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NCAA WOMEN'S FINAL FOUR

April 4, 2009

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Oklahoma head coach Sherri Coale, as well as student-athletes Ashley Paris and Whitney Hand. Coach, if you could give us an opening statement.
COACH COALE: Thank you very much. We're honored to be here, honored to be competing in this Final Four in St. Louis, looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead and very appreciative of the opportunity.
THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes.

Q. Ashley, after four years of working, working, working, what does it mean to you to finally get to a Final Four?
ASHLEY PARIS: It means a lot. And Courtney obviously has been here every year for the All-America awards and she's always talked to me about how cool it is and how much it hurts not to be here and be an All-American.
But just how exciting it is for those girls who are All-Americans and playing. So just to be here is unreal. And I don't feel like there's any better way to end my career, any group of people that, better people that I could have been around. So this is just fun, real and exciting for me.

Q. Ashley and Whitney, if you could talk about the challenge ahead what you know about Louisville and this is a program that's new to the Final Four. Is it hard facing a team that's seen somewhat as an underdog?
WHITNEY HAND: Yeah, definitely. I think Louisville is a great program. I think they've gained some momentum in the tournament and they're definitely on a roll and I think they're playing with some sense of urgency that we haven't seen really from them yet in this tournament.
So I think they're definitely on a roll, and I think Angel McCoughtry is one of the best players in the country, and she's definitely difficult to contain and they just play really well around her.
So they're definitely going to be a hard matchup, but they're playing well right now.
ASHLEY PARIS: It is kind of hard because they consider themselves underdogs and they play with that the world's against us mentality and it's hard to play against. And Angel is a talented player, but they obviously have some great pieces that go along with her. They mix stuff up on defense and offense and they're just a very talented team. So it's going to be a great game, I think.

Q. Ashley, can you talk about the matchup with McCoughtry, what a difficult matchup she is being a pretty big girl who also plays outside and how you guys might try to defend her?
ASHLEY PARIS: She is a difficult matchup, because she's a very talented player and she can score the basketball in a lot of ways, but I feel like we have a lot of guys who can try to contain her. I feel, yeah, she's a bigger guard, but Amanda and Whitney are six foot.
So I just feel like with our guards, I feel like they can do a pretty solid job of trying to slow her down a bit?

Q. Ashley, Courtney's not here so you can talk about her sort of behind her back. What is it that you do better on the court and what is it that you are better than her at off the court?
ASHLEY PARIS: Off the court, I'm better than her at pretty much everything (laughter), except for like being annoying and stuff that you don't want to be better at. On the court, I don't know, it's hard to say. I feel like I really complement her game and I think that comes with playing with her all my life.
And naturally I feel like I'm a little bit more mobile than she is and a little bit more versatile than she is.

Q. Follow-up, you mentioned the mobility. Has that helped? I read somewhere that you lost some weight over the summer. Do you attribute being a little bit more mobile to losing the weight or how has that affected your game?
ASHLEY PARIS: Definitely. I feel like I have more endurance and just I'm quicker up and down the court and I'm able to be out on the perimeter and give our guards some room to penetrate and Courtney more room to work on the post. Yeah, definitely has contributed a lot.

Q. If you could talk about your season a little bit, both of you, why do you think you got this far? Is there something about the team that maybe we don't know that helped you get this far, whether it's friendship or the bonding that went on? Was there a pivotal moment in the season where you sort of catapulted to this?
WHITNEY HAND: I think our team really just -- we're as together as any team can be and I think that's really genuine, and I think that's something you don't see very often. It's not just surface we have to respect each other, like each other because we're forced to play with each other; it's a genuine want to be together friendship and love and family that kind of you can just see it resonate to the surface.
And I think that's what made our team special. You've seen very many times we'll have a struggle in the first half. We'll be down at halftime and I think we just show that by playing together and playing within each other to just battle our way back. I think when you're playing for each other it makes it a whole lot harder to beat than when you're just playing for yourselves.
ASHLEY PARIS: Yeah, what Whitney said. I think we're a very talented team. I think our coaches have recruited pretty solid players. We have Courtney and Whitney and Danielle and just a bunch of depth.
I mean, we're a good team. I think the main thing about us and the reason that we're here is because of our chemistry on and off the court. It is that bond we have and that belief in each other and that we truly want to win for each other, and I feel like that's why we're here today.

