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MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 15, 2013Ki-Ki MooreRaegan PebleyTaylor ThompsonLAS VEGAS, NEVADA Fresno State – 63 THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Fresno State. Coach, some remarks on tonight's game. COACH PEBLEY: Yeah, you know, Wyoming, our games with them during the season, when we played up at their place, it felt like that tonight actually. It felt like we were playing out in Laramie. This game felt more like the game in Laramie than it did at home. But I thought we did a really good job just of trying to make Wyoming play our game and adjust to us more. Their halfcourt offense is too good. We knew we couldn't sit and guard it the whole game. So we had to get at 'em. We had to get creative. But really it's completely about these two on my left and the girls in the locker room, the last play, the whole game, the turnovers that they forced all come from their effort, total commitment. They play hard for each other, so hard. It makes our job as coaches pretty fun to watch. THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student‑athletes. Q. Ki‑Ki, 9.6 seconds left, what was going through your head when you made that shot? KI‑KI MOORE: I mean, one thing, my coaches and teammates first were giving me the opportunity to take the big shot and just believing in me to take the big shot. Without them giving me that chance, none of that out there would have been possible, so... Q. Taylor, you got the pass from Bree inbounds. Were you trying to look for Ki‑Ki? TAYLOR THOMPSON: Well, we had a set play. So, yeah, I was trying to get it to Ki‑Ki. So that was our plan. If that didn't work, then we were just going to have to wing it. We have great players all across the board, so I knew someone was going to make a big play. Q. How does experience and all that play into a situation like that, tight game, been there, done that? Does that calm you in moments like that? KI‑KI MOORE: I think it does. I mean, just having people out there with experience, not giving up, not putting their head down just because the other team makes a big shot. Just believing that we're going to go back and get another shot. So I believe it does. TAYLOR THOMPSON: Some teams could have just let their head down. We were excited in our huddle. We knew we were going to pull it through somehow. We did. In the past we've had, you know, tight games like that. So it was good having experience. But I'm just proud of all of our girls. Q. Ki‑Ki, wondering what your reaction was once you saw the ball went through the hoop? KI‑KI MOORE: I mean, I was excited. But it wasn't time to celebrate yet. There was still another play they got the ball in. Knew had to defend. Couldn't celebrate until the buzzer went off and the shot did not go in. My teammates just surrounded me and everyone was happy, just jumping on me. I felt love from my teammates. Just getting the opportunity to take that shot shows they love me and trust me a lot. Q. You had 31 steals through two games of the tournament. What has made your pressure defense so effective? TAYLOR THOMPSON: I think, you know, we're aggressive. At times we're really feisty. I like that about our team. We trust each other. We know that we can go for steals. If we don't happen to get it, someone's going to be behind our back helping us. So, you know, trust is a big thing. So I think that's why we're allowed to get up in people and just, you know, play. KI‑KI MOORE: I would just say wanting to play a fast pace. To play fast, we kind of have to turn the other team over. We take a lot of chances trying to get steals. We play well off of each other. If we know one person doesn't get it, we're helping each other and having each other's back. Q. Grinding this tough win out, what does that do in preparation for tomorrow's championship game for you guys? TAYLOR THOMPSON: Most definitely we're going to celebrate tonight's win. We're going to rest, but we're going to enjoy that we won. We're just going to prepare for SanDiego State like any other game. But we're going in for nothing less than a championship. Q. Fourth year in a row you have been in 'the' game. Any extra butterflies? KI‑KI MOORE: I would say just exciting. It's just excitement to be a part of this, in our first league, just to be part of a championship game. Everyone has been looking forward to this game. But we've just been taking it one game at a time knowing we have to get the other games done before we can get to the championship. Q. Can you talk more about SanDiego State. TAYLOR THOMPSON: You know, they're going to be a tough team. They got great players all across the board. But so do we. So, you know, we're just going to go in and play our game and hopefully, you know, I think that will be enough, if we just go in and prepare for them the way we know how. I think we'll win. KI‑KI MOORE: Same. I just think we do everything we've been doing. We don't change anything. We just come in and prepare the same way we've been preparing for every game we've played this tournament championship so far. Q. You led for most of the game. How did you keep from not getting demoralized late when they took the lead and it looked like they won the game? KI‑KI MOORE: You have to know that teams are going to go on runs. They have good shooters, knock down big shots. Just keeping up, not giving up, putting our head down. Knowing we're still in the game, fighting on every possession of the game. TAYLOR THOMPSON: You don't have time to let down. I mean, if you do that, then you're already beat. So we knew that they got on some runs throughout the game. That last shot when they got up by one. You know what, I'm proud of our team. We could have let down, but we didn't. We were excited. We were excited for the moment. We took it, so... We came