only true point guard, and she has had her ups and downs and she's stayed positive. It's a bonus for us when she's hitting the outside shot, she runs the show. Tonight she started feeling it. I was so happy for her because she has been through a lot and through a lot of pressure and stress and strain, and I think it -- there is no one that's more deserving on this team than to have a night like she did tonight and really -- I felt like she would not let us lose this game. Q. What could a victory like this do for you going into the NCAA tournament? COACH GOESTENKORS: It gives us confidence. Our last several victories, I think we gained confidence through each one, and this is another situation where you never know in the NCAA Tournament what odds you're going to be facing, but you have to have confidence that you can come back against any margin. So we have come back before, but we weren't able to finish it off, so tonight builds on that confidence for us. Q. 52 points for the second half. As you're giving your halftime speech, is that plausible? Was that something in your mind that was doable? COACH GOESTENKORS: I wasn't talking about points, and certainly didn't envision 52 points. We really talked about defense, and they were getting so many transition buckets. They were getting -- our rotations were slow and very poor, and they were getting layups as well. So we talked about our defense and pressure, and we needed to start our offense with defense in particular. Q. The play at the end, when you had it pretty much in hand, and Williams dives on the floor and flips it ahead, is that what you would like to be a snapshot of what you want your team -- COACH GOESTENKORS: That's exactly what I said after the game. That play epitomized who we were in the second half and who we want to be; putting it all out there. Didn't matter what the score was, didn't matter what the time was, and that's the way I felt like Earnesia in particular played in the second half, but our team in general played as well. Q. Gail, you didn't talk about winning at halftime, probably, but did you think at halftime you thought you could win? COACH GOESTENKORS: We did talk about winning. I said this is going to be the greatest comeback in the history of the Big 12 tournament. I didn't know it's not, but I thought it might be, so I sounded like I was telling the truth and I wanted them to feel like we weren't just going to catch up; we were going to win the game. Q. Did y'all make adjustments defensively, or was it a matter of being more aggressive? COACH GOESTENKORS: Being more aggressive, stayed with our man-to-man. In the first half they picked us apart and we went with our man and we were in tune with one another, more aggressive, more focused. THE MODERATOR: Coach, congratulations, see you tomorrow. End of FastScripts |
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