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NCAA WOMEN'S REGIONALS SEMIFINALS & FINALS: OKLAHOMA CITYMarch 30, 2008Joanne P. McCallieWanisha SmithAbby WanerOKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA THE MODERATOR: Coach, your thoughts on this evening's game. COACH McCALLIE: I thought it was a well-fought game. I thought both teams played hard. It was a very physical game. You know, our nemesis crept up again, which has done so in the past when I look at the assist-to-turnover ratio. We've been problematic in terms of where we need to get the ball at times, as well. I thought we fought hard. I was proud of our team's effort. I thought that we started to come back in the second half, but I thought there were some serious losses of poise and composure at critical junctures, which you cannot afford in this environment against a team like Texas A & M. I give a lot of credit to them. They had some players do some things that were outstanding, in particular 51 scoring seven points in six minutes. That's not something she normally does, but obviously she rose to the occasion there. And I thought 24 really hurt us, a player who played above her averages and did a nice job for them. I would have liked to see us play more from the inside out, the physical nature of the game block to block. We did some nice things in rebounding, seeing some of our guards like Abby rebound and Jasmine rebound, those were things that we needed to occur, as well. But I think basically we had some free throw misses that would have been helpful, but at the same time it was more a creation situation of assist-to-turnovers, too many turnovers in a game like this against a very good team. THE MODERATOR: Thank you for your thoughts. We'll take the student athlete questions first. Q. Wanisha, how much in the first half was it their defense that caused the turnovers, or was there something else at work there? WANISHA SMITH: I think a lot of our turnovers came from trying to make a tough pass inside the lane or -- their defense was really good. They pressured the ball, they pressured the lane, but a lot of it just came from us trying to make the big play. Q. Abby, were you guys surprised or taken off guard by the pressure at the beginning of the game? ABBY WANER: We expected pressure like that, I just don't think we handled it well. Our coaches covered that in the scouting and we were prepared for that kind of pressure, we just didn't handle it the way we should. Q. Abby, was it frustrating when the three-pointers just wouldn't go down for you until the later stages when you were already behind by double digits? ABBY WANER: You're never happy when your shot doesn't fall, so yeah, it gets frustrating. I think Coach was right that we needed to go inside out more. Yeah, it does get frustrating when they don't fall. Q. Abby and Wanisha, when your shots just weren't falling, was that something to do with Texas A & M's defense or just one of those nights? WANISHA SMITH: I think a lot of my shots came from just rushing, not taking my time going up. They weren't falling like I wanted them to. ABBY WANER: They're a good defensive team, so I'm not going to take credit away from them, but I'm also not going to place blame on their defense for a lot of the shots that I should normally hit. Q. For Wanisha, how would you characterize this team your senior year? What were the high points of the season for you? WANISHA SMITH: One of the highlights talking in the locker room was just our ability to fight through adversity. I think that was one of the biggest things that brought us together, and unfortunately this loss, it doesn't characterize our season, how we've become a team and bonded with each other, my teammates and coaches, also. Hopefully next year they'll pull together and have more success. THE MODERATOR: Ladies, we're going to let you return to the locker room. We'll take Coach McCallie's questions. Q. Joanne, was there something going on with their defense, or why do you think there was not a whole lot of offense going on in the perimeter or the mid-range jumpers? It seemed like everything was going through the paint early. COACH McCALLIE: Yeah, I think early on I thought we did -- to be down four with the turnovers that we had was very outstanding. The second half I think we got away from what we had been doing, which was to get the ball inside out. We had to work a little bit harder tonight to get the ball inside out because they were fronting on the low block, and when they do that you can't enter directly from the lane, you have to enter from the top and you have to create ball screen situations. We needed a little bit more patience overall in handling that pressure. We give credit to Texas A & M. They had a great year and they did a great job with their defensive pressure. At the same time this was a lesson, freshman point guard versus senior point guard, five seniors versus one senior. Sometimes there's experience out there, but there's a lot of things. It's not a simple answer. But shooting 66 percent from the line at this level, that's not going to help you as much. The turnovers, those are the team points you give up, and that's huge. That's a 20-point turnaround if you look at the fact that we had 19 turnovers number of turnovers. We had eight more turnovers than they did in the game. That's an enormous turnaround in offensive possibilities. So it's a combination of all those things. It's not only one thing. 