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MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 13, 2009

Jamie Smith

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA

San Diego State Â– 71
UNLV - 63

THE MODERATOR: We're ready to get going with UNLV. Student-athletes for UNLV, Jamie Smith, Shamela Hampton. Coach Kathy Olivier. Coach, if you could give us your general remarks on the game.
COACH OLIVIER: I just -- I don't know. I thought it was a great run at the end of the year. A great time to catch on fire. I thought we did a very good job against a very, very good basketball team.
San Diego State has a lot of talent. Their post players are good. They have good quickness. They have perimeter shooting.
I just thought our team just never said 'die'. I'm just glad that Mike Hammer gave me this opportunity because that was a great run and I had a great time. I learned from five seniors all about the Mountain West.
I just wish it could continue on, but we got our -- our run got cut short.
THE MODERATOR: At this time, we'll open it up for questions for the student-athletes.

Q. Shamela, you kept this team hanging around. Just how were you able to do so against Paris?
SHAMELA HAMPTON: I played great defense on her. I told the reporter yesterday I want to try to keep this team on my back and try to play good defense on her. I think I did kind of a good job.
She got some good shots. But I think I boxed her out really well and not let her get easy shots at me.

Q. Offensively how'd you do it?
SHAMELA HAMPTON: Offensively, I had a lot of confidence. This could be my last game. I'm going to try to carry this team and lead them on my back. Once I get the ball, I'm just going to try to score every time.

Q. Shamela, can you talk about a journey with a first-year coach in your last year and what the last three or four days maybe taught you about the potential the program will have with Kathy as the coach.
SHAMELA HAMPTON: First, I want to say that I'm honored that I have a coach like Olivier. She has taught me a lot here. She has helped us throughout this journey. And I thank her for that. And I thank our athletic directors for bringing someone like her to this program.
I think next year, you know, we will get her program, and I think we're going to take it really, really far.

Q. Jamie, can you just talk about San Diego State's athleticism and how much trouble they gave you guys.
JAMIE SMITH: They're a very quick team. We had a little bit of trouble on the transitioning on 'D'. They're a really good team, but I knew that -- I had the confidence we could definitely keep up with them and beat them. Unfortunately, we did fall short.
I think that we had a really good season, and I'm very proud of our five seniors, especially Shamela. She really stepped up.
The only thing - I'm not going to lie - I'm sad just because I'm not going to play with them. But I have no regrets in this season. We played really well, and we showed Las Vegas what we could do.

Q. Jamie, this season has been an up-and-down freshman year for you. You've been named Freshman of the Year. What do you look towards going the rest of your career? Specifically next season, what do you take from this season to build toward the next seasons?
JAMIE SMITH: Definitely something I'm going to take is Shamela's fire that she had. She was a great leader. Next year we're going to lose five wonderful seniors that were all great leaders. I'm hoping next year I can really step it up as a leader.
I have really the best to follow. That's what I'm looking forward to.

Q. Shamela, this being your senior year, this was a sad way to end this season. What was your level of motivation just going into this game? Did you feel like you had to try to will this team to victory today because it could potentially be your last game?
SHAMELA HAMPTON: Yes, I had a lot of confidence going into this game. Coach has preached us that defensive rebounding is going to win this game. As a senior, I try to give our team confidence. Hey, we could do this.
I'd try to hype Jamie up before the game. You're a great player. Just rebound and score for us, and you will help us win. I try to help our team by motivating them and saying we could do this.
We fell short, but as a senior, I'm glad how we ended the season.

Q. You guys made a big run toward the end but weren't able to close the deal. It looked like maybe some shots were rushed. Can you just talk about the end there, maybe what didn't go right for you.
JAMIE SMITH: I think that just in the heat of the moment all of us are just trying to not really so much do it by ourselves, but we're just trying to win. In the heat of the moment, some shots are not going to fall for us, but some did. I think that in the end we just put it all out there. We weren't going to step off that court and not fit in. Like we put it all on the floor.
So that's what we did, and we just kind of fell short. I don't think that for one second we didn't leave it all on the floor.
THE MODERATOR: I'll dismiss the student-athletes at this time. Thank you, ladies. Open up for questions for Coach Olivier.

Q. If they told you what the Mountain West was, then what did you learn about what the Mountain West was? When you see a team that was 0-16 three years ago in the conference, does it give you hope it can be done quickly to where you can get to that level?
COACH OLIVIER: First of all, they just taught our staff a lot. We're new to the conference. The seniors were constantly talking about road trips, what it's like playing these different towns, the altitude, the different coaches. They knew all the players. They're very basketball savvy.
As far as the rebuilding process, we know it's going to take time. I think this year, the last week of the season, it's been a great run. I think we can definitely build on this last week and a half.
I mean, the focus was at a total different level than it was at the beginning of the year. They believed. I think that's the big reason of our success.
Shamela has taught Jamie a lot. Jamie's feeding off everything Shamela's done. I mean, just listening to her answer the questions and sit up here the last three games, she's stepped up to the plate. That leadership thing, she will take another level. This year as a freshman, that wasn't her job. I think next year we're going to be young, and it's going to be another challenge.
I think it's, again, probably about a three-year process. In year three we're hoping to be one of the best in the conference. Again, these five seniors are the ones that really gave us that direction.

