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BIG TEN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 6, 2014Kim Barnes AricoNicole ElmbladCyesha GoreeShannon SmithINDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA Michigan – 82 Q. Cyesha, what happened on that play where you went down, and how are you? CYESHA GOREE: I'm fine. I just took a charge and hit the ground pretty hard but I'm good. Q. Shannon, can you talk about the job you and Siera had to do in dealing with Larryn Brooks and how successful you were on the defensive end? SHANNON SMITH: She's a great player, and I think she played great defense. We couldn't do it without our teammates. Q. Cyesha and Nicole, can you guys talk about why you were so effective inside today? CYESHA GOREE: Our teammates made an effort to look inside, go inside out. I think they did a really good job of executing that. That's one thing we really wanted to work on, preparing for them to look inside out. And we did a great job of finishing strong. Q. Nicole? NICOLE ELMBLAD: I think our coach did a pretty good job of figuring out our game plan and knowing that we needed to go inside because we could. Especially Bird and Val who have been playing really well, finishing really well, so we just kind of focused on that this week and making sure that we're in position as guards to get passes down to the post and really help them get going. Q. Shannon, Cyesha, there were six times in the second half where you cut the lead to ten points, and each of those times they couldn't really get over that hump and get single digits and you guys seemed to be able to respond every time. What was behind that? SHANNON SMITH: I think we just played well. We just tried to stay strong throughout it. It's a game of runs, so we showed them if they make a run, we got to make a runback. CYESHA GOREE: I agree with Shannon. It was all about getting stops. Sometimes we relaxed but we ended up catching ourselves and regrouping back together in the huddle and making sure we closed out next time or fixing it and not getting beat the same way twice. Q. All three of you, how do you feel about playing Michigan State again? NICOLE ELMBLAD: I was really excited for the opportunity. We had such a close game with them back home. We were disappointed to come out with the loss. We are just excited especially on this stage of the tournament to be able to have another shot at them and be able to go and play hard. SHANNON SMITH: They're a great team. I'm looking forward to playing them. CYESHA GOREE: I'm excited. Were treating this like another game. It's the second round, so we're going to be ready. Q. What color are your pants going to be tomorrow, Shannon? SHANNON SMITH: Beige and blue. COACH BARNES ARICO: I thought our team played exceptionally well in the first half. We shared the basketball we tried to establish an inside presence. That is something that we watched on film and we tried to make a concerted effort in going inside out and getting Cyesha touches early. Shannon Smith has been playing exceptionally well lately, being able to attack and draw people. We were able to draw a lot of fouls early on and get to the free‑throw line. In the first half our energy was terrific and I was really proud of the effort that we gave today. Q. Coach, I know you're a little under the weather today. How hard is it just to be out there and keep that energy level high, even though you're not feeling well? COACH BARNES ARICO: Yeah I was feeling great until about two o'clock and we were at the pregame meal, and I was like, I'm not feeling well. My baby who is five, she was up the entire night before we left. I guess her bug kind of caught me. I went back to the pregame, didn't eat much. I spent the rest of the time in the bathroom, any time that I wasn't on the bench in the bathroom. I was a little concerned because of the young team, you're never really sure how they're going to respond. But our kids have been playing so well. Our shootaround was terrific. We had a lot of time to prepare. They were focused. We always talked during the year about Cal Ripken, who they're too young to know who he is and so I had to go through that, and just how people play with broken fingers and people play with the flu, and people play when family members pass away. It's just something that you've got to do. I tried to be out there for them. They really carried it. I was so proud that they told me before the game, I said guys, I might need to lean on you a little bit today. They said no worries, Coach, we got you. And then after the game they were just giving me hugs, which I hope I didn't give them any germs. I was proud of the way they responded, and from a coaching perspective, that's all you can ask of your team. They just were unbelievable today. Q. Can you talk about the scoring distribution and how you were getting off offense up and down the lineup? COACH BARNES ARICO: When we're playing well, we're really able to do that. I think that we're usually very successful when we have great balance. We knew that if we would go inside early and establish Cyesha early they would probably look to double that. And then that would open up Val and that would open Shannon up on penetration, and that would open Nicole because they'd be doubling off of her, as well. And it did. Val was able to knock down some shots. Nicole was really aggressive and drew a lot of fouls. But when we're at our best, we have great balance, and that's what we had tonight. Q. Coach, could you talk about Michigan State and how they've changed since you played? COACH BARNES ARICO: Yeah. They ‑‑ you know, I think our team has really grown since we've played them. And you know, we've had our bumps in the road but we've also responded. But they have grown tremendously. Obviously they lost their point guard, who always seems to hurt us when we play them. But the people that have stepped in for her are playing unbelievably. Aerial Powers, I feel as if she's playing at another level. She's a tough match‑up because she rebounds the heck out of the basketball and she runs the floor. When she has the ball in her hand, she can distribute. She can go coast‑to‑coast. She's just phenomenal. They're a senior‑laden team, obviously led by Pickrel and Becca Mills and No. 21, Clarissa Bell. But they are experienced. They're senior‑laden, they're Big 10 champs for a reason. And they're an incredibly tough team and it should be an interesting match‑up for us. Q. Could you talk about Cyesha's injury and also the play of Nicole taking three charges two in like a minute stretch in that second half? COACH BARNES ARICO: Unbelievable. You know, it's funny and we've probably talked about this before but we keep a record of charges and loose balls and we really try to pride our program on that, whether it's in practice or in games. And Cyesha and Nicole, we have a block end hanging on everybody's locker, and you get a basketball sticker for taking those plays, and Cyesha and Nicole are in a battle for first place. The winner is going to get something special; I don't know what it is. But their block ends are full. And there's other people on our team that have two and three. So those are two young ladies that have incredible motors and do the intangible things and really sacrifice themselves for the good of the team. And Nicole's three charges were incredible. I think Cyesha is going to be okay. She took a charge and she landed kind of awkwardly. And we wanted an opportunity to rest her at that point. So I thought it was in our best interest to try to save some of our energy for tomorrow. But she was ready to go back in. I just think Nicole Elmblad is one of the most improved players in our league. Obviously Cyesha Goree is, as well, but Cyesha didn't get on the court last year. Nicole has played for us and has probably tripled every one of her numbers. She is an incredible asset for our team. Q. You handled Indiana pretty easily down in Bloomington. Did this game resemble that one? COACH BARNES ARICO: Similar. Indiana made their runs down there, as well. I thought down there our turnovers led to their three‑point transition, and here today I thought our misses led to their transition. I thought when they got out in transition against us is when they were really success. Q. Coach, there were six times in the second half where IU cut the deficit to ten. How were you able to fend that off? COACH BARNES ARICO: I think a couple of those situations we had time‑outs, which was good. We really wanted to make sure we executed. And we drew up some things and talked about our looks. And I just recall one coming out, we got a terrific high‑low and it kind of ended their run. It was a really great play. I think the other thing, too, is Shannon Smith made two tremendous plays getting offensive rebounds when they were making their run. She's a little thing, barely 120pounds. She gets knocked around all of the time. She got in there and she got two big offensive rebounds and big put‑backs, and those were two key plays that stopped their run, as well. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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