Q. Ashley, you talked a lot about how you've changed as a ball player over the years, particularly from last year to this year. Tell us how Courtney's changed as a player. Is she pretty much the same player she was when she came in, or what's been her development and progression?
ASHLEY PARIS: Man, it's hard to say that about Courtney. Because most of the time she's going to have the double-double and dominate a game and when she doesn't the whole world knows about it.
So, I mean, I feel like she's become a smarter basketball player here and just really learned the game and really learned how to make teammates better and just become a student of the game?

Q. A&M, Iowa State, Baylor made some very strong runs through this tournament and there have been several other Big 12 teams that obviously played real well in the post season. Talk about how getting through a season playing against competition in one of the tougher conferences maybe prepared y'all for getting to a tournament where you're playing very good teams every night and how it might make you prepared for the Final Four.
ASHLEY PARIS: I think the Big 12 is it's frustrating but it's great. I feel like every time we go into one of these games, okay, they're like a Baylor; okay, that's kind of like an Iowa State; okay, they're like a Texas.
I feel like the Big 12 is so versatile and so talented that it prepares you for everything post season has to offer.
WHITNEY HAND: Yeah, I totally agree. I think that, I mean, when you go to press conferences everyone's like how do you handle Georgia Tech's pressure? You lost to A&M, how is that? But the cool thing is we got to play A&M three times and the cool thing is we got to play Baylor twice. I mean, that definitely prepares you and I think especially as a young player it really exposes you to this kind of attention earlier while you're going through it later, I guess.

Q. Whitney and Ashley, is it difficult or how do you go about separating the hoopla of this event and this is a very serious business of trying to win a national championship? Is that a difficult thing to do?
ASHLEY PARIS: I feel like you don't take for granted being here. There's a lot of hoopla going on and I feel like we owe it to ourselves to enjoy it and embrace it, but we also came here with a goal; that's to be national champions. At the end of the day this is all great, but we remember we came here to try to win two games.
WHITNEY HAND: I think, I mean, the same thing. I think it obviously can be distracting, but Coach talks about staying within our bubble and being excited for each other but not losing focus of our ultimate goal.

Q. Ashley, do you feel like you play in your sister's shadow?
ASHLEY PARIS: I think I've said this last night or whenever I was doing media yesterday. I feel like most of the world plays in Courtney's shadow. It's not just me.
And obviously she's a very dominant presence, and she's a post and I'm her twin sister and she's done so much for women's basketball and so much for our program that naturally I play in her shadow. But I enjoy it. I signed up for it.

Q. This is a follow-up for Ashley on that. Was there ever a time when you guys thought about going to different schools or were you always a package deal in high school?
ASHLEY PARIS: I think we would have loved to be a package deal. And we thought that way when recruiting started. But I felt like we both decided that we're going to make the best decision for us individually and if we could do that together, then great. And I felt like Oklahoma has what was best for both of us. So it kind of worked out that way.
THE MODERATOR: Thanks to both of you. Questions for Coach Sherri Coale.

Q. Sherri, when Whitney is smiling, what does that mean for your team, not only game plan-wise? I know it's important for her shots game plan-wise, talk about that, but also psychologically her infectious personality, how does that benefit you?
COACH COALE: I've said a number of times this season that when Whitney's making baskets from behind the arc we feel like we're invincible and we sort of play that way.
I think particularly in this tournament, our team has taken on both Whitney and Danielle's personality. I think they've just kind of followed suit. One of the keys I think once you get here, everybody's good. Who can relax and who can enjoy the experience and who can get lost in the immersion of playing the game, that might determine who ends up with a W at the end of the night.
And when Whitney's hitting 3s and smiling and we're jumping around and hugging each other, it's pretty easy to get immersed in the moment and it allows you most often to put your best game forward.

Q. When you look at DVDs, game film, whatever, what do you see with the Lady Cards, the particular style, and what kind of different challenges do they bring to you guys, especially the whole underdog thing and really never been here before?
COACH COALE: The whole underdog thing I find kind of interesting because nobody on my team has ever been here before either. So it's a new experience for everyone.
But Angel McCoughtry obviously is their axis, and as she goes they go. But I think the people around her know how to play around her and with her and alongside of her. They don't stand and watch her play. That's the reason why they're here. They do a lot of things defensively which keeps you from scripting too much offensively. When you don't know what's coming, it's hard to be prepared for it.
I think our guards have to be real heady and we have to handle all those changes and adapt and we'll see how deep our basketball IQ really is because we're going to have to make decisions on the fly and react.
Offensively, I think they're so difficult to contain. I don't know that you can stop Angel McCoughtry. You can maybe limit her as best you can, limit her touches, get her off the ball, and then do everything within your power to keep her from getting the rebound. But she's interesting, because they run everything to her, obviously. You go through their sets and we could have 12 pages of diagrams of sets that they run. Pretty quick hitters, but they all have the same exact ending action.
Angel gets the ball. And it's hard to keep her from doing that, yet that's not the way that she always scores. She's great on defense her anticipatory skills are outstanding. So she creates offense for herself.
She gets a lot of it off defense, anticipating and getting steals, and she gets a lot of it off the glass. So you try to at least limit her touches in those two avenues.

