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BIG 12 CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 9, 2011

Deb Patterson

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI

KANSAS STATE Â– 56
IOWA STATE - 53

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by the Kansas State Wildcats. Coach Deb Patterson, her student-athlete's Jalana Childs and Brittany Chambers. Coach, your thoughts about this afternoon's game?
COACH PATTERSON: Well, another classic, gritty possession by possession, Big 12 women's basketball game. I know we beat a great team today and a great program. So it's a special moment for us.
I really, again, can't say enough positive things about the performance and the toughness that we got out of our basketball team, and the step-up plays, in particular, that we got from Brittany and once again Jalana who was visually, I think you could see she was limping a lot today with that hip flexor. Just still brought great courage. Wanting to go back in and out of the game, and just a great win for our program.
It wasn't a pretty basketball game on the offensive end for us, certainly in the second half, but I thought our defense was really difference making in this game.

Q. Brittany, you guys had lost twice during the regular season. Did you come in with an enough-is-enough attitude in this game?
BRITTANY CHAMBERS: Very much so. They were both very close games and in both games -- hat's off to Iowa State. They played their butts off. We thought we could bring a little bit more. Especially since they played last night, we really wanted to go at them. Yeah, it was time. It was definitely time.

Q. The same thing as the previous question, but what do you think was the difference in winning this close game versus losing two close games to Iowa State in the regular season?
JALANA CHILDS: The fact that we lost doesn't settle well with us in the past two games with them. So we definitely wanted to come out with a different mentality. That's to fight hard from start to finish. We may not have come with that mentality in the past two games that we've played them, and I think that was definitely a difference in us, and we didn't want to lose again.

Q. Just how bad was the hip bugging you, and how much do you feel like it limited you in the last 13 minutes of the game?
JALANA CHILDS: It was -- there was a time when Poppens drove on me and I just stretched it too far. It just got really sore. I knew I could move as much as I wanted to. But I wasn't going to stop. I know you saw the tears, it was painful, but I wasn't going to stop.

Q. If you can answer, then Brittany, just your thoughts on going against Baylor? It's obviously a very different type of team than Iowa State. You've only faced them once as opposed to facing Iowa State twice. If you could both talk about that, because you are playing better in the last week of the season?
JALANA CHILDS: It's definitely just a big challenge for us. We don't want to come out with how we did the first time we played them. I don't think we're going to -- I don't think there is anything we'll focus on differently. I think we have been playing well, and I like that about us. I want us to keep that mentality that we came with today in the past two games. They're a tough team, and everyone knows that; so we want to come out strong and hard and not relent.
BRITTANY CHAMBERS: Yeah, Baylor's a great team. The first time we didn't come out with the fight that we usually show in most games. That is the reason we were 10 seconds and 1 in 12 tonight is because of our fight. I think against a team like Baylor, you have to give it your all. I mean, not let them -- like not back down to them. They're a team you can't back down to.

Q. Could you talk about you had that little run where you got the friendly bounce on that one, and you had like three baskets in a four-minute span. Did that make the pain go away?
JALANA CHILDS: Well, I was just focused, very focused this game. There wasn't -- I didn't really get off to a fast start like I usually do, and that's because I didn't care what I was going to score today. I was trying to distribute the ball. I got some looks into Britt and looks into Mariah. And that's what I like about us.
When I'm getting double teamed, someone's open so I was going to throw it. I wasn't really focused on me. I just let the game come to me, and I think I did a great job at it today.

Q. You outscored them 36-18 in the paint. Was that a point of emphasis you guys had coming in?
JALANA CHILDS: We always emphasize on points in paint. It was no different than any other game. Good numbers, I guess, so that's a good number for us.

Q. I wasn't sure who had Bolte in that last shot. What was it like watching those last two three pointers go up after you guys had led so long?
JALANA CHILDS: When I saw Bolte running, I didn't care what was going to happen to me. I heard their bench calling foul. I didn't foul. My hands were straight up. I made sure that I was in her face. I hobbled out there, but I got to her. When those two threes on No. 5, and then I think No. 10 got a three off those were definitely daggers to the heart.

