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MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 10, 2009

Megan McGuffey

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA

Colorado State Â– 64
Wyoming - 56

THE MODERATOR: Student-athletes for Wyoming, Megan McGuffey and Hillary Carlson. Coach Joe Legerski. Coach, if you would start off with some general comments on the game.
COACH LEGERSKI: I think in general today Colorado State came out with a great deal of energy early. I thought they really attacked the basket. They were quicker in transition. We just had to respond from that.
It's very difficult to continually battle from behind. I thought that as far as Wyoming is concerned, we left too many plays out there on the floor today that in tournament play you need to make - none bigger than about 1 minute 40 to go. I believe we're down 6 and we don't come up with a rebound off a missed free throw, then we don't foul again and come up with the second one. Those are plays that you have to make to be in basketball games.
But I thought the theme today was CSU's energy and how much they attacked the basket.
THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes.

Q. Megan, you have played from behind this year and been able to come back, get some big wins. How much harder is it to do it in a situation like this, with the tournament, trying to beat your rival for the third time in a season?
MEGAN McGUFFEY: Yeah, like coach Joe was saying, CSU came out with a great amount of energy. They were just the aggressors the whole game. So, you know, it's hard to play on your heels when they're playing on their toes the whole game.
Yeah, unfortunately we couldn't come back.

Q. What about in the first half, you just had a hard time making baskets. You mentioned the energy. Was it that energy that caused you to miss a lot of shots or were they doing something defensively?
MEGAN McGUFFEY: Uhm, I don't know. I guess we're a young team. You know, sometimes those shots don't fall. Wish they would have now.
But, you know, CSU just kind of put us out of our comfort zone. We weren't getting our feet set. You know, sometimes those shots don't fall.

Q. Joe was talking about the rebounds at the end. What made it so hard, especially on those free throws? What did they do to make it hard for you to rebound all day?
HILLARY CARLSON: Uhm, I kind of think they were really intense. They have really big girls. They're really good rebounders. It gets hard at times.
Just couldn't come up with it.

Q. Megan, I know this possibly could be your last game. What kind of feelings are you going through right now with this situation?
MEGAN McGUFFEY: I guess it's pretty hard to articulate at this point. But I've said all along, I'm really proud of the fact that I came to the University of Wyoming. I'm really thankful that coach Joe gave me a scholarship to play here.
I don't want to end it like this. I hope we get another shot. But it's kind of up in the air right now. But, like I said, just really proud to play with all these girls and play for someone like coach Joe. It's been a good experience.

Q. Hillary, doesn't help right now, but how big was it for you to get some experience in a tournament like this? Maybe you can look back at this game a year or two from now.
HILLARY CARLSON: Yeah, definitely. I mean, we had freshmen, sophomores there in the game the whole time. It definitely helps for our team next year, to get this experience, you know.

Q. Hillary, Amaka, some of the shots she made in the first half she said were shots that coach tells her not to even take. Did she surprise you with some of the offensive play she had?
HILLARY CARLSON: At times, yes. We scouted her, noticed she's a driver. So you kind of give her her space. You know she's going to drive at you. For her to hit those shots, that's great on her part. Working to change her game a little bit, so...
THE MODERATOR: At this time we'll dismiss the student-athletes. Thank you, ladies.
We'll open it up for questions for Coach Legerski.

Q. I know it's kind of a helpless feeling when you're not making shots. You've gone through this this season before. Was it pretty helpless in that first half?
COACH LEGERSKI: I think it is, yeah. You take a look at the last two games, we're 1 of 29 from three-point range. You're not going to win very many games, if any, shooting 1 of 29 from three.
You have to be able to use that. I think, you know, we get players in position to make plays. I came into this game knowing that Colorado State had more tournament experience than we did on the floor with their victories last season. We're out there with a couple of freshmen, Emma, Kristen, that I thought did a great job. This is Hillary's first time to step out on tournament play. Those are some challenges for those kids.
Once again, I can think of one play where we got a steal and the lay-in. That gets very frustrating. First half, we were 8 for 13 from the free-throw line. Those are things that I think at times you have to step up and make those plays, whether it's at the line or from the field.

Q. You mentioned that free throw. It happened twice actually. What were they doing to box out there and to keep it hard on the boards?
COACH LEGERSKI: At times it's the way the ball bounces. I'll go back and look at the film to see if we missed a checkout. You take a look at the players we had out there. They're putting a lot of minutes to try to come from behind. You never know if somebody takes a moment off at the line where they just relax for a split second. Those are the things that determine a game. Those are small plays that have a big impact. I thought Colorado State made the plays. That's what you need to do to get a victory at tournament time. I give credit for them because they came up with two big ones about 1 minute 40 to go.

Q. How realistic, any chance at all for you to go on? What do you hear? I know before this tournament somebody mentioned something about a possible NIT bid.
COACH LEGERSKI: What I've come to understand is that we've gone to post-season the last three years. There were times I thought we were going to the NCAA tournament, and we went to the NIT tournament. There were times when we thought we were going to go to the NIT and we didn't go.
The interesting part about post-season play is that you have to step out on the floor and put yourself in a position that makes it difficult for a committee to make a decision to leave you out.
Whether we've done that or not, I don't know. I'm proud of this group. When you graduate the senior class that we lost, and we lose our starting point guard in September, all of a sudden I got a brand-new back court. To have a winning season with a brand-new back court in this league? Once again, 8-8, fifth in the league, this is a disappointing day for us today. You have to reflect back on what this group has accomplished and how difficult it is for them to continue to, once again, have a winning season.
This is the fifth consecutive winning season for Wyoming. No Wyoming group has ever done that. Megan, Elizabeth and Rebecca ended up tying the most victories in a career. That's a tremendous effort by a group.
Whatever happens post-season, I just know that what they've accomplished this season, I'm very happy with. Disappointed today, you bet. I'm always disappointed when we don't come out victorious. But I'm very happy with what this group accomplished.

Q. The same question I asked Hillary. What will this day mean for them, the young players, whether they make it to the post-season or not?
COACH LEGERSKI: When I look at the young group, what we talk about in the locker room is, you have to build from this day, and it starts right away. You can't show back up in September and expect to play at a very high level without putting the time and effort in.
It's difficult being a Division I athlete. It never stops. And that's what these young players have to learn. I know they're tired. For Kristen, Emma, they played more basketball this year than they probably played in the last two years combined. For Hillary to get that opportunity, I thought she established herself as a tremendous force on the inside for Wyoming, which we have not had in the past.
So we're gonna keep working at it. If a phone call comes for post-season, it comes. If it doesn't, we just go back to work. That's what we do, keep building on what we have. We've never finished less than fifth in the six years I've been at Wyoming. I'm very proud of that and the accomplishments we continue to make and strive for at Wyoming.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, coach.
COACH LEGERSKI: Thank you.

End of FastScripts

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