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BIG EAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 4, 2012Monique OliverC. Vivian StringerHARTFORD, CONNECTICUT Connecticut – 49 THE MODERATOR: Joining us from Rutgers is head coach Vivian Stringer along with Monique Oliver. Q. Coach, do you almost walk out of here tonight feeling like you missed an opportunity to hold Connecticut to 50 points and have your defense play as well as it did? Does it almost feel like you guys‑‑ you lost by 15, but you missed an opportunity? COACH STRINGER: You always feel like you've lost an opportunity. But I was extremely proud of my team. They played in the image and tradition of the Scarlet Knights. They played hard, and I can't say that they should have played harder. It was really, really proud of them the way the team played. It makes me feel good as we begin to go into the postseason. When you play Connecticut, the Connecticut team has done so well over the years. They've set a gold standard. And there is no question would we have liked to take a few possessions back? Of course. But the game is one of mistakes, and whoever makes the fewest mistakes in the managing properly is probably going to win. We're not down. We're encouraged. Q. What is Khadijah's status? I know she's with the trainer. And second, how different were you tonight than a month ago having her on the court and what she's brought to you guys? COACH STRINGER: She's amazing. She just brings a level of confidence to everyone who is out there. Of Course, we had Nikki playing the point more today and did a great job. But so much of that was because of the versatility of Khadijah. She makes all the difference in the world. You saw a big difference in the scoring and our confidence in the five games she was out. So hopefully she'll be okay and we'll go on. Of course you know that Erica was hurt too so, we'll see. But they showed a real toughness that makes me feel really proud to see the team come together as we did. Q. What was Erica's injury and is she okay? What is her status? COACH STRINGER: I don't know. Erica seems like she may be dehydrated. I think a couple years ago Kia Vaughn played so hard to the point where her body curled up and she had all kinds of issues. They had to give her an IV and that. I think all of them played extremely hard. When that happens, your body can't take anymore, and what else can you say other than you've given it all. When you talk about leaving it on the floor, they left it on the floor tonight. I don't know. Q. How frustrating has it been going against UCONN here? I think this is your ninth straight loss to them. Could you just comment on your level of frustration against them? COACH STRINGER: You know how the CNN reporters ask people after some tragedy, how do you feel about that? So, no. How I feel about it‑‑ because every time we play, I really do believe that we're capable of winning any contest. Sometimes the odds against us are stacked a bit high. But it's that level of hope and that level of expectation that we have within ourselves. I have been encouraged the last few days with the way we've been come ago long. We hit a spot there where we were without Khadijah as well as Erica, and we've got a lot of young people. I thought it was important that the freshmen in particular had an opportunity to see what it takes to be a Scarlet Knight. So am I frustrated? Yeah, but not frustrated to give up. I'll come back next year and I'll go at it again, and I'll go at it again, and I'll go at it again. Any time I come in and it becomes routine, then I will quit. So it will never be something that I ever accept with anybody or any team. Q. Could you talk about the challenges that Kaleena from their team presents and being that she's six‑foot, can go inside and shoot threes? I guess when she was making all those threes in succession and you guys were struggling to score, how deflating was that for you guys? MONIQUE OLIVER: It was hard. We were just in the wrong position to be able to contest their shots. She just kept hitting them. But we needed to answer it, and I think we played better defense during the second half to contest their shots. Q. Having Khadijah back on the floor against these guys, you lost by 30 the first time, but having her back, how much more confidence did it give you having your senior leader there? MONIQUE OLIVER: She works hard. Just to see her battling and her just get back up, it just makes me want to battle and work hard too. So she just keeps everybody going. Q. Heading into the tournament, what do you want to see out of the bench's production? COACH STRINGER: The bench was ready to produce work today. It wasn't their fault. I just think that if we had a shot and we were able to stay close, it wasn't too much to expect our bench‑‑ that much to expect our bench to be able to control the possession. I thought they were totally in tune with this. But believe me, they'll be playing in the NCAA's. They definitely will be playing in the NCAAs. But they're ready. You know that I've started them against Notre Dame, Connecticut, St. John's, and the likes. They have no fear, quite honestly. I was trying to see if we were going to be in the attack mode. But the veteran group, they read each other extremely well. So I would rather allow the veterans to win it, and I was willing to do that as long as they gave a great effort, and that was kind of because no one as a freshman or anything else was going to have more experience or the potential to produce. It doesn't matter what a veteran did or didn't do. It is that they have the potential to do that, because we've seen it. So that's what you always risk and hope is going to happen. But I have no doubt that they will regroup when we go in to get a couple of day's rest, and get ready to start the NCAA's. I've played them as a group a whole lot longer than I would normally do, but that is in preparation for helping this team as well as next year. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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