Q. Kathy, what did you do to get back in this game? Was it a combination of maybe a strategic move or San Diego State sort of backing off the gas pedal? What was it?
COACH OLIVIER: To be honest, at the beginning of the game I thought we were a little nervous. The first two games I didn't feel that way at all.
This game three, they were starting to feel it. They were a little -- they were quieter. Just kind of a different sense. So kind of took us some time to get what they call 'our swag' back, so to speak.
Once Shamela started demanding the ball, and you could tell they were getting more and more comfortable, as in 'they', as in our players.
Defensively, we got a few tops. Things started to go our way a little more. I think we were on a 15-1 run. You could tell things were going our way. That's kind of what we've done all year. The momentum swings are huge with this team. We felt good. I think just down the stretch, that last 1:30, nothing went our way. We were trying to as a staff get us back to where we are feeling good.
We kind of just hit that wall. You know, a couple calls go their way, not our way, and that's the game. That's basketball.
I mean, San Diego State's a great team. Beth, Coach of the Year. I mean, that was my vote. They have two all-conference players on their team. They got the quickness. They have the inside game. They have all the things you want in a good basketball team. I think their future is -- they're going to be good in the NCAA tournament, I would think.

Q. Can you expand a little on the seniors. When you come in, especially Shamela, they're either going to accept you or not. If they don't, it's going to be a rough time for you the first year, but they did. When did you know they did? And is it always a concern kids that have only one year left and there weren't many expectations for them? When did you know they had bought in?
COACH OLIVIER: The first week on the job I had individual meetings. Shamela is -- she's, I mean, a dream. Seriously.
She comes in, and we talked. I was just getting a feel. That week it was still school for them. So I had an opportunity to work them out. And I could tell she liked our individual workout.
And she just bought in from day one. I mean, she bought in. She took ownership. I think for her it was more about I'm going to make this a good senior year for her and for her teammates.
And as it went on, she was just buying in more and more. Liked some of the things we did early in our individual work.
When they came back after the summer, it was easy. I mean, she came in in great shape. She worked out all summer. And the team was anxious, just anxious to get started, kind of have a new beginning.
I mean, again, I was -- I got put in a great situation as much at the beginning I was like, Oh, no. There was so much that we had to do as a staff to get this thing going in different ways. We had to make a lot of changes. But not in the team ways. In the team it's more about building their confidence.
And once Shamela bought in, you know, everyone else -- Shamela's the leader. Once she bought in, the other seniors were starting to buy in. It's all she wrote. It was good.
I wish that we wouldn't have had so many ups and downs. And the last week, week and a half, they didn't go that far down. We were just -- we were at fives and going to nines and tens, where in the season we were at eights and nines and hitting some ones. But emotionally we just got on par, on cue, and we ran with it. Shamela bought in, honestly, like after our first individual session. She was a champ.

Q. Just taking back from this game, you were down by as many as 18 and got cut down to 2. Then you said the team kind of hit a wall. Did you feel that was more of the team just getting tired, or was it the slow start have more to do with the need for desperation at the end?
COACH OLIVIER: Again, we went on that run. It wasn't like we hit a wall. I don't want to be set up here for any fines. But we hit -- you know, things just didn't go our way for whatever reason. If it was calls, if it was maybe a basket here or there, things didn't go our way.
That was the wall we hit. It wasn't like a physical wall or a mental wall. It was more of we just didn't get the calls didn't go our way.
I thought our team continued to fight through. We tried to mix some things up defensively. We almost had the steal at half fort that might have changed some things. Indy stepped up the last six or seven minutes, and she just attacked the basket. We had different people down the stretch step up.
Shannon had a great end of her senior year. I thought Brittany came back, had a great game today. Allison Holiday did some good things today. We had different people step up. It just didn't go our way. It wasn't meant to be this year. For whatever it was worth, it wasn't meant to be this year. The last two minutes, San Diego State, they're a good basketball team.

Q. Just building off of that for next season, what do you look to try to rebuild? Obviously, you have to replace Shamela and the other seniors. But besides that, what else do you feel the team needs to work on going into next year if they want to be a contender in the conference?
COACH OLIVIER: Yikes. I haven't even thought about that. I mean, the seniors we're going to miss. Bottom line, they're great people. They're competitors. They were giving their guts. They had a focus. They're older. They have the experience.
We're going to miss their experience, their leadership, their buy-in. I mean, they were crying in the locker room. No crying in basketball. That's out.
As far as next year, again, back to the drawing board. We'll sit down, talk about it. I mean, how do you replace someone like Shamela? That's going to be rough. She's just -- she's got that drive and that desire and that muscle. 6'3". How many 6'3" girls are out there? If anyone knows anyone, let me know.
We have some good freshmen coming in. We signed a class. I believe they were ranked in the top 50 recruiting class in the country. You never know. Jamie Smith, look at her. She stepped up. Signed late. Did a great job. Relentless.
I'm looking forward to next year even though I didn't want any of this year to stop. This year was fun. It was a great run. I'm just here for a reason, and I thought this last week was that reason. This last week, they experienced what they hadn't experienced. As seniors, they had their confidence. They felt good about what they gave the community, what they gave the students.
They were talking about having the faculty here. A lot of them had professors at the games. They felt really good about themselves. That's what it's all about. You learn so many things from the game of basketball. That's what it's about.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, coach.

End of FastScripts

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