Q. You said you saw Bolte running, what went through your mind as far as going out and covering her instead of staying inside?
JALANA CHILDS: No one's going to guard her, so I have to. Taelor got screened first, then Brandy got screened, so I just ran out there to her and made sure she didn't get a good look. So it was a good shot. Thank God she didn't make it.

Q. Can you talk about just what Brittany means to the team? She's got 83 three pointers, and that's fifth all time in the season at K-State. It's pretty staggering. Also, Brittany, does it feel like it's been that many? What kind of ride has this been like for you this season?
JALANA CHILDS: Well, Brittany's definitely our most productive player. We need her on the court like she was today. I think we've grown a lot, and she's grown a lot as our point guard this season and over the past two years. It's been awesome to see. Some people may not understand looking from the outside what goes on, but she's grown so much and we are definitely proud of her. She's distributing the ball well. She's scoring well; and her 83 threes are awesome. I want to be like her one day.
BRITTANY CHAMBERS: I don't think it feels like that, no. I guess Coach has given me the green light this year. She gave it to me last year. So I take open shots. And my team does an unbelievable job of screening. For as much as they face guard, for me to get up as many threes as I got is a tribute to my team and how much they screen and get me open. So hat's off to them. Yeah, I just take them when I'm open, I guess.

Q. The players described what the defense looked like on that last three-pointer that Bolte took. How far from what you envisioned that play looking like did it end up happening?
COACH PATTERSON: Well, it was such a scramble play. We saw, or I saw Bolte break and open. It seemed when you're watching it from our angle, it seemed like she was open for like ten seconds. Then Jalana just out of the scramble, everyone understood over the course of the game how we wanted to defend. So they knew that it didn't matter who was guarding Kelsey, somebody needed to; and Jalana just did a such a tremendous job of identifying out of the scramble, which is not easy to do. It's not easy to do for a post to instinctively run to that shot, especially after the kind of chaos of the previous two possessions.
When I saw Jalana there, honestly, I felt really relieved once she got there because of her length and her size, because Bolte can shoot over just about anybody else and would be great at drawing contact. But Jalana pretty much had her -- Jalana's size made Bolte really up right. And Bolte knew the two wasn't going to help her.
So both of those things played perfectly into our hands out of the scramble. You could not imagine drawing it up that way.

Q. Number 300, how's that sound?
COACH PATTERSON: Well, it's a great feeling to know most of all that we won this game today. The 300 to me is just a reflection of all the people that have been a part of Kansas State's women's basketball staff and teams during the course of those 300 wins.
So to me, I don't take notice of it aside from when someone is says it. To me it's all about today and this victory, and that's what feels great.

Q. Do you feel any closer to Wichita right now getting this win?
COACH PATTERSON: Well, I feel as though we're definitely a tournament caliber team. And hopefully the committee will see things that way, and I feel very confident about our chances to be in the tournament.

Q. Finally, what about Friday?
COACH PATTERSON: Any time you're lining up against one of the premier players in the league and one of the premier programs and teams, you look at it and go this is a tremendous challenge. I think we'll look at it relative to how we measure ourselves the last time we competed against Baylor or played Baylor. I didn't feel as though we competed at all. I think we were there. But I don't think we competed.
We look at this next opportunity to play like an opportunity to compete against that team. Then just see where it takes us. We know they're a great team. Great program, great players, but that's what Big 12 basketball's all about at this point.
For me as the player's said, it's just about the fight and the competitiveness that we work to bring to the floor, then the game will take care of itself.

Q. The adjustments or the things that you had to do differently when Jalana reaggravated the injury?
COACH PATTERSON: Well, I think really for us, our players were prepared. Chantay Caron again came in and played great minutes for us. Not necessarily on the offensive end in terms of production, but defensively she was very accountable. Brandy Brown was tremendous again. She he goes so unnoticed for how she helps us win.
So really there weren't any major adjustments that we made. It really was difficult for us on the offensive end which was evident to everyone, I think, down the stretch from those last eight minutes on.
Some of that I think I could have relieved with timeouts, but against Iowa State, I just felt so strongly that this game would come down to the last 30 seconds or minute. So our players made all the adjustments just by virtue of coming in and doing what it is they do. Nothing special.

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