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BIG TEN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 3, 2011Jolette LawLydia McCullyCentrese McGeeINDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA Illinois – 63 THE MODERATOR: Let's start with an opening statement. COACH LAW: I'm proud of my kids. They played extremely well tonight. They were focused and my point guard. Lydia McCully ran the show and played a sound game. And my freshmen didn't play like freshmen. It was a total game effort. I'm so proud of them and I love Conseco Fieldhouse. I love this place. THE MODERATOR: Questions for the players. Q. Lydia, you guys started off the game on a 10-0 run. How important was that for you guys to start off knowing that you came in with a 12-game losing streak? LYDIA MCCULLY: Coach always preaches first five minutes. It definitely was the first five minutes for us that got us started and got us energized. When you come out like that, there's no way to go out but strong. Q. Lydia, could you talk about how good this feels. It's been a while since you guys have had this feeling? LYDIA MCCULLY: It feels so good. This is something we talked about, even when we were losing. It's not over until it's over, and right now it's not over, and so we're going to play through it. Q. Lydia, your first possession, you're just saying let's go, let's go. What was the mentality starting out? LYDIA MCCULLY: Like I said before, the first five minutes. So I know my team has been asking a lot of me and me to step it up, because I really haven't been. So I definitely wanted to give them as much energy as I could. Q. Centrese, is it as simple as you guys playing with more a sense of urgency that Coach talked about? Is it that simple? Or was there something else going on today do you think? CENTRESE MCGEE: I think we just wanted to win, and we just had to put in the energy to get it. Q. Centrese, can you talk about what was working for you? Took a heck of a time to have your first double-double. What was Wisconsin doing to allow you to score and get so many rebounds? CENTRESE MCGEE: I'm really good at back cutting. I was trying to find an open spot, and I'm usually good at rebounding. So I just stuck to my strength. Q. Lydia, offensively, you didn't get a lot from KP, but you got something from everybody. Did you guys feel like everybody had to contribute offensively to get it done? LYDIA MCCULLY: Everybody always has to contribute. And I think -- and I said it before -- we pretty much know everyone wasn't stepping it up. And Karisma does a great job. She she's very consistent, and because of that she helped open it up for everyone else today. Q. Centrese, after the game seemed like you were limping off the court a little bit. Was anything going on? CENTRESE MCGEE: I have a minor tweak in my ankle, but I'm fine. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. Questions for Coach. Q. You haven't lost a game in your time here at Illinois in the first round of Big Ten tournament. Coming into the game, was there already a sense of confidence for you and the team? COACH LAW: I'm always confident in every game we play, if it's Assembly Hall or wherever. I just think when I came in here, it's really definitely after Monday and my talk with my kids and just seeing where they were and explaining to them what March means and what March Madness is all about and just getting the response that I got from them in practice. It's been that way, but it was a little more. They've just been energized and excited all about it. Half of my team don't really know what March Madness is all about or even the Big Ten Tournament. It's all about because we're so young. It was definitely, you know, good to see them, how they respond, how focused they were the last couple of days. And definitely when I walk in this place, you know, it's a special feeling. Q. There have been a lot of games down the stretch where it didn't go your way this year. What was the difference today? Why did you get it done down the stretch today? COACH LAW: I just think we play with a sense -- I was preaching with a sense of urgency, five-minute increments. First five, make sure we control the boards, make sure we do all the little things. And I just think tonight we were focused on the little things. I know I put it on the game plan, but I think collectively tonight we all paid attention to our goals, what we wanted to do. We knew that Zastrow was going to come in and have a good came. We knew Karel was going to have a good game. But I was more concerned about Lana taking care of the basketball, boxing out, executing, not just looking at Karisma, everyone stepping up and being confident to take those shots. And I think we did that tonight. And I think when most teams bring on the run, we just look for somebody to post together. And I think Lydia McCully did a great job of pulling everybody together and keeping everyone calm. Q. What you got today from Te-te, was that the role you envision her being able to do, like consistently? COACH LAW: Definitely. She was saying that she stuck with her strengths. I was going to add, yeah, we worked on layups and finishing with her, I'm banking, I'm hitting her, you keep your eye on the rim, because it's focus. She was getting to the rim all season long, but it seemed like a ball, and I watched film and I watched film with her and I start telling her this is what the problem is, this is how you have to finish. You're getting to the basket but you're not full extension. You're not having a full extension. We worked on just miking drill and doing finishes, and tonight she looked at me smiled, and I was like, yeah, because naturally she goes to the boards extremely well. Like I said, she cuts back door. She has a knack for getting to the basket and timing and cutting and reading defenses, and most freshmen don't have that. But bottom line all season long all during the Big Ten, she wasn't finishing, and tonight she finished. She goes to the offensive rebound, and in practice, no one likes Te-te because she's constantly moving, always getting to the boards. Even our practice guys have a tough time trying to keep up with her. So she played these things. What can you do and what can you do well. And she came in, like she said, she can cut to the basket, rebound with the best of them, and she did that tonight. Q. Going into the half, you guys have a 12-point lead. It's been a while since you guys have gone into the locker room with a lead like that. What was said going into the second half? COACH LAW: It's a while back. It's like ladies, normally we're playing catch up, but right now, in my mind, we're going to play like we're down. I had to talk to them like we were down, time situation, score, don't let up, play with a sense of urgency, don't get comfortable because last time we went up we played Wisconsin we were up in the second half, we sort of just got relaxed. So I just changed their mindsets and told them right now we're down, we're down 12 and we've got to take care of the ball. We have to play defense. We have to execute and we gotta take care of the ball. So they responded. Q. What was the reference to pancakes and bacon? I heard something about something that happened this morning. COACH LAW: I'll tell everyone. I was having some health issues back in December. I can't eat bacon anymore. I'm on a low sodium diet. And Mayor Murphy got wind of that every time for breakfast I love bacon. I love bacon. And it's been killing me for the last two months that I can't really eat it. So she was like you might go do some bacon. So that's the inside joke. They got wind of it. Q. After the game, you maybe jokingly talked about fitting that suit in for tomorrow. Any truth to that? COACH LAW: I might take this to the dry cleaners. It's the same that suit we won, and I'm pumping my fist and looking up to God, and my kids was like you didn't wear it. What are you going to wear, Coach? You're wearing something new. I went into my closet, like I remember this suit way back. This is going to be the first suit that I wore. And it's interesting that it's in the book. It's the same suit. But I'm trying to be a little superstitious. And if you see this suit tomorrow, yeah, you might see it tomorrow. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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