Q. How different is this for you from the first time? Because I remember you telling stories about going to Stacy Hansmeyer, what is this like and what happens in a Final Four. Do you feel like a wise veteran at this point? How is it different?
COACH COALE: I do, I feel like a wise old sage. I've got that Smart Water back there and I've been drinking it and I feel really good.
You know, it is nice to have had the experience, but things change every year. It's funny, we were just in a team meeting this morning. I was trying to tell my guys what was going to happen at the State Farm All-American press conference and how it happens. And I was talking about every year inevitably it's in a room that's way too small for all the people who would like to get in there.
We walk in there; it's a daggone banquet hall, it's nothing like it's been, and they're looking at me like, Really, you've been here before?
So everything changes as you go, but I do think it's helpful to be able to prepare just for what the media is like, the open practice, the way you're pulled in different directions and how you have to at the end of the day return to your bubble and do the work you're called here to do. So I think it's helpful to have been here before.

Q. Sherri, what do you need from Danielle tomorrow?
COACH COALE: Continued leadership. Continued leadership, toughness. Control of the basketball. Management of the game. We don't ask point guards to do much, do we. Just listed everything that's important except score 40. We don't need her to do that, though; it would be nice, and I'll take it if she'd like to. She needs to run the team, recognize, handle the basketball, stay composed, have the good face that I think all great point guards who are successful, they carry the good face with them. If she has that, we'll be fine.

Q. Sherri, kind of the same question I asked Ashley. What do you think is the biggest improvement in her game in the last year? And people say that twins tend to have that sort of special chemistry. And I wonder if that helps the rest of the team, complements it or if that ever gets in the way of team chemistry?
COACH COALE: Good question. First of all -- or questions. First of all, in terms of Ashley's improvement, I think there have been two major areas and they're connected one to the other.
One is obviously her improved fitness level which enables her to play harder, longer, enables her to do more things. I said repeatedly that she has improved her skill set in terms of facing the basket. But the way her improved conditioning level has helped us most is in the area of transition, because it gives us a target down the floor every single time and offensive transition gives us a post player running rim to rim, and defensively it allows us to get out from basket protection to get to our shooters and get early defense sets. She's really affected us in that very important piece of a full-court basketball game.
I think the other way that she's improved dramatically has been her confidence. And it's hard to say which came first. But typically kids' confidence grows when you give them something really hard to do and they do it.
Whether we gave it to her or she gave it to herself, she committed to getting into physical condition and she committed to developing a perimeter skill set and when she did that her confidence blossomed and grew, and hard to tell what came first, the chicken or the egg, but it's been a nice ending product.
As far as the sixth sense that the twins have I think it's fabulous, I think very rarely does it cause any sort of a disconnection with the rest of the team. I think you could see a little bit of it in the second half of the Purdue game, a couple of high-low passes and extra gives they gave to one another late in the game when the other three guys on the floor are taking care of their business and moving, and it allows that sixth sense that I think is special to twins to sort of rise to the top.

Q. There seems to be a consensus among people who have watched the game all year that your semifinal was a game for second place. Do you catch yourself peeking ahead to UConn, the challenge that you guys would face?
COACH COALE: No. I'm focused on Louisville right now.

Q. Sherri, do you find the last four years have been somewhat of a tinkering process as far as trying to find the right pieces to complement Courtney, and why did this year's team connect?
COACH COALE: I think every season is a tinkering process, honestly. You have different pieces and parts, and even if you have the same exact team, you have guys that develop and change and hopefully they're all getting better and improving in that direction. But no one's static. And it's like riding a bike, you're either going forward or backward. You're not going to sit still on it.
So every team is different. I look at through the four-year progression of what we have had around Courtney and with her on the floor and her freshman year. We had very seasoned guards who really had a high basketball IQ and knew how to play around her and with her. She got to go to the block and do the easy stuff, kind of be -- not that her job was easy, I don't want to say that.
But she just had to hold down that piece in the paint, and the people around her thought and moved and created things and she had this incredible freshman year. Some of those guys graduated and suddenly it got a little bit different.
And every year there's been a different composition. I think the unique thing about this year is that we have, proverbially, I guess, all the pieces in terms of we have a real heady, talented point guard; we have shooters who can stretch the defense; we have speed; guys who can break the defense down off the dribble.
And then Ashley's development, too, and her ability to step off the block and become sort of a quasi perimeter player complements Courtney as well.
I think all those things sort of have fallen into place, along with that magical ever elusive thing called chemistry.

