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BIG 12 CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 9, 2011Sherri CoaleNicole GriffinWhitney HandDanielle RobinsonCarlee RoethlisbergerKANSAS CITY, MISSOURI TEXAS TECH – 71 THE MODERATOR: We're joined by the Sooners of Oklahoma, and Coach Sherri Coale. And we have several student-athletes up here. Coach, we'll ask you to make an opening comment briefly, and then we'll take questions for the student-athletes. COACH COALE: We feel very fortunate. I thought our kids played really, really hard. Not necessarily very well, but really hard. And made enough plays down the stretch to win the game. I thought there were a few late where we tried to hand it to them, and they said no, you keep it. And we said no, here. And nobody really wanted to win. Probably a sign of two teams wanting to win so badly they got in their own way. I think the job Kristy Curry has done with her squad has been extraordinary. They're playing with great confidence. They know what their strengths are. They play toward them. They're tough on the interior. They're very, very good basketball team. And she's got them playing exactly the right way at exactly the right time. So we feel very fortunate. THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes. Q. Carlee, what got into you tonight? CARLEE ROETHLISBERGER: I don't know. It was just fun out there. Everybody was playing hard. When everybody was playing hard you get good shots. Q. (Indiscernible)? CARLEE ROETHLISBERGER: It felt good. Honestly I was out there with two minutes left and I look up, and I was like oh, I have 18 points. I had no idea. Like I said, everybody was just working hard and that's when it's fun and people make things happen? Q. For Whitney, can you talk about that last play? WHITNEY HAND: All right. I'll reenact it for you guys, because I went up to pressure the ball, and she said, "No, no. You get back, because I'm not very quick." And they passed it in and she took off like 100 miles an hour, and took off and put my hands up like Jesus, please. And it started falling, and Jas was there, thank goodness. That's about it. Q. Danielle, this is a repeat of last year's championship match that you're going to have in the semifinal against A&M. This is always a battle between you guys. Can you just talk about the third time meeting them this season? DANIELLE ROBINSON: Yeah, we think A&M is a great team. They run their system extremely well, and they pressure the ball extremely well. They played really well this season against us. So we're coming into the game with some momentum and so are they. So it's definitely going to be a good match. Q. Whitney, I'm the one that demanded you come in here. Can you just -- last year we saw you here coaching. Can you talk about what it means to be back playing and just talk about your ordeal over the past year and a half? WHITNEY HAND: Yeah, last year was -- I mean all I remember is A.T. getting every rebound in the world. That was kind of my mindset today. I know we had 8 to her 18. I'm so thankful to be playing, especially with these girls the last year. They're my best friends. I'm going to cry. But it's an honor to be here. And I think I forget that sometimes. In the first half I was in my way. And Lindsey Cloman's injured right now and she's like, hey, you get to play; and Coach was like make a difference, you know. So it's just that perspective, and I think if I told you my journey, it would be an hour-long. That's kind of what I came from, and it's a blessing to be here playing on the same floor with these girls. Q. Clearly you're not 100%. How were you successful? DANIELLE ROBINSON: By throwing my hands up and saying, Jesus, please. Q. Danielle, can you talk about what Whitney meant coming back this year even though it's been a half year? DANIELLE ROBINSON: It's been real, real special having Whitney back. We were kind of anxious and really wanted her back last year, but we knew it couldn't happen. Just in her eyes she's seeing things that we haven't seen. And that's why she's so great on the floor right now. She still can relay that information to us. Just her presence, I mean, she's not 100%, but you have eight boards, that's remarkable. Just her presence is what we really miss, and we're glad to have her back. Q. Nicole, you had a big night on the boards with 11, and that's obviously going to be a big key against A&M. Can you talk about how important it is, because they rebound so well from a lot of different positions on the floor? NICOLE GRIFFIN: Like we always say, rebounds give life, especially offensive rebounds. It's just something that I can bring to the team. That's one of my jobs. So it's going to be a big factor against A&M. So I just have to continue doing that. Q. A&M got you guys twice this year. Talk about what you need to do different this time? What has to change for you guys? DANIELLE ROBINSON: I think we need to do what