out with the win. Q. Does the way you lost to SanDiego State stick in the back of your head and give you added incentive to beat them this time? KI‑KI MOORE: I would say so. Just doing what we doing, just knowing what they did to us last time, what we did to them the first game to start off the conference. Everyone has something to look back on. I would say it helps us a lot. THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions for Coach Pebley. Q. The players say they were excited for the opportunity. What was going through your mind when you were down and had one last play? COACH PEBLEY: Uhm, I had kind of in my head as they had the ball, before they took the lead, Okay, if they hit this, we're down two, whatever the situation is, you're running through those things in your head as a coach. I consider myself still a young coach, even though I've got some years under my belt. Every single day seems to age me more. But I practice this stuff. I ask our players to practice. I sit in my little hotel room, down one, you practice those things. But in the end I knew we had players ‑ didn't matter what I drew up ‑ we have players that wanted to win this game. They were playing for each other. They were playing for more than just themselves as individuals. And we trusted them. We practiced these situations in practice. You don't want to go to something that they've never seen before. So we put the ball in the hands of somebody that we trusted and put around her people she knew where they were going to be at, and there were multiple options for that score. Q. For you to get this win, to come from behind, what does that do to prepare you for tomorrow? COACH PEBLEY: Well, I think it's a situation that we can build confidence from. You never know when that situation's going to bring itself or happen again. So all of these experiences add to their leadership and their experience. But, you know, I've seen Fresno State many years be in conference tournaments and win games in all different types of situations. I've seen them against our former team at Utah State down 21, come back and win a game, beat us. Seen them against Louisiana Tech in tight, close games. Bree Farley hitting an amazing shot, a running layup on the right side. So this team, we just needed to put them in a situation to be successful and they were going to find success. Q. In the regular series, you were the only blemish SanDiego State had in conference play. Does that add any confidence for you? COACH PEBLEY: I think so. That was our first game in the Mountain West. That was a huge, pivotal moment for our season. I think it helped us and really was a catalyst for more success. But, you know, they came and kicked our trash in Fresno. That was a humbling moment for our team, a learning moment. But I think we're a good team. I think they're a good team. It's really hard to beat good teams three times. So this is just a great matchup for the conference, for the fans. I think ideally you want 1 and 2 in the championship game. Q. Wyoming talked about you being able to have all these shooting options with Taylor, Ki‑Ki and Bree. For yourself, are you satisfied with all the options that you have proven you've had? COACH PEBLEY: Yeah. You know, this was a game we had to win and win it without really filling it up from the three‑point line. That just I think showed some diversity to our offense, how we can score. We can absolutely win games from the three‑point line. I've always tried to build our teams where we're not predictable, we're hard to prepare for. That we can adjust to another team as much as they adjust to us. So SanDiego State is going to get physical with us. They're a very, very good defensive team. I think they're averaging giving up only 49 points a game. That's tremendous. So we've got a huge challenge tomorrow. Q. You touched on this is going to be the third matchup of the two teams. Does that change the strategy going into the game tomorrow? COACH PEBLEY: Again, there's always tweaks and strategy changes. I've said it before, and I mean it, no matter what kind of scheme we draw up, what kind of scheme Beth draws up, it's going to be the players out there that have to and get to perform. It's not just that game winner that Ki‑Ki hits. But being in a championship game, opening tip, playing those 40‑plus minutes is what they prepare all season for. Q. Getting back to Wyoming. It looked midway through the first half when you went on the 10‑1 run, forcing turnovers, looked like you were going to pull away. What were you able to do early to get that lead and what did they do to get back in the game? COACH PEBLEY: We were able to get out on them quick, like you said, force some turnovers, get out into transition. We talked about, in preparing for this game, last night's Wyoming game against Colorado State is a perfect example, a team that shoots the three, no lead is safe. Your lead's not safe and their lead's not safe. So Kayla Woodward came out and she hit 4‑6 in the first half from the three‑point line. That's what I think helped them get back into the game. They found ways to get her touches. We lost our assignment a few times, and she had uncontested shots. Q. As a coach are you able to enjoy this win or are you thinking about tomorrow? COACH PEBLEY: Well, yeah. I mean, Taylor and Ki‑Ki I think did a great job. My mind's racing, thinking about SanDiego State. But we came into this tournament with scouting reports and game plans ready for every team. We're going to enjoy the moment, but really let the girls enjoy it longer than we will as a coaching staff. We'll lock ourselves up in our hospitality suite and go to work. THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much, Coach. COACH PEBLEY: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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