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PACIFIC-12 CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 7, 2013Jazmine DavisKevin McGuffAminah WilliamsSEATTLE, WASHINGTON OREGON – 62 COACH McGUFF: We obviously did not get off to a very good start, but give Oregon credit, they were ready to go from the jump. And our defense was bad and they really made us pay. They made shots, and they played really, really well early on and we got down obviously 22 points. But, I'm really proud of our team for staying together. We showed a lot of resiliency tonight, and for about ten minutes to go in the first half through the second half, I thought we played really hard defensively. We were aggressive on offense and got great shots. And then, you know, we finished off a lot of possessions with rebounds. Q. How important was making the deficit more manageable before halftime? COACH McGUFF: You know, one of the things that I think when you get down like that, the most important thing is to make sure that we understand, there's no 20‑point play. We have to go possession by possession. That's what our players finally started to see. When we got down a little bit, we were rushing shots on offense and trying to get it all back at once. Once we got settled in and got them believing in possession by possession, play great defense, finish it with rebounds and then come aggressively in transition to the offensive end, then we started to kind of get ourselves going. But I think the end of the first half was critically important because I think we started to finally believe that if we just kept going the way we were going that we win the game. Q. Jazmine, with the game opening up like that, the way they were shooting the 3, is it reminiscent the last time you played‑‑ JAZMINE DAVIS: Yeah, you could say that. Oregon is a good team. When they come out, they are on fire and they are on fire for a really long time. Like Coach said, it was just a matter of staying together during that time, all Kristi was staying: It's okay, we are fine, down 22, we're fine, it's okay. And you know what, that's what we did, we stayed together. Q. Did you actually believe Kristi or was there a little part of you that said, no, I don't know. JAZMINE DAVIS: No, no, it was really early in the game, so I believed. I believed Kristi. And when you get down like that, you don't ever want to think, oh, no, we're done. You don't ever want to think that and I don't think for a second any of us thought that. We just thought, okay, we need to pull it together, we need to make that extra pass, get a little more ball movement and that's what we did and we came out with the win. Q. Jazmine, what was the biggest difference for you between the first half and the second half? JAZMINE DAVIS: First half, I would say we just started off a little slow. Concentration wasn't really there to start the game. It just made everything that we lacked or just had the first half ‑‑ but late in the first half, we gave it back a little bit and then coming into the second half, we didn't turn it off. Once we got that momentum ending the first half, we just came into the second half, let's go, we are on fire, keep the intensity up and pass that energy and that's what we did. Q. Aminah, what does a game like this mean for you and the team? AMINAH WILLIAMS: Well, for us, it means a lot. It shows that we were able to play through adversity, we stayed together as a team, and we fought on both ends of the floor and I think that is why we were able to come back because we stayed together as a team. Q. The man‑to‑man‑‑ COACH McGUFF: Yeah, we started off the game mixing man and zone, and just we were not playing with enough energy in zone and we were giving up too many 3s and they were making us pay. We went to playing all man‑to‑man, and I certainly thought that was much more effective for us, and kind of allowed us to start that run and climb back into the game. I think what it did is it allowed us to string together a few stops and when we did that, then we were able to get out in transition offense, because they were making so many shots, we couldn't get in transition. It was all half‑court for us. Once we started getting some stops and man‑to‑man and allowed us to get going the other way aggressively. Q. With the tournament in Seattle, how beneficial is that when you're trying to come back? COACH McGUFF: It was great. I think No.1, overall, I think it was a great day for the tournament. Karen and everybody have done an outstanding job working really hard. It's very organized. The hotel has been great. The fans were great tonight. And to your point, I thought just having as many Washington fans as we had here was a big part of us, kind of gave that momentum there late in the first half. It obviously was a little bit different because of the venue, but especially like in a game like that where we are down, everybody is sitting there like, how is this going to go. Once we started to come back, I could really feel the energy in the building. It was really neat and I thought that was a big deal for our players. Q. The second half, you had a driving layup that seemed like you were just determined to score. JAZMINE DAVIS: Yeah, the second half, we had one thing and it was, you can get to the basket and to the basket if you can't pass it out. I thought us driving instead of just stake being outside shots was a lot more effective because we were getting to the basket. That's all I could think was get to the basket. Q. Talia hit a huge three with about a minute left on her time‑out. Was that a drawn‑out play? COACH McGUFF: Not exactly. We had something drawn up and then the kind of play after the play was going to be drive it and pitch it. That's a great thing about Talia, she has a very short memory. It's one of the things that makes her a special player is she can miss a couple shots, and she knows that the next one is going in. And I think that's a great example right there is she hit an absolutely huge shot there, and I thought that was the shot that kind of put the nail in the coffin for them. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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