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BIG TEN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 6, 2009

Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA

Purdue Â– 68
Indiana - 64

THE MODERATOR: We will begin with an opening statement from Coach Sharon Versyp then we'll go to the student-athletes for questions. Sharon.
COACH VERSYP: I just thought this was going to be a great battle with in-state rivals. There's always so much at stake. Everyone thinks they're on the bubble, they're definitely an NCAA team, great basketball team. Have so much great respect for them.
We were just able to do really do some things down the stretch. I think Danielle Campbell's block where Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton was able to pick it up and pick it ahead of Brittany Rayburn was obviously a big key defensive play and offensive play for us to get the momentum and do a great job with 14 seconds left and playing really good defense and being able to secure the rebound.
THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes.

Q. Lindsay, just talk about that sequence there, looking up and seeing Brittany racing down the court. Sort of take us through what happened there.
LINDSAY WISDOM-HYLTON: Well, she kind of saw that I secured the ball and she kind of just took off and it was a great play.
And I kind of wanted to make sure I gave her a good pass. So not turn the ball over. And just throw it out of bounds. I kind of tossed it up there, gave her enough time to get it. She did a good job with finishing with contact.

Q. Brittany, talk about how you controlled the game especially in the second half. What did Coach tell you at halftime, some adjustments?
BRITTANY RAYBURN: We just came out fired up as a team. We were like now we have it where we want it, and we had to go fight for it. There was really no change in game plan. We just went out there and wanted it more in the second half.

Q. Lindsay, you're down 14 in the first half and then you guys finish on a 17-to-4 run, but Brittany had nine points in that stretch. How big was that stretch for her to maybe take over and be aggressive going to the hole?
LINDSAY WISDOM-HYLTON: It was huge. We were trying to be more aggressive. Our outside shot was not falling at that time. And she was the only one really taking and being aggressive to the hole. She was able to get to the line a couple times. And we were feeding off her. We all get excited and had the momentum going and we did good.

Q. Brittany, you were really kind of composed. Looked like every time you had the ball you were getting bumped or hit and you still came back and were driving hard to the basket. I guess what was your mentality in the game, especially in the second half?
BRITTANY RAYBURN: I knew coming in here it's tournament time and all upperclassmen were telling me it's a different atmosphere. Definitely was. It was more physical and something we have to focus on and going strong out there. It's really no different than any other game. So I felt like by people telling me what to look for really helped.

Q. Brittany, compare this game, your own performance with the first time you played Indiana.
BRITTANY RAYBURN: I just felt like I was more composed. It's been a long season. I felt like we've grown more as a team, and I feel more comfortable with who I'm playing with and I think they feel more comfortable with me and I think we just played more together as a team this game.

Q. Lindsay, did you feel like this team's experience sort of helped you through that period in the first half when you got down to double digits there?
LINDSAY WISDOM-HYLTON: I think so. Just everybody on the court, we had to execute and take care of the ball and play good defense, and that's really what we were stressing. We've been here before. A lot of people, not Brittany, but we've been here before and been in these types of situations.
And I think the last time we played them it was the same situation but we weren't able to execute and finish at the end. That was the problem. Both teams have grown since then and we did a better job executing at the end and that's why we came out on the top.

Q. Brittany, this is your first college post-season game. You would expect nerves a little bit, but if there were, they sure didn't show.
BRITTANY RAYBURN: Again, basketball has a lot to do with composure. You can't freak out in situations. When you have five senior leaders on your team, it helps you stay composed because you know they're going to step up and do things too. It's not all about you and it's definitely easy when you have people leading you through it.

Q. Lindsay, I believe you actually fist pumped after the first free throw you made. Just kind of talk about the importance of this win for you guys. I'm sure you really wanted it after losing to them earlier this year.
LINDSAY WISDOM-HYLTON: Exactly. We did lose last -- earlier in the season to them and we wanted to come out. And we have that in-state rival. We really wanted to come out and do better this time. And I think we did, and we showed it. And we were kind of feeding off of each other with energy.
And we were able to come back with being down with a deficit. We did a really good job coming back and we just fed off each other's energy.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, ladies.
We'll continue with Coach Versyp.

