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BIG TEN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 6, 2011Jim FosterJantel LavenderSamantha PrahalisINDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA Ohio State – 84 MODERATOR: We will skip the opening statement from the coach and go straight to questions for the student-athletes. Q. Samantha, at the very end you threw the ball over to Jantel. Was that like a little sign of respect: Here, you dribble this one out, you finish this one? Or? SAMANTHA PRAHALIS: I didn't think of it, but I just passed it. Q. What's going through your head at the end, Jantel? You've had a remarkable run here, three MOPs and three titles. And, like you said yesterday, you got good reason to like this town. Put it into words what it's meant to you. JANTEL LAVENDER: I just think it's fun winning for my teammates, and especially this year with where we came from and how people just kind of gave up on our team and we just kind of all stuck together, and that's what makes us feel that much better. And, I don't know, I think we played great tonight. We great defense and we played great team basketball. It makes it that much better just coming from where we were. Tonight was fun. Q. Sammy, you kind of lost the last nine minutes of yesterday's game and then you came out very aggressively in this game. Did you feel like you really needed do that in this game just to re-establish yourself? SAMANTHA PRAHALIS: Well, it was just how the game was. I was getting -- I had a lane -- every night's different for me. Some nights people are hot and I got to find them. In the first half I was having my way and having open lanes. So it's just what the game brings. Q. You guarded Lucas for a lot of the game, and she's basically 1-for-10 and 0-for-6 from 3, but what were you guys supposed to do with her and how did it work? SAMANTHA PRAHALIS: Just lock and trail. She's a really good shooter with a quick release, so it was lock and trail. I mean, it did a lock and trail and then lock her up, or let her go off. We can't have her go off in a championship game. Q. Jantel, this might be unfair, but do you think this might be the most balanced of the three Ohio State teams that's won the title, maybe the best of the three? JANTEL LAVENDER: I think it's the most talented team as far as different looks that we had. I think we have a lot of different things to look at on our perimeter, like Sammy with her ball handling and her ability to shoot the 3s, Brittany, Tayler's ability to drive the ball. It's just that we have a lot of different looks, and I just would say more talented I guess. Q. Samantha, can you talk about your team's confidence level coming off this nine-game win streak now entering the tournament? Where do you stand in terms of confidence? SAMANTHA PRAHALIS: We're very confident. We've been moving the ball good. But we don't forget where we was a month ago. All we have is each other, and I think we realize that now and we play for each other. Q. Samantha, it seemed like when you were out there especially in the second half there was a stretch for about three or four minutes that you looked kind of like the Phoenix Suns out there; there was a lot of fastbreak and there was a three-pass sequence. Can you just talk about how that felt just to be kind of in that role as a team? SAMANTHA PRAHALIS: I think when we play good defense and rebound the ball, we could run. Jantel runs the floor the best, so getting her layups, having Brittany spot up, and everyone is unselfish to the point where they'll look for each other, make the extra pass and get good shots. So when we're in transition, we really like to be in transition, but it all starts from our defense. Q. Jantel, 13-9 about four weeks ago, and here you are nine wins in a row. How far do you feel like you've come and what -- how many ways? JANTEL LAVENDER: I think we've come a long way as a team mentally with toughness-wise. I just think we came together and tonight in this tournament we proved that we are a good team and we can, you know, contend with any team in the country and NCAA-caliber teams. And, I don't know, I just think we really, like, know who we are now, and I think we're playing like that. We can have situations come up and, you know, get through them and still be able to play a good game. And it doesn't matter what's thrown at us, because we've dealt with adversity at the beginning of the season, and I think that made us a lot tougher. And it's shown these last nine games that, I don't know, we are a good team. I don't know what to say. I'm just so excited about the win. I don't know. It's just a lot of things that we've overcome as a team, and I'm just excited that we can get through those things and play still. Q. I'm kind of curious, Jantel, studying all your numbers and all these incredible stats and I feel like years from now I'm going to get into debate with somebody about some of the greatest players ever seen and your name should come up first, and again we can go on and on about all the things you've done, but it really doesn't matter; it's just winning, right? JANTEL LAVENDER: Definitely. I'm a team player. And like I said to someone out there, it's just I would trade in any MVP or any Player of the Year for my teammates to win, for us to get a championship, for us to win big games. And, I don't know, I just really enjoyed this part of it, the championship and the (indiscernible). It can never get old. Q. Jantel, can you talk about just being here in the past and how much that experience played into being able to come out here and be calm and competitive early? JANTEL LAVENDER: I definitely think our experience here has helped us win this game tonight. Penn State, they're a great team and I think it's like their first time coming -- I mean being in a championship in a couple years. I think our -- us having that experience in the last three years just, deal with three games in three days and be able to know how to ice, know what we need to do in order to be ready for the game. It just really -- I don't know. It's just a difference with being able to -- with being there as opposed to not being there, having that toughness and knowing