we did the first time, and that is to compete on every possession. I think they outtoughed us down at College Station, and we know what it feels like to be right there with them. We're just going to have to go into the game with some momentum and know what we're capable of doing. Q. Carlee, can you just talk about -- I know you've worked so hard this year, but there have been some real ups and downs in the last month or so. How have you been able to maintain a positive outlook when you go through some valleys in the Big 12 like the way you guys have? CARLEE ROETHLISBERGER: It's funny with the people on our team, we're still a young team. We still have a lot to learn. I think that every day we get better every day we grow. Even if we trip and fall, we get back up, and we proved that. We've made it to where we win one, lose one. But eventually we'll get on a streak. We're going to go in to the end of the season, and there is no better time than now. Q. Will you fill out my story on Whitney? Just kind of talk about what you saw when she got hurt and how she helped you even when she couldn't play, and how she's helping you even as limited as she is? COACH COALE: We run out of adjectives when we talk about her. We truly do. She's one of the toughest competitors and toughest kids you'll ever meet. There's been no sympathy. She doesn't look for outs. She doesn't whine. She doesn't complain. None of us has any idea how much pain she's actually enduring, but I can guarantee you, it's quite a bit. She's half, maybe 60% might be a stretch in terms of her physical well being, yet she's impacting the game with eight rebounds and I don't know, 7 assists. I think that the really important part of that, that people don't understand, maybe nobody can really understand except competitive athletes who have been injured, is how hard it is to still contribute knowing what you used to do or what you are capable of doing but can't do now. It's not just a physical limitation, it becomes a mental limitation. And Whitney has been tough enough to fight through that and decide you know what, I can't do what I used to do. But I can do something, and I've got to do that something as well as I can. You can tell. I can't take her out of the game. If she comes out of the game for a few minutes, everything goes nuts. So I have to get her back on the floor playing on one leg. She's just a special, special kid. And I don't have words to describe her. Q. Once she starts playing she's playing 37 minutes, 40, 44, I mean it's incredible you're getting those kind of minutes from her. COACH COALE: Because she's a presence kid. She's making shots. When she's on the floor in uniform the other guys believe we can win. It's huge. Q. Coach, you can kind of tell it was Carlee's night when she was dribbling towards the rim. Kind of lost the ball and ended up being an assist because Griffin gets the ball, it goes in. Carlee smiles and it's kind of her night. COACH COALE: She's been playing very well of late though. She had a great Senior Night game against Oklahoma State. She was really good against Baylor, really good against Baylor the game before that. So it's sort of a senior who is using the accumulation of time to her advantage. Q. So were you with Whitney there at the end just throwing up your arms and saying Jesus, please? COACH COALE: I think I had gone to giggling by then. Really, seriously. We have every chance to put the game away, and we just were not able to. Then Vegas gets that steal and you think, okay, here it is, finally. The whole time I kept thinking these kids just need something good to happen to them. They tried so hard, they worked so hard. They're believers. They keep showing up, all this great stuff. And Tech nails a tough three. And you're thinking can't one good thing happen to these kids, please? And then Vegas gets the deflection, I was like thank you. She misses the lay-up. I don't know. I don't know. Maybe finally something good happened right at the end. Q. I asked Danielle what has to change this time when you play A&M? Anything different than what she said? COACH COALE: They're awfully good. They can score it every single possession. I don't know how you guard Danielle Adams. I don't have any idea. She's a conundrum. She's so big inside and so strong. If you put a guard on her, she's going to take you right there. If you put a big on her, she's going to step out and shoot threes. If you get her in foul trouble, she's just a nightmare to guard. I think Sidney Colson is their heart and soul. She makes plays. I am so ready for her to graduate. Just makes play after play. They're so deep. They keep coming at you and bring Gilbert in. They have that size at the post. Defensively they're sound and solid and they wreak havoc with what you do and they rebound. They're just really, really good. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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