Q. Not necessarily looking at teams in this year's Final Four, but if you go back and look at some of those Tennessee teams, UConn teams, do you think it's good for the game to have teams that are so dominating in one year they can just shear through teams like that?
COACH COALE: Not especially. I think parity is always good for growth. I think Louisville being here for the first time is good for the growth of women's basketball.
I think it's tough. It's obviously tough to break through that when those sort of dynasties are in place, but I think you're continuing to see that. I think we saw more upsets in the NCAA tournament this year than we've ever seen.
And while you hate it for Pat and everything that she's done for this sport, and obviously the success of Tennessee and Connecticut have catapulted our sport into the national spotlight. But in order to continue to grow, there need to be other folks in the sight. And I think it is healthy for the growth.

Q. Sherri, how much can we expect to see Amanda play, and is her foot getting better? And the other thing talk about Courtney's second half against Purdue?
COACH COALE: I think we will see even more of Amanda. We kind of had to make a tough decision at the start of the NCAA tournament as to how much we used her, and I made the decision to only use her if I thought we had to have her early on, particularly in the first and second games.
And I think that it's paid off dramatically. She was feeling much better in the Oklahoma City regional and yet again I thought every day helps. And the training staff told us that: The longer you can rest her the more efficient she'll be when she returns.
We got her some what I call momentum minutes in the first game at Oklahoma City just to get some timing back and to get a feel for the game. And then when we had to have her against Purdue. She was fabulous and was able to practice more yesterday and the day before than she has practiced in three weeks. And that's because of that two-week rest we were able to give her. So I expect her to be able to give us whatever we need from her on Sunday night.
Courtney's second half against Purdue I thought was vintage Courtney Paris. You know, she's so good all the time. Who does that? Who gets a double-double almost every night of their entire collegiate career? But she does have ups and downs and hills and valleys like everybody else, just her valleys don't sweep quite as deeply as some of ours do sometimes.
I think what you saw in the second half was what has defined Courtney throughout her career: will, passion, energy, explosiveness. She just competed on every possession. And I thought really controlled the real estate right around the rim.

Q. It's easy to forgive because so much has been made against Courtney and Ashley, but beyond those two you've got a pretty young team. Talk about beyond their play on the court, the leadership that you get out of them as seniors. And then also this is horribly unfair, we're not going to give you a second to enjoy the success of this year, but talk about the future. You've got a young bunch that'd be easy to see where they're going to be awfully good for a while now.
COACH COALE: I think our leadership has grown throughout the year. Our two team captains, Carolyn Winchester and Amanda Thompson did a fabulous job early in the year, sort of solidifying everyone and saying this is what we're going to stand for and this is how we're going to work and this is what you'll be accountable for and we're going to hold you to that. And it's not an easy thing for peers to do. I think all successful teams have it, but it's not an easy thing to do. And those two guys really sort of put the rudder in the water and said this is the direction we're going to go.
And as the season has gone on and Whitney has performed the way she has and Danielle has grown in her leadership capacity. Those two guys on the floor in game situations have guided the ship. They've been the ones in charge. I think when you watch us play I think you see we have as a group collectively sort of picked up their personalities and we play in their way.
I think all great leaders have the ability to do that, to infect the people around them and to say, you know, follow me. I know where I'm going, follow me.
And it's really good news for myself and our coaching staff that those two guys are sophomores and freshmen.