that, overcoming it mentally I would say. Q. Jantel, did Samantha give you the heads up on the piggyback ride? Did she warn you she was going to do that? SAMANTHA PRAHALIS: That's a tradition. We did that all three years. Q. You've done it all three years? Have you really? Serious? JANTEL LAVENDER: Yeah. Q. Here? Same spot, probably. But you remember that, huh? SAMANTHA PRAHALIS: Yeah. Q. Really? SAMANTHA PRAHALIS: Yeah. Q. And you don't stay there that long, though; it's like you don't want her to throw her back out -- SAMANTHA PRAHALIS: She's thrown me around a little bit. Q. Has she really? Not too heavy, is she? JANTEL LAVENDER: Not at all. MODERATOR: Thank you, ladies. We'll open it up for questions for the coach. Q. I'm sorry, Coach, I'm overly sentimental, but I just feel like you need to -- I'd love to have a statement on just being able to watch her play the last three years. COACH FOSTER: I've said this before: I'm not going to talk about that until the legacy is complete. Yeah. So call me in about five weeks. Okay? Yeah, great player, I love having her, but people -- it's not done yet. And I don't like to -- the resumé is not finished. But then call me and we'll have a long talk. Q. Does this feel like kind of a long -- like three different seasons really and does it seem like what happened in the middle of it is like a long time ago now? COACH FOSTER: Another lifetime. Yeah. Long time ago. But it's -- we are who we are, and we are a byproduct of our experiences and we had a lot of them and we grew up a lot. Q. I wonder what was going through your mind here. You've got the last minute or two to -- you know it's coming. I mean, what went through your mind as you knew they were going to soak it up and celebrate this? COACH FOSTER: I just wanted to get the seniors on the floor together and let them play together at the end. They came in together, accomplished a lot together in this tournament, and wanted them to have that experience of being together. Q. Coach, could you maybe talk about what Jantel and Sam brought today in particular? Really seemed like this was a much smoother-flowing team on offense than we've seen in the past two days. Can you kind of get into that a little bit? COACH FOSTER: I might have to debate you on that. I mean, I think we had some pretty good offensive performances in this tournament. Different. Different every night. Brittany with her 3s against Iowa last night. If a certain play works, I'm not going to show you that we have 15 of them. We're going to keep running that until you guard it. So last night was Jantel, and today -- you know, you used the Phoenix Suns analogy, and I think you probably offended Sammy a little bit. She would much prefer you be referring to her as a Laker. Well, the Lakers are champions and she loves Kobe. Q. Can you talk about how this championship is different from the last two, or is it at all? COACH FOSTER: To be quite frank, last year was sort of -- was more a relief, you know, the feeling of relief because we had -- we're not who we are this year. This year walking into this tournament I thought we were really playing well, I thought we were focused, I thought we were together, I thought the ball moved extremely well and that we really understood how important the defensive aspect was for us. So I would say this -- this was the best team of the last three, and I think how we won this I think is a reflection of that. Q. Coach, can you please talk about your senior class and how they've developed as young adults? Not basketball players but how they've -- COACH FOSTER: Well, they've all grown up tremendously and understand and fit into their roles. I don't think there's -- if there's going to be one person that sort of reflects that class, everybody looks at Jantel, and why wouldn't you? I mean, the numbers. And Brittany and Al, but Sarah Schulze is a kid that is playing on one leg. And to watch her effort, her attitude, her -- it's inspirational to everyone, let alone her teammates, and it sort of typifies and identifies that class. Q. The way Penn State plays and 70 points is a pretty good number for you defensively? COACH FOSTER: Yeah. Yeah. Real good. It's a possession game. You know, I heard the announcer speculating whether or not it would be wise for us to run with them. And if you look at Sammy's motor, maybe we should take their analysts' credentials away from them. Why would you run with her? Q. Coach, looking at this win, a lot of people are talking about how things are much different for you. How are they different, and what are the constants throughout? COACH FOSTER: Well, they're different because we are handling our business, they're different because we've -- we understand the value of helping from a defensive point of view, and we understand a scouting report and what our assignments are within the framework of it. We understand that when we move the ball around the floor we're a very talented team and a difficult team to defend. But I think more than anything we have better understanding of who we are as people, and we had to figure some stuff out. Q. Is it fun to watch your offense go when Sammy gets rolling like that and just finding people and finishing? COACH FOSTER: Yeah, everybody -- you have to pick your poison and how are you going to guard us, you know. Last night it was, okay, we're going to play Lavender, single coverage. Okay. And everybody's on board. We like that. And, oh, we're going to double team you. Okay. Well, we like that. We'll adjust. And then tonight we're going to extend on Johnson and we're going to space the floor a little bit and we're going to open up the middle. All right. We like that. So we're going to just play. We're going to figure out what it is you're trying to do, take away what it is we like to do and then we'll adjust and try to create opportunities for the player that -- you know, from Friday night, Brittany taking 14 3s to Saturday Jantel taking 20 shots to today having 23, 23, 17. Whatever it takes. MODERATOR: Any more questions for the coach? Thanks, Coach, for joining us, and congratulations. COACH FOSTER: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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