Q. Sharon, what changed in the complexion of the game when Rayburn came in and started attacking the basket like that?
COACH VERSYP: We needed somebody to attack. They were being so aggressive on offense. And FahKara Malone wasn't getting any kind of penetration, nobody else was. And Jodi Howell's 3-ball wasn't falling. Those are the things we've asked from Britty. We told her if you're in rhythm shoot the 3.
Other than that she's a great pull-up jump shooter. She knows how to get people in foul trouble. She has great body control attacking the glass. She's matured so much in the minutes she's played with her upperclassmen. She just knew what she needed to do and she was obviously very successful.

Q. Just to see this team finish the deal in this kind of game and this kind of environment, what did that mean to you to see that happen like that?
COACH VERSYP: It was a huge key for us. Our five games that we played so well, we pretty much had average of 18-point wins, then we lose a close one at Michigan State.
So this is great for the psyche. Everybody thinks the game is so physical right now, but it's more of the mental edge. And I think our players stayed focus. When we were down by 14, I constantly said, Don't worry about the score in the next four minutes; we're cutting it to an 8-point lead. And then the next, Get it down to 6. And we said before we went in we wanted it to 4 and we had it to 1. So when you walk in, no one was panicking, we were in great shape.

Q. You started out the game in man then went to the zone, then you went back to some man in the second half. What did you see out of your team that you said let's go back to some man here in the second half?
COACH VERSYP: I think it's just a gut reaction as a coach. You just see the tempo. And if someone's hurting you and they hit a couple 3s, because we didn't cover anything actually when we were in that zone.
First half, we held them the last seven minutes. They didn't have a field goal, just had free throws. And we went to our one defense. Then in the second half we kept switching it up so you're always trying to keep the team off balance.
But it was more my gut I was changing it on the fly most of the time.

Q. In your opening comments you said IU is definitely an NCAA tournament team. Could you expand why the committee should put them in?
COACH VERSYP: They've had a great season. We all have highs and lows. They've beat some very good teams. I totally feel we should have six in the tournament. And the Big Ten is very tough, has a lot of parity.
So I think if you look at ours, IU has outside shots, the inside, they're very competitive, they're fun to watch. They play great basketball. And I just think they deserve it, as well as our Big Ten Conference, that six should get in.

Q. After watching Jori Davis score 22 yesterday, how did you plan to neutralize her today?
COACH VERSYP: She was a key. Jamie Braun and Whitney Thomas and Jori Davis, when they start getting the stroke -- I mean, Jamie had a really great stroke going. But we knew we had to take something away. Can't take everything away because they have such a well-balanced scoring attack.
But I really feel that that was a key to really keep her down in scoring as much as we can, get her in foul trouble a little bit. I think [Lakisha] Freeman, she doesn't get a lot of credit, but she's really our best defender. She really locks down players and doesn't allow them to score a lot of points. And I thought she and our team collectively, whether we're playing man or zone or switching, we all did a nice job.

Q. We've managed not to talk a lot about Lindsay, but she had 17 and 15. Can you talk about -- she seemed to have a hand in almost every critical play it seemed like.
COACH VERSYP: That was a big key for her. She was not happy at all how she played at Michigan State, and she was going to make sure no one had a good contested shot; that everybody was taking care of the basketball and she wasn't going to turn the ball over.
But, you know, Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton was facing the basket. They were double-, triple-teaming her down low so she had that great face-up jumper. Her rebounding is just amazing. She just has a knack for the ball. She's a great leaper. And she's been a huge key to our success. How do you have 15 -- you have more boards than points. And she's going to be the key for us in the March run.

Q. Can you talk about FahKara's defense in the last series on the Jamie Braun and how she denied her?
COACH VERSYP: I thought one of the big keys before they called the timeout is Jamie is such a great shooter, she has a great step-back. And every time she started penetrating, then she started bringing it back.
FahKara, we always teach when you start bringing the ball back, to approach and force them to the sideline. And I thought she couldn't get a good look off. And then they called the timeout. And then just every time everybody who was switching every screen, we didn't want a 3 to occur. Everybody denying, not foul the shooter period. But I thought FahKara just wasn't going to let her get the ball.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach.

End of FastScripts

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