'Te showed that she was ready to play. 'Te had a strong game and she did some really nice things. We just have to continue to show patience in getting the ball inside and then attacking, and it just -- it's an easy thing to talk about. It's a lot harder to do when there's a lot of pressure out there. Q. Everybody would love to win a national championship and there are about 300 teams to didn't get to this point. Is Sweet 16 a pretty fair assessment of where your team is at this point? COACH McCALLIE: It's hard to say on this night, but I really believe in our team's ability to beat any team, I really do. I'm very proud of this team. They've worked very hard. For a first-year situation, I don't know how many first-year situations have gone to the Sweet 16. I'd have to look that up. But I will say that -- I can't really agree with you totally because I really believe that we could beat these teams, A & M or Notre Dame or Tennessee or whomever. We did not pull it all together tonight, that's true, but I have a great belief in this team. It leaves you very sad, it also leaves you very motivated for the lessons we can take from this experience. Q. Danielle Gant goes out at halftime and doesn't play again. They almost seemed to draw on that really. And then talk about Franklin. She almost goes against what you think she should do, going to the corner. Talk about her, too. COACH McCALLIE: Well, she's a senior point guard who's started practically every game, I think, at Texas A & M. She plays with a great deal of confidence. She plays low to the ground. We're a guard short of having the ability to handle somebody like her, as small as she is. She's very effective, she's very mature on the floor. She plays 35 minutes. When you see her assist-to-turnover ratio -- we had Wanisha with 42, but that's all we had there. I think we're a growing team; that's a seasoned team. We are a growing team trying to win championships. First year, coaches, changes, one senior, all those things. That's a fifth-year team, and I think you saw some fifth-year experience on the floor, and it would be very unfair to talk about that because I've been a fifth-year before, too, and a fifth-year is a lot better than a first-year in terms of philosophy and trying to be all together. Getting back to your question, she's outstanding and makes the most of her size. She's very creative and she's smart, and she plays an excellent game. Q. Back to free throws, typically when you guys are able to limit your opponent's chances and take 30 yourself, you guys have success. At one point in the second half you guys were 5 of 12 from the line. What did you attribute those struggles to? COACH McCALLIE: As a coach you can't really attribute. We've had great games and not-so-good games. You know your team is getting to the line 30 times, but at that point there's nothing you can be concerned about, you just have to coach in the moment and worry about what the whole team concept is. We have to become a better shooting team just generally speaking in the off-season. Again, there are tremendous lessons here for us. Q. Chante Black this season kind of proved she's a big-time player. How confident are you knowing she's going to be back next year? And also Wanisha Smith, what are you going to miss about her? COACH McCALLIE: Chante, she's had an incredible year. She's worked very, very hard. She's been an incredible leader for us. She's demanded the ball, she's made big plays, and without question she's a tremendous player. It's very exciting to think of her as a senior with more strength and more timing and all the things that she had to do with this year coming back from not playing the year prior. The sky is the limit for 'Te. She's one of our better shooters on the team, period. To go to Wanisha, we're going to miss an awful lot from Wanisha. She's the energizer. Wanisha is the kid who's played hard and aggressive and demanding intensity. She just is such a tough competitor, can pull off the balance and do different things. You never replace people, and we won't replace Wanisha. You sort of evolve as a new team. Every year is new, without question. I'm excited for Wanisha. I want her to have an opportunity to play professionally if that's what she wants to do, and I think it is, and I think she's somebody who can really continue to grow her game. Q. Are you surprised they didn't seem to miss Gant any more than they did in the second half? COACH McCALLIE: You know, that can really trigger a team. I mean, she's a great player, and I see that people were triggered. People played great. There's a lot of balance on the team. I'm not surprised at all. When a teammate goes down, usually -- it's one of these things. In the short-term it's beneficial. In the long-term if she would be out it's not beneficial. But in the moment I've found that players rally. She did pretty well before she was out anyway. She still played a great game, and the other girls really stepped it up. THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much, and congratulations on a great season. End of FastScripts |
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