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NCAA WOMEN'S 1ST & 2ND ROUNDS REGIONALS: BATON ROUGEMarch 21, 2008Terrie DavisAmanda FosterRae Rippetoe-BlairBATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA Q. Let's talk about the matchup with A&M, Coach and players. COACH RIPPETOE-BLAIR: Sure. A&M I really think they're one of the hottest things coming into the NCAA tournament. They've had a great Big 12 tournament. The championship, I've watched them on T.V., watched a lot of game tape. They are very, very talented. I think their main strength is their defense. They make you do a lot of things that you don't want to do. I think you have to handle the ball. I know with turnovers, a lot of teams they are scoring by 35, 25, 37 points off of people's turnovers. That's one thing we've stressed to our team, that we got to take care of the ball. I feel like we've got some very talented ladies in the guard position. I think we match up there, but we will have to take it to them and handle their full-court man. The other thing that I think A&M does very well is they rebound. They're a great rebounding team. We'll have to really keep them off the boards. Q. This is for Terrie. Can you talk as a senior making it to the NCAA tournament, especially coming from a state that's so rich in women's basketball history, did you feel like -- was this one of your goals when you signed with UTSA? TERRIE DAVIS: Yeah, of course. It was my biggest goal when I signed with UTSA. The experience and making it is just great. It is a great experience. I'm enjoying the moment right now and everything. So I am just ready to play against A&M. Q. Rae, I wanted to ask you about your relationship with Gary Blair. Obviously a Blair versus a Blair matchup is interesting. People ask you if you are his granddaughter? COACH RIPPETOE-BLAIR: They do ask if I am his granddaughter. Q. For someone who coaches at a school -- I won't say a small school but a school in a Southland Conference and he has a tradition at Steven F. Austin, can you talk about his reputation in Texas as far as basketball coaching? COACH RIPPETOE-BLAIR: Coach Blair has a great reputation. I have known him for a long, long time. When I was at Oklahoma State and, you know, being at Steven F., he did a great job at getting that program going, what you can do in the Southland. He has ultimate respect. I think he is probably one of the hardest-working coaches in the NCAA right now. And I really think that's why they are where they are. He's done a tremendous job with the recruiting process and just getting them into the NCAA tournament every year. We definitely have ultimate respect for him and Lynn Hickey, our A.D., came from A&M and our associate athletic director sitting down here played soccer at A&M. So we definitely have some ties with A&M. Q. Maybe one drawback is you said he had a lot of respect for your team and that he wasn't going to overlook you guys. Maybe an element of surprise tomorrow on your part? COACH RIPPETOE-BLAIR: Well, I hope so. I know if Belmont would have one last night against Duke, it would have ruined everybody's bracket. But, no, our team -- I think we're very prepared. Like I said, we know what we've got to do. Now it is just a matter of us stepping on the court and going out and doing it. I know that first five minutes is going to be very, very important tomorrow morning. Q. Amanda, your coach mentioned the Duke-Belmont game last night. I don't know if y'all saw it. Does that show that the little guys -- in your case, the little girls, I guess, can beat the big guys? What do you take from that? AMANDA FOSTER: That gives us even more hope. I don't think anybody should overlook us or underestimate our team going into this tournament. We match up really well with Texas A&M. They're a really good team, but I think we can get the job done if we go in there and stick to the game plan. Q. Coach, Coach Blair had mentioned that you guys have a couple of lefty point guards and how difficult that is to practice and prepare for. Have you noticed it being an advantage during the year? COACH RIPPETOE-BLAIR: Not really. I think people when they scout you, when you get to this point, there's so much tape out there in scouting. I know you are talking about Monica Gibbs and Whitney York, and Whitney is from that area, Bryan-College Station. Both tremendous at getting to the hole. I think they're capable of getting -- people had a hard time guarding them. When they do come over to help, Amanda has been able to step up and score, as well as Terrie has done a super job of shooting a 3. She has done a great job of doing that. I think that's the one thing that they do both a great job of, is getting to the basket. Q. Coach, I apologize if you have already been asked this, but just wondering what kind of challenge Atunrase presents as a sixth person coming off the bench bringing offense for A&M? COACH RIPPETOE-BLAIR: She's tough. I mean, she can definitely sit in that starting lineup for them. The one thing we will have to do is we're going to have to guard her. We are going to have to get out. She is shooting the ball very well. I noticed in the Big 12 championship she really stepped up. I think they're all playing well. I think their guards -- the strength of their team is definitely their guards and their defense. Q. Coach, can you talk about what has to happen for you team to pull off the upset? We see it all the time in March Madness. What has to happen tomorrow? COACH RIPPETOE-BLAIR: Well, just a little bit like I said, I think those first five minutes are going to be crucial. We've not been here before. We've got to stay focused and stay under control and then immediately we've got to handle their pressure. I anticipate a full-court press. We've not had problems with that all year, but that's kind of what they like to do. So we'll be prepared for that. And that's what we've got to handle. We cannot have 20, 25 turnovers. We've got to have less than 10 turnovers and then we've got to rebound. I know they have been outrebounding people. We've done a lot better job on the boards lately from the beginning of the year to now. And so those are the two things that I think we have to do tomorrow. Q. Going into a first tournament appearance for your school, what do you tell your players? You want them to be excited, but you don't want them to be overwhelmed. How do you handle that, I guess? COACH RIPPETOE-BLAIR: Well, you know, we've talked about it and one thing that -- I noticed Amanda said after we won the Southland, we don't want it to end. We want to come into this. We want to enjoy the moment. I think we've had our opportunities to enjoy those moments and we have enjoyed them and now it is down to business. And we want to take advantage of this and we want to come in and be very focused. And the main thing, stick with our game plan. Not come out there and one person try to do it all. We've been very team-oriented and that's what you worry about as a coach, one person trying to take over the game. And we don't want to do that. We want to play as a team defensively, especially on the offensive end. Q. Coach, did Lynn Hickey give you any advice going back to where she was at? Did she give you any tips at all for the game tomorrow? COACH RIPPETOE-BLAIR: Just told me to win. That's all. Beat the Aggies is all she told me (laughter). Appreciate everybody. It is a great opportunity. We feel very fortunate and we are just glad to be in Baton Rouge. End of FastScripts |
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