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BIG TEN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 7, 2009Jim FosterJantel LavenderAshlee TrebilcockINDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA Ohio State – 72 THE MODERATOR: We're going to go straight to the student-athletes for questions, and I will repeat the player's name before they answer. Q. Jantel, watched you guys come out tonight for the game, the starting 5 especially, what were you talking about? Were you just talking about this game? JANTEL LAVENDER: We came out and held it up and we were like all we have to do is be ferocious and have a lot of energy and focus on running and rebounding, as it was the key thing that we were talking about in our huddles. And we were talking about coming out, being the first people to start out in the game and with a lot of energy so that everyone on the bench could come out with that same intensity, because we set the tempo for the game. Q. Ashlee, do you remember any games where you guys came out -- the last two games, where you came out with a better first seven or eight minutes this season? ASHLEE TREBILCOCK: I don't know whether there was a couple better couple minutes, but we came out real hard against Michigan State and a couple of those teams at the beginning of the Big Ten. And we just brought that back. It's all about like our first defense, we weren't letting them get anything off. And I think that's why we got that early lead. Q. Jantel, was there any talk about the fact that they had scored 85 points against you the last time you saw them that you did not want that to happen again? JANTEL LAVENDER: Yeah, that was a major emphasis. And we knew if we give up 85 points it's kind of hard for us to beat a team like that. We know if we play defense and we hold them to a certain amount of points that our team is capable of it, and we come out with a great defensive effort we'll do good. 85 points is just too much to give up. We knew that. Q. Jantel, you and Star Allen you did whatever you wanted, could you talk about that? JANTEL LAVENDER: I think we saw it early we could be dominant in the post, it was opening up and we reversed the ball. And we play a high-low game good together and we noticed it early in the game, and we took advantage of it. Q. Ashlee, one of the things you guys did in this game that was different at Iowa Star was on Kachine Alexander. Can you talk about the reason that that happened and the job that Star had to do to keep her off the boards? ASHLEE TREBILCOCK: It's just a smart matchup because Ausdemore is more of a guard, and we realized that. And Wendy Ausdemore is more of a driver. And it's hard for someone like that to go against Star. That's kind of a hard matchup for her. So Coach made that call before the game, and it was a good move. Q. Both of you, could you talk about how many times -- how many turnovers you froze in that first half on Iowa and overall for the game? ASHLEE TREBILCOCK: I wasn't in in the very beginning, but we just had a lot of pressure. We weren't letting them getting any easy entry passes. You could tell they started getting frustrated when Smith threw up kind of an ugly-looking 15-footer, and they started rushing shots and just trying to get shots off. And that was just -- they couldn't get the ball into their guards. JANTEL LAVENDER: That was a good response. ASHLEE TREBILCOCK: Thanks (laughter). Q. At what point did you really know that you had this game under your control and you were going to win this game? JANTEL LAVENDER: I think we came out and we set the tempo in the first half, and we knew we had to come out with that same energy in the second half and we knew if we didn't let up it was kind of hard for them to keep up with us, especially with the way we were running and the way that we were rebounding. So we knew we had to come out with the same intensity we played in the first half and we were up like, what, I don't know by how much by the second half. But we just came out and played the exact same we did in the first half because it was effective. Q. Ashlee, you had I think eight straight points there when they started to cut into it a bit. Did you feel good to hit those 3s to put down their little rally in the first half? ASHLEE TREBILCOCK: It's nice to make shots. I didn't think about it, it was eight in a row or anything. But the most important thing is our teammates, we were reversing the ball really well and they were getting me open shots and the layup just opened up. Q. You've already played Purdue twice. You get them tomorrow night. What do you expect for them tomorrow night, Jantel? JANTEL LAVENDER: I expect them to come out and play extremely hard. This is sort of one their home courts. We have to be ferocious, like we played today. Come out with the same intensity we played today and just play Ohio State basketball. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, ladies. Questions for Coach Foster. Q. Talking about offense last night and this game, even though you got off to a fast start, it was all about defense again, wasn't it? COACH FOSTER: It's always about defense. Q. How did you like the way you guys were doing it this time? COACH FOSTER: I thought we had the right energy and I thought we made the right decisions, and we were very aggressive with our switches. We didn't -- we went to them. We challenged early and often. Q. Coach, could you talk about how well Jantel runs the floor? She always gets down quick, a lot of easy baskets in transition. COACH FOSTER: I've said this -- actually got a letter from a fan after Jantel's freshman year that told me she was slow and didn't have good hands. And my biggest fear is that Jim Tressel realizes that the best tight end on our campus plays for me. She can run like a deer and she's got great hands. Q. Coach, your team's gotten off to a great start two nights in a row, but then it's leveled off. Is that any concern to you? Is it hard to keep an edge? COACH FOSTER: No, it's basketball. I mean, they're 21-10. They're a good basketball team. This isn't boxing. You can't knock an opponent out. The game's going to last 40 minutes. And they have three seniors that have scored over a thousand points in their career. They're hungry. They have first and second round at their place, play preceding, all the motivation in the world. That's what this thing's about, and what collegiate sports are about. This time of year playing with a purpose and with a lot of heart. Q. Again, you switched Star onto Alexander, who was pretty active and remarkable on the boards, but she did -- what kind of job do you think she did with that? COACH FOSTER: I think she did a great job. Alexander's home is the lane and Ausdemore's is on the perimeter. That's where they're both in their comfort zone. And last time we're running Star out to the perimeter, play a post player really as a guard and we got a very active rebounding forward who is making hay in the lane with her aggressiveness. Q. Allen was pretty tenacious on the boards. Could you talk about her? A lot of rebounds, at least one or two off a missed free throw. Could you talk about that? COACH FOSTER: She had a lot of practice with that tonight. We usually are a very good foul-shooting team. In fact, we are a very good foul-shooting team. So I'm not quite sure what the team decided to work on their offensive rebounding off of foul shots today. She's quick. She's very quick and very deceptive and she has great hands. So if you don't put a body on her, her feet are going to get her in a place where she can do damage, and it's something that she's done for her whole career and is doing more often down the stretch. Q. Again, you've seen Purdue twice. Are you guys going to surprise each other tomorrow night with anything or are you just going to go after each other? COACH FOSTER: I'm sure that people will have wrinkles. It's the nature of what we do. We'll watch film tonight and tomorrow morning before we go on for our shoot-around. And we'll have some thoughts, as will they. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. End of FastScripts |
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