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BIG TEN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 5, 2009Jori DavisFelisha Legette-JackKim RobersonINDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA Indiana – 68 THE MODERATOR: We'll take an opening statement from coach and then go to the student-athletes. COACH LEGETTE-JACK: I thought that was a fantastic game to watch. You saw a team down and out. We had a freshman come in and hit two big threes. That helped us believe in the possibility. In the second half our defense stepped up, we were able to get some steals. I just think that this is a team that's fighting for something bigger than themselves. Just an honor to be on the ride with them. THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes. Q. Kim, can you talk about the pressure you put on in the second half, how effective that was creating turnovers. KIM ROBERSON: The pressure in the second half was pivotal for us. It allowed us to generate offense from defense, get us an extra possession. Q. Can you talk about playing Purdue under the circumstances with as much pressure as is on you, now having to go through them to reach your goals, and the rivalry. JORI DAVIS: We just want to take it one game at a time. Michigan was a good team. Purdue is also a good team. We just come here to do what we have to do to get to that final stage. We're going to play our hardest with the right energy. We can come off successful. Q. Jori, what was going on in the second half? You were in the zone, as they call it. JORI DAVIS: Nothing. Really a couple shots didn't fall for me. One of my seniors, Whitney Thomas, kept telling me she needed me. That's something when a senior really needs you to step up. They want it so bad. We're here for the seniors, no doubt about it. I just knew in my heart I had to do something that we came out with a win. Q. Kim, what were some halftime adjustments? What did coach tell you in the locker room? KIM ROBERSON: I think she just said to pick up the energy. I know at the end of the half we made a run. We were just trying to build upon that in the second half. We put on a press. That helped generate steals for us and created extra offense possessions. Q. In regards to the first half, they just pounded the boards. 20-10 difference. You evened it up in the second half. Also getting to the free-throw line, 12 compared to two in the first half. KIM ROBERSON: I think coach wrote that on the board. We knew we needed to box out, find our man, keep them off the boards. That allowed us to push the ball on offense. That allowed us to attack and get to the free-throw line as well. We dictated. Q. Jori, were you shocked to be down early, not even to score for the first seven minutes of the game? What was going through your mind at that point? JORI DAVIS: No, I wasn't shocked. We knew we were going up against Michigan, a good team. Like I said, it was more so shock that we have to get our energy up, not so much shocked that we were down, 'cause we knew we had to come through. It was just a matter of fixing it and coming back strong. Q. Kim, you're a senior. What was your mentality going in? Coach said a lot of you have your backs against the wall. Potentially this could have been your last game. What were you thinking as a senior in that situation? KIM ROBERSON: You're right, it could have been my last game. Just as much as the underclassmen are playing for us, we wanted to play for them and lead them in a way we have a sense of urgency. We know what it's going to feel like there's no tomorrow for the four of us. Our underclassmen stepped up, then we led the way. That's how a team is. Q. Kim, with everything on the line tomorrow, playing your rival, possible NCAA berth, does it feel like it's going to be the biggest game of your career tomorrow? KIM ROBERSON: I'm just taking each game at one time, like the rest of the team. Yeah, Purdue is our rival, but it's tournament time. All the other stuff is extra. We're just playing the team that's next. It happens to be Purdue. That's what we're going to do, focus on Purdue, not the Purdue as our rival, but Purdue as our opponent. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, ladies. You're dismissed to the locker room. Questions for Coach Jack. Q. Coach, what did you tell your team when you were down 12-0 early in the first half? COACH LEGETTE-JACK: We talk about the eyes. Something about our kids' eyes. When I look in their eyes, I can almost tell if we're ready. I could never find it in their eyes. Coaches wanted me to call a timeout. I was just waiting on that moment to click in. We made a substitution with Lindsay Enterline. Lindsay's eyes were right. She became contagious. It spread around the team. Even though we were still down, I felt like the fight was about to begin. It wasn't about, Oh, my God. It was about, Once you lock it in, we got a shot. Q. You may have hit on it with Whitney Lindsay, bringing her off the bench. I don't know if she had a score or assist. You had her in a few minutes in the first half. Great job leading the offense in the second half. COACH LEGETTE-JACK: I think when you watch your kids work out extra on their own in the gym, you come in at 11:00 at night, you see a couple people out in that gym, and one of them is your player, one of them is Lindsay. You know when her time comes, she's going to make the most of it. She didn't hesitate. She knew she was prepared. That's what happens. Success comes when you prepare. She is certainly one of the few kids on the team that spends a lot of time in the gym. Q. Are you at all concerned with the nature of the Big-10 tournament, the short recovery, being rested enough to play tomorrow? COACH LEGETTE-JACK: It's the coaches that are out of shape. The players love to play the game. I wish I was a player. I think I'd be even more conditioned if I played the game. But, no. This is tournament time. You can't be worried about something you can't control. It is what it is. I think we're going to be as ready as we possibly can. I just want this tournament to continue because I think there's a place at the top for this team, not because of basketball, but because of the story I think we can tell. This is a special group. This is a group that brings you 3.0s all the time, out in our community, that has a passion for leaving a legacy. I just want us to continue to win so we can get to a place where we can tell our story. Q. Not too long ago Michigan had the lead by about 12 or 15 points. Tonight they had the lead again. What's the mindset there? Did you expect them to come out? How did you counter that? Did you feel relaxed even though they had the lead? COACH LEGETTE-JACK: It's never about Michigan. It won't be about Purdue. It won't be about Michigan State, whomever else we might play. It's about Indiana. A lot of coaches can go both ways, think about the opponent, figure out their philosophy, how they're going to defend. I may be not that bright. I feel it's important I put all my energy on our team. I really concentrate on our kids' eyes, our defense, our offensive segments, what's working for us. If they put a zone out there, I'm still going to run what I think is best for our team. I just think that, yeah, they went on a run. We didn't. The only thing I was concerned about, not that they were up by 15 or 18 points, I was worried about our kids' eyes and our tenacity of purpose. Q. How confident are you about a win will get you into the that next tournament? COACH LEGETTE-JACK: I don't know about that. I think we've done a good enough job to make this committee think about us now. I think we're going to come out here and give our best performance tomorrow. I think we went out and beat an ACC team a Big East team, a Big 12 team, all on the road. We had 15 road trips and we won them all. I think I'm going to play 15 games on the road, and we had a winning record on the road. That was something that didn't get us in last year. We recognized all the things that didn't get us in last year and we've cleaned them up. We'll continue to work hard. But I think we made a statement today. Q. Early on Krista Phillips was really asserting herself inside. On your offensive end, Amber Jackson could play against anyone, but Krista was giving her the most problems. Can you talk about how you neutralized that. COACH LEGETTE-JACK: It wasn't Krista stopping Amber. It was Amber stopping Amber. I said nicely, as politely as I can, in the heat of the moment, Amber, you're stopping Amber, not Krista. If you saw the last two rebounds Amber got over Krista, you'll know why I was so angry with Amber. Amber is one of the best post players in this conference, in my opinion. But she has to go out and represent that every single day. When she doesn't, I need to get in her ear and help her find her way to that place where I know she belongs. Q. Can you talk about the play of Carly Benson and what you did to stop her? COACH LEGETTE-JACK: We thought she was the solution to their team. We decided that wherever she was, we're going to have somebody knowing exactly what kind of chewing gum she chews, what kind of dental work she has. We needed somebody in her face the entire second half. We made that nice adjustment. We decided if she's going to be there, she's going to have to be there for the right hand. I think she's one of the finest players that came through our conference. I wish her well in the future. This particular day, we just wasn't going to give her another 20 minutes. We gave her the first 20. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. We'll see you tomorrow. COACH LEGETTE-JACK: Thank you, guys, for all you do for women's basketball. End of FastScripts |
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