|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NCAA WOMEN'S 1ST & 2ND ROUNDS: SPOKANEMarch 17, 2012Kelly GravesHaiden PalmerKayla StandishSPOKANE, WASHINGTON Gonzaga – 86 COACH GRAVES: Well, first of all, I do want to congratulate Rutgers on a great season. Coach Stringer obviously is an idol of a lot of people, a lot of young coaches, and just a really classy woman, spent some time with our team yesterday, and I know it meant a lot to them. You know, they're a terrific team, but tonight I was just really proud of how hard we played. That was the main thing. I thought right from the get‑go, we came out, had a great defensive game plan that they executed perfectly, and we played hard and got a lot of the hustle balls, the loose balls, the rebounds, and when you play a team like Rutgers, you'd better play physical and you'd better play hard, or it's going to be a long night. I'm just really proud of our team. Q. Haiden, everyone was talking about how you did have to match this team physically, and Kelly mentioned there wasn't a team that you had seen that was this physical, and I know it was a factor but you made it look like it wasn't much of a factor. Can you talk about just playing with that kind of physicality and matching this team today? HAIDEN PALMER: Yeah, that was one of our focuses because we knew they were so physical, so we just tried to pack it in a little more so it didn't matter as much when they tried to push us off screens and stuff like that. But when they did we boxed out hard and did the little things like you said and just tried to be tougher than them, play physical. Q. Kayla, can you talk about the first ten minutes of the game and what the team was able to accomplish in getting a big lead? KAYLA STANDISH: Yeah, the first ten minutes we came out and got off to a good start, pushing the ball, making our shots. Our defensive end I think was‑‑ should be noted because we followed the game plan like Coach and Haiden both had said. We weren't allowing them to get in the paint as much as they would like to, so just our defensive end I think really helped us go forward with our offense. Q. Talking with the Rutgers players, it was brought up that Haiden, you caught a one‑on‑one battle in the second half with Erica Wheeler. What was it like going against her? HAIDEN PALMER: She just hit some tough shots towards the end. Great player, but we won the game today. I won. Q. Kayla, just talk about the team's ability down the stretch to answer them when they looked like they were going to make a push. KAYLA STANDISH: Yeah, we made some big buckets. We also made some big free throws. We got to the free‑throw line numerous times in the last couple minutes. So yeah, we made‑‑ I guess our offensive plan was to get to the bucket, and I think we did that, and in different ways, our wings were making big shots and we were getting it inside a few times, so I think our offensive plan worked today. Q. If you could both kind of talk a little bit about you were just so scrappy on defense, and I think that‑‑ to me that seemed like it was the game. Can you talk about how maybe the crowd energized you? You never seemed to let up. Talk about how the crowd maybe fed that a little bit. KAYLA STANDISH: Yeah, first of all, we knew they were going to come out and play really well. They're a defensive oriented team, so we tried to come out battling before they could. And then obviously our fans, it was very loud in there. They were on our side the whole time, so it only helps with our momentum. HAIDEN PALMER: Yeah, same thing. That was our game plan. We knew we were they were physical, so we couldn't be back on our heels, and the crowd just kept the momentum going. It's tiring playing like that, and every time I would get tired they would just stand up and start cheering. Q. Haiden, obviously a really physical game, but there were gaps that you seemed to‑‑ and also you, Kayla, seemed to exploit in the midrange. Can you talk about what you were trying to find on offense, what you were going for, especially just seeing match‑ups and finding your shots? HAIDEN PALMER: Well, since they were playing so physical and quick, they would get out of position sometimes. If anyone would drive they would all kind of crash and that would leave people on the three‑point line open, and just like you said, try to find open spots and get open shots. Q. Haiden, can you just talk about finally being on the floor for your first NCAA Tournament game and what that was like for you? HAIDEN PALMER: Oh, it was amazing. I had to stop myself from crying after the game actually. Biggest game of my life. It was a lot of fun, especially at home with the crowd, and I love these guys, so it was great getting that win. Q. On the same lines, how much of a relief is it to get this one based on what you guys did last year, the pressure of playing in front of your home crowd, and obviously you being a senior not wanting to go out this early? KAYLA STANDISH: Well, it's nice we won our first game. It's another game closer to our goal. We'll go out and watch this next game, see who we've got to prepare for. I know the coaches will put together a great game plan just like they did for this previous game. If we follow the game plan like we did today and hit open shots like we have been, I think it'll help carry us over. Being a senior, it's really nice to not go out on your first game, so yeah, just carrying our momentum forward till Monday and get some good night rest and some good food in us. Q. After the regular season finale against BYU you spoke to the crowd just about how this team for the last four years is one of the five winningest programs in the country along with teams like UConn, and today Coach Stringer was saying that this team was the closest she'd seen to what they'd seen against UConn. Can you talk about what this program has gone through where you're being compared to a powerhouse? COACH GRAVES: Well, I'll tell you, Coach Stringer is a classy woman, there's no question about it, and a great coach. Connecticut has won a lot more national championships than we have, so we'll end the comparison there. I think what she was saying when we talked yesterday is we move the basketball around. You know, we're not a traditional team as far as we don't really look to break people down on the dribble. Seems like a lot of teams try to do that. We still do it the old‑fashioned way. We set screens and we hit open jump shots and we move the ball to different people. But that's quite a compliment coming from a coach like Coach Stringer. That's pretty cool. But we've got a ways to go before that comparison is more apt. Q. When I asked Haiden about her first game, can you talk about her going off in her first NCAA game? COACH GRAVES: Well, she's terrific. She's an amazing player, and when she's on, she can be one of those players that is difficult to stop. I call it every once in a while she goes Dwyane Wade on us. There's a reason she wears No.3. She likes him. She likes to play like him. And from time to time he gets into those stretches where he can't miss, and sometimes that's good and sometimes that's bad because I thought from time to time there were some bad shots taken. But the reality is she's fearless. She is a fearless basketball player, and even when maybe something doesn't go well for her, she'll make it up with a key steal or a loose ball that she runs down or a big rebound. Tonight she took a charge. She had five steals, she had four assists, she had 20 some odd points. That's quite a night against a really good team. So I'm just really proud of her, and in her first big game like this in the NCAA Tournament to come up like that says a lot about her, about her character. Q. You said yesterday they're the toughest team you've seen, I think, ever. Do you feel like you‑‑ or the hardest playing team that you've seen ever. Do you feel like you out‑toughed them for the majority of the game and how big of a key was that for you guys? COACH GRAVES: Well, I don't know if we out‑toughed them, but I thought we stood up to them, no question about it. That's their game; they're physical, they're tough. We've talked about that 100 times already. But we knew that we had to play that way, and it's in us. You know, it's in us. It doesn't always come out, but it did tonight, and I thought it did right from the start, and I think that was really important. I thought we set the tone defensively, and sometimes that has not been the case for us. We've tried to outscore people early and then get tough late. And I thought tonight they really focused on being tough early, and then that toughness showed throughout the game. I mean, we built a lead and then they would come back, and then we would answer the call and build it back up, and they would come back like great teams do. But every time they made a run, it seems like we had the answer, and you do that when you're tough, and tonight we played tough. That +8 on the rebounds is always a telltale sign of a team playing physical and being tough. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|