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NCAA WOMEN'S 1ST & 2ND ROUNDS REGIONALS: BATON ROUGE

March 22, 2008

BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA

THE MODERATOR: Our student athletes, Monica Gibbs and Amanda Foster, and head coach, Coach Rae Rippetoe-Blair.
Opening comments, Coach?
COACH RIPPETOE-BLAIR: Thank you. Give Texas A&M a lot of credit. I thought our team was very prepared. We just couldn't handle the pressure.
Going into the game, the one thing that we talked about as a team, we got to handle the ball, and we had, I think, 30-something turnovers. You can't have 30 turnovers. I thought the rebounding -- and that's another area that we had talked about the first half. Second half, we just -- we just did not do a good job on the boards. I thought our kids played hard. I thought they worked hard. I didn't think they gave up. They played until the end. Texas A&M is just good.

Q. Ladies, just talk about that pressure. What makes it so difficult? I know you faced tough teams in nonconference, in power conferences. Talk about what makes A&M different, their guarding you, either their man-to-man or their back-court pressure.
AMANDA FOSTER: I would say whenever -- they would kind of let you penetrate, get in the lane, kind of bate you a little bit and then be out in the passing lanes. We didn't step to the ball very well. Our passes weren't as sharp. Since we were moving at a faster pace, it made it a little bit difficult to pass the ball and see the floor as well. Lanes that are usually open weren't as open, things like that.

Q. Monica, maybe you could tell me, I noticed the first couple times down the court and you and Micheaux were exchanging elbows a little bit. How much more physical was this than what you usually encounter in the Southland Conference? And did that make it tougher for y'all? Their defense, how tough was it to operate against it?
MONICA GIBBS: Well, in the Southland Conference, it is not as rough as we probably played today. We had a lot more calls called on us if we actually play in the Southland like that. Today was a big change.
But I tried to use -- I am a fifth-year senior and I tried to use my experience of playing that long and go with it and play as tough as them. If they do so something, do it right back, like don't back down as a player. But know your limit and don't hurt anybody in it. But just stand your ground, basically.
THE MODERATOR: Any other questions for the student athletes? Thank you, ladies. You may retire. Does anyone have any questions for Coach?

Q. If you would, just assess your post-season as a good run to get here and then just overall for the season.
COACH RIPPETOE-BLAIR: It was a great run. Our last three games, we really played well. To be honest with you, in our last three games, everybody has sagged in their man defense, has not guarded Monica or not guarded Whitney. So in most of the year, that's happened just because they have such a knack to get to the basket. We probably have not played -- in fact, we have not played as talented as a team or top ten team like Texas A&M.
I knew the physicalness of it we would struggle a little bit with. And it is just hard to simulate what they do in practice. We talked about it. We worked on it. I thought we were very nervous, I'll be honest with you. I thought we were very nervous coming out and we knew in those first five minutes things can get away from you, and that's what happened. You try to tell your kids that. They have never been here before. We've got a young team.
I hope this experience -- it has been a great experience. Definitely not -- losing is not great, but it has been a great experience being here. Hopefully we've told our young kids they will remember this, they will carry it over. No matter who you are playing, you got to be ready. You got to handle the pressure, and we just did not handle that pressure.
Honestly, I'm little surprised. I knew they were that good, but I thought we would handle the pressure a little bit better, the ball pressure.

Q. From a coaching standpoint, how difficult a matchup is Gant out there from the defensive end?
COACH RIPPETOE-BLAIR: She's tough. I mean, she can dribble. She is not going to shoot the 3. We gave her a little space, and she was knocking down every shot. We didn't do a very good job of guarding her, I'll be honest with you. We got to block her out. She is just so talented. I thought she played an excellent game today. I thought she was an excellent player. I think she is one of their best players, and I am talking about all-around. She can guard on the defensive end. She can get to the basket, the short jumper. She is just very tough. It was definitely a very tough matchup for us.

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