Q. Coaches in college basketball, they seem to be the face, the constants because the players revolve all the time. How mindful of that are you that you're one of those faces out there? I asked Geno about it and he said with your presidency of the coaches association and those sorts of things, you're one of those people that's out there. But how mindful of that are you and how important have you taken that role?
COACH COALE: I don't really think about it a whole lot at times like this. I think about it more so when I'm wearing the WBCA hat and going from group to group and doing those type of things than when I'm coaching my team.
Because when you're coaching your team it's sort of your safe haven and it's your grungy sweats, if you will, where you are really who you are and immersed in that thing that you love to do. So it comes naturally.
I think we have a responsibility, though. And I feel so incredibly indebted to the amazing mentors in my conference that I was able to come in and learn the game from in terms of what are my responsibilities as a professional.
You go from high school to coaching college ball and you know everything that happens in between those lines. But the big wide world that's beyond that court is a different deal. And I didn't know much about it. And I had to learn and I was lucky, because I had Marcia Sharp and Jody Conrad and Phil Berry (phonetic) to learn from, and the list goes on. Bill Finley. I could go down the list.
But our league, I think, really gave me a leg up and taught me that we have a responsibility that extends far beyond our program and our institution. It is to this game.
And I feel fortunate and take that responsibility very seriously. At the same time, there are lots of faces that are the sport of women's basketball, and I feel unbelievably humbled to even be mentioned among those.

Q. It's interesting, both you and Ashley when asked about Louisville being the underdog were quick to say that it was them that think they're the underdog. I'm curious, what's your take on the team?
COACH COALE: I think they're really good, obviously. They play in the Big East conference. You look at their schedule, and it goes W, W, W, W and you see a loss. And then you see it goes W, W, W, and you see another loss and it's to Connecticut. And these guys are really good. I don't think anybody that gets here necessarily sees themselves as an underdog. Maybe once they arrive and they look at the field.
But you don't think like an underdog and earn your way to one of these. So everybody has to -- is given a card or gets an opportunity to play a card and that is whatever you choose it to be. I don't think it's much of a factor to us.

Q. Sherri, I was just curious, and I apologize if this has been asked already. But you're here for a second time with the team. When you come back a second time I know you have in your mind things I would do differently. What are some of those things in terms of bringing a team here again that you do differently the second time than the first experience?
COACH COALE: Give all those ticket requests to somebody else on my staff and let them deal with it. You know, as far as the team goes, honestly, we don't have any idea what we were doing in 2002, we were just playing ball and loving the journey together. That may be the secret. I don't know that I would change a whole lot about what we did.
We were who we had been the entire year. We enjoyed everything. We took everything in. And then when it was time to go to practice we practiced. And when it was time to watch film, we watched film. When it was time to play, we played.
In that regard I really didn't change much. I went back and looked at what did we do in practice, how did we prepare, what were the schedules. Because you know how we coaches are, we keep up with everything. So I go back and look at it and say, Yeah, that's what we still do. Let's do it again.
I think what you do has worked for a reason, so you need to stay with that and feel very fortunate to have opportunity to go back and look at those old notes.

Q. Question and a half I have for you. Your trip to St. Louis earlier this year, even though it's in a different gym, how beneficial do you think that was? And also just your general thoughts about handicapping the field?
COACH COALE: I think everybody has their motivational or preparatory activities that they think puts them in a good spot to be able to achieve their goals. And for us we thought it was important to try to get to the Final Four city, to plant some seeds, to have the experience for a number of reasons.
And in 2002 we played in San Antonio earlier before we went to the championship game there. So we had an opportunity. And I appreciate so much St. Louis wanting to schedule that game and allowing us to be here.
Different arena, but that wasn't really the issue. It was being in the city and having an opportunity to talk about it. And I do think it has helped us. Sort of crystallizes things and makes it a little bit more real for you. Handicapping the field, obviously you just told me that the real game was the second one, so I didn't know that until you told me. So thanks for the heads up.
We're going to go ahead and play six, if that's all right with everybody. Louisville is really good. I talked about them plenty, probably. As far as the other two go, Stanford plays so pretty. I love the way they play. They share the ball. They're skilled. They compete. They just -- they understand the game. And it's interesting, I heard some little sound bite in the very small amount of time I've had to watch television over the last week or so, but I heard Tara say that basketball is like ballet with a ball.
When I watched them play, that's exactly -- it looks like a beautiful dance. I think that's the way offensive basketball should look. I have a great appreciation for the way they play. I don't think there's any program in America that's tougher than Connecticut.
I think their toughness is their ace. Are they skilled? Absolutely they're skilled. Do they have a high basketball IQ? Absolutely they do. What separates them from the rest of the world? Their toughness. Just mentally, physically, emotionally, every way you can count it, they're tough. And they're not going to go away.
And so I think it's a great Final Four. I think it's a fan's paradise and I think there will be two really good games on Sunday and another really good one on Tuesday.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach.

End of FastScripts

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