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MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 7, 2012Kati IshamLauren LenhardtGordy PresnellLAS VEGAS, NEVADA Boise State – 68 THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Boise State. Coach, if we could start with you, some remarks on tonight's game. COACH PRESNELL: Sure. Very proud of our team. My hat goes off to Colorado State. They got a very good team and they have a lot of length and a high degree of skill. So I was proud. We'd lost to them twice. Our kids battled back. I thought that going into the game we had a pretty good game plan. We were going to put as much pressure on them. They don't penetrate a lot. They get a lot of stuff off screening. Offensively, we would attack with our post players. Kati did an amazing job. She played a lot more point guard tonight than she has in the past and did a good job of running our sets and stuff. Kinzi and Lauren did an amazing job in the post. THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions for our student‑athletes. Q. Watching the game, it looked like at the beginning they were the more physical, aggressive team. As it went on, the role switched. Was there something said or was there something that you each reached into? KATI ISHAM: The first two games we played them, they started out with a bang. They went up the first game 21‑4. So we knew this game we couldn't let that happen. When they started getting physical and aggressive, we just had to muscle up with them. Q. Could you all talk about the next matchup, playing New Mexico. LAUREN LENHARDT: I look forward to playing them. I thought the two times we played them in conference were good. It's going to be a tough game. They came here and they beat the home team basically. So I'm excited to play them. It should be a really good game. Q. Kati, when you guys were going down in the second half, it seemed early they get those two players in foul trouble. It looked like they became a very different team without those two on the floor. That seemed to be when you really kind of asserted yourselves. How different were they at that point? KATI ISHAM: Hartig and Martin, they're two great players. We knew when they started getting in foul trouble we had to give it to our posts, really push it at 'em. When they left the game, I thought that left kind of a gap for them. I thought Kinzi and Lauren did a really great job stepping in. Q. Lauren, they were able to defend you pretty well last time. What did they do different or what did you do different? LAUREN LENHARDT: We prepared a lot for the double‑team and even the triple‑team sometimes. They have really a lot of length, so it was hard for me. I got stuck the last two times we played them hitting it off their own hands. But just making sure to see the players that are open. My teammates did an awesome job communicating, then spotting up for me to get it out. Q. Kinzi, what does it feel like to win this game? It's been a while since Boise State has come to a tournament and get a win. KINZI POTEET: You could say we're pretty pumped (smiling). It's my first win, to go to the second round, and that's just an amazing feeling. The whole team is jazzed. There was a certain point in the game when we felt the tides turn. It was a momentum shift, amazing. This win means a lot to our program, to our fans and to each other. Q. What point did it seem like the tide finally turned your way? LAUREN LENHARDT: I mean, to be honest, we went into the game believing that we could do it. I think you have to believe the whole way to not let them get the run that Kati was talking about earlier. I don't remember exactly when it was, but there was a point in the second half, we started getting the fast break layups. Heather took it to the hole. Then Keiahnna took it. That's when we started feeling good, getting some easy buckets, getting the rebounds. That's when we became even more confident than we were in the start. THE MODERATOR: We'll dismiss the student‑athletes at this time and continue with coach Presnell. Q. New Mexico comes here, they have a history of doing well at this tournament. They pulled off a huge upset. What do you have to do to match it with them on Friday? COACH PRESNELL: They're getting healthy, so they're going to be extremely formidable. They've improved. They've actually played pretty well on the road. So I expect it to be a great game. I hope we're in it. The Durbin kid is an amazing shooter, she's amazing at reading screens correctly. Then Porche can defend our posts pretty well. So we're going to have our hands full. The first game was our place, pretty fired up, we played well. When we were at their place, they made a big run and basically ran out of time. We were fortunate to get out of there with a win. Q. What is the most gratifying thing with tonight's performance? COACH PRESNELL: It sounds kind of little, but you always need a hump win. This is kind of a hump win for our program. We battled injuries for a few years that just decimated us. Our kids were so focused not on winning this tournament but just focused on Colorado State. I was really proud of them. Just the bounce‑back stuff. Julia, the key to the game, she hit that three, she played so poorly in the first half. Then Keiahnna came back and made huge contributions in the second half. Then seeing some improvement. Kinzi Poteet ‑‑ they zone us a lot, a lot of people do, because we struggle in the high post. I thought her decision making in the high post was just terrific. Q. Some players seemed frustrated a lot out there. Was that a result of the defense you were playing on them? COACH PRESNELL: Heather Pilcher and Keiahnna and Julia took turns on her. It's kind of funny. We decided after halftime that we'd come out and run a box‑and‑one on her. We did it for three possessions and gave up six points. The only time we focused completely on her, they just killed us. We worked all week on it. We got out of it after about three possessions. Kind of overcoached ourselves probably. Q. How were you able to commit 18 turnovers and still win? COACH PRESNELL: 18 turnovers is pretty good for us (laughter). We can give it to the other team really well. We try to be as transition as much as we can. I don't have a problem with that. I know at tournament time it's a grind‑it‑out kind of thing, possessions become important. But we got some breakaways and we're going to keep pushing and do what we do. I'm proud of our team. They could have rolled over. They showed a lot of character tonight. THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much, coach. COACH PRESNELL: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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