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BIG EAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 6, 2012Skylar DigginsKayla McBrideMuffet McGrawNatalie NovoselHARTFORD, CONNECTICUT Connecticut – 63 THE MODERATOR: Coach an opening statement, please? COACH McGRAW: I thought Connecticut played really well. They outplayed us today. Particularly Lewis and Hartley really, really played extremely well. I thought it was a hard fought battle and a really good game. I thought in the first half we were only down one without having Natalie Novosel in the game for a big chunk in the half. I thought we'd be better in the second half, and we just didn't shoot it well. For us to shoot better from the three‑point line than two‑point, and couldn't even make a free throw. I think we really did some things that didn't help us, but they came out and really won the game. It was a great game. They just played better. Q. Skylar, can you talk about that run at the end of the first half that cut UCONN's lead and just what was working there for you? SKYLAR DIGGINS: I thought Kayla came in and did a good job and gave us some good minutes. (No microphone) the rebound was pushing more. We just knocked some shots down and got locked out on defense. Q. Can you talk about that second half? What did UCONN do defensively that hurt your shooting? KAYLA McBRIDE: I think they knew our offense, and they were just kind of keeping us out of it instead of attacking it. I think we kind of got complacent a little bit, and just weren't in our attack mode that we're usually in. They're just boxing out and rebounding. Q. Natalie, can you talk about what the next week and a half is going to be like for you guys? The resolve you're going to have to have to put this behind you and move forward? NATALIE NOVOSEL: Yeah, it's going to be really important to forget this game and move on from it. And you know, taking it one game at a time now. I think we're just going to get back in the gym and just prepare ask get back to fundamentals and play our own basketball and forget this game. Q. Natalie, how much does this loss take away from the great things that you've done this season? Does it diminish it at all in your eyes? How would you put it in perspective? NATALIE NOVOSEL: It's definitely one of our goals and we wanted to achieve it. But at the same time, we still have the biggest one of them all ahead of us. We got knocked down, but we're going to get back up. We're going to look forward and try to get the big one. Q. Skylar, would you now say that you look at UCONN as a rival? SKYLAR DIGGINS: I think it's always been that. We meet them so many times and they're such a good team. They always have a good program. As many times as we meet them, I would call it that. Q. This year is a little different than last year following the championship game because you were the No. 1 seed this year. Can you talk about what this next week is going to be like for you, how you recover from this one and the mindset you have to have going into the tournament? SKYLAR DIGGINS: This team's not a team that hangs their head. I'm sure they'll be talking tomorrow and being in the gym and watching film and seeing what we can learn from things like that. We'll be back in the gym tomorrow, right back at it like Natalie said. The biggest goal of them all is ahead of us. We're only guaranteed one game. This is a great game going into the tournament. This is a Final Four team, championship caliber team. It's great for us to play in the Big East and play these competitive games going into the tournament. We'll learn from it when we get in the gym tomorrow and throughout the week, and we have to practice hard and get ready for that first tournament game. Q. Natalie, what did you see as the biggest difference for Hartley and Mosqueda‑Lewis tonight as opposed to a week or a day ago, the difference in the game? NATALIE NOVOSEL: We allowed them to get some looks early on and gave them confidence. They were able to get in a flow offensively, and we did a poor job of communicating on screens. The girls were able to knock down some shots and get their confidence. That's what enabled their momentum. Q. As you analyze this game, what was the problem offensively? Was it something Connecticut did or was it just the passing just wasn't there for you tonight? COACH McGRAW: I think Connecticut's a great defensive team, and they definitely really affected some of our shots. But I thought we were down 5. Skylar missed a short jumper in the lane, maybe a five‑footer. Natalie followed it up with an eight‑footer, wide open in the lane. Missed it. We had some wide open looks late. I thought that we just couldn't make, and I think that defeated us a little bit. We had a chance to really cut the lead to 1, and we couldn't get a rebound. I think we got defeated after that. Q. Kelly Faris had a couple of big threes. Just talk about the lift she gives them when she's coming out and stepping out and the two threes she made? COACH McGRAW: Yeah, I thought the one after the travel was critical. That was critical. It was a big swing in the game. It could have been our ball, and instead they missed it, and she made the shot. So I thought that was a critical point in the game. Also the other one I thought was a dagger, the other one she made. So that was poor defense on our part. Q. What's your first read on this team following this loss, and how you think they're going to handle this next week and a half? COACH McGRAW: I think we'll respond well. I think we have responded well after losses. We haven't had a lot of practice, but I think they don't like to lose. So they'll be ready to go. It could be a good thing. Q. Talk about UCONN in the last five minutes of this game compared to the last five minutes in the two previous match‑ups? COACH McGRAW: Well, they're on the floor the whole time. I think the difference is the confidence level. They got a lead, which was key. Then they used the shot clock very well. Even when they weren't scoring, they were getting rebounds and getting it back. We had the ball for two minutes, it seemed, and until we eventually fouled them. They managed the game better, they managed the clock better. Of Course when you have the lead it's a little easier to do that. Q. Do you sense this rivalry and this match‑up becoming huge for women's basketball? It's been an intense three years and so many really great games between the two teams. COACH McGRAW: It's a great rivalry. We look forward to it. It's great having two great teams like this in the league that can really prepare each other for the NCAA Tournament. So I like playing them every year. Q. Coming out of this tournament, what is your biggest concern as far as what you need to work on to get ready for the NCAAs? COACH McGRAW: I don't have a lot of concerns coming out of this game. I'm looking at the shooting and saying we missed a whole bunch of shots that we normally make, and they did play great defensively, but they didn't guard us at the free‑throw line. I think we can shoot the ball better and then the rebounding. That was key. We really need to do a better job rebounding. They really beat us up on the boards. Q. You played them six times in the finals now and lost all six. What's it going to take for you guys to get over the hump of beating them in this championship game, do you think? COACH McGRAW: Well, I think this is probably maybe the only time we've been a No. 1 seed. It's tough to beat a good team three times. I don't know. I mean, we won here Monday, so I don't really think that we have to do anything different. I don't think there is more pressure on us. I don't think we did anything different. I just think they outplayed us. Q. Coach, you talked about the way UCONN was playing with confidence down the stretch. But for those of us who have seen them a lot this season, they have played confidently in this tournament. When you watched them last night against St. John's, did you sense a different UCONN team than the one that was in South Bend than the one you beat last Monday? COACH McGRAW: Absolutely. I think they came out with a lot more fire. I thought the game was over pretty quickly last night. I think when you come in and play a team and avenge a loss like that, it's going to be more. It was similar to our game against West Virginia. So I definitely think they were riding on a high and came into this game with a lot more confidence than they started the tournament. Q. Can emotion impact the game? Auriemma's going for his 800th there. They've lost to you twice, home court, is there a wave of emotion that you have to battle in this kind of situation? COACH McGRAW: I think we have to battle our own emotion. I think we got frustrated early with some things that weren't working, and now we get into foul trouble. I don't think we handled it as well as we have. All year we've been a poised, constant team all year long, and I didn't feel that as much today. I think our emotion was not as good, I think, as it's been. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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