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AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 9, 2014Kahleah CopperRachel HollivayBetnijah LaneyC. Vivian StringerUNCASVILLE, CONNECTICUT UConn - 83 THE MODERATOR: Rutgers is joining us, Coach Stringer, Rachel Hollivay, Kahleah Copper and Betnijah Laney. Q. Coach, why no three‑point shots today? What was the strategy going into tonight? COACH STRINGER: If you can't hit 3‑point shots, why would you take them? Does that occur? Sometimes we do, but sometimes we don't, and 99% of the time we don't. When I get some 3‑point shooters next year, we will do that. Q. Coach, can you talk about UConn's defensive intensity? COACH STRINGER: UConn does so many great things and they are not always given the credit they deserve. They're given nowhere near the kind of credit they deserve on the defensive side of it, and I say that because defense is not just the way you play, whether it's in the zone or man‑to‑man but in completion. They're block out, doing all the fundamental things they need to do and it's easy, especially when a team is scoring at the clip that they are offensively to be slow and sloppy and lazy on the defensive side of it. And I think that Geno does a masterful job of encouraging his players to be as intense on the offensive side as they are on the defensive side or vice versa, but that's what clearly makes a great team. It's not as obvious until you see the kinds of things the way we were forced to score. We weren't trying to do that, they were forcing us into that situation more than we would like. Q. Vivian, can you talk about the first ten minutes there? Seemed like UConn came out and they were hitting everything. COACH STRINGER: Not only were they hitting everything, if you look at any of the stats, at least that we've been looking at, you get into the boxing ring and they get‑‑ they look to knock you out the first ten minutes, and I think that probably is the secret, is to be in the eye of the storm and still maintain some composure, be calm and not abandon the ship, so to speak. We clearly did that. We got anxious. They shot the heck out of the ball, doesn't matter, from one side to the next, and that's not something you practice. They came in shooting and they got that much better. That's not an accident. They spread the floor so well. Having said that, we have to recognize that they always beat you half to death as much as they can in the first four minutes and I'm saying that if you look at the tracking system, it's true. In this case they were able to sustain for eight minutes and then they just shadow box the rest of the time and something happens at the half and they come at it again. We knew that was‑‑ that would be a surge. I thought our team did a great job of settling down and playing them much more composed basketball game, one that we would be proud of. We weren't too happy that they forced us to get excited and try to "save ourselves" and when that happens no one person can beat UConn because it is not one person that's beating us anyway. It's the entire UConn team that makes everything happen. That's the secret to us and to any team that's going to be successful against UConn. Q. Vivian, what will the next eight days be like for you as you wait until Selection Sunday? Last year you guys kind of knew you were out and years before you knew you were in. It's been a while since you've been on the bubble. COACH STRINGER: Yeah, I don't know. I think tomorrow and the next day will‑‑ tomorrow and the next day we will just try to rest up, get in the ice bath and hope that we are in, which I believe that we should be, but it doesn't really matter what I think a whole heck of a lot, it depends on what the committee thinks but it is an uncomfortable situation because we don't know. We really don't know. We will wait quietly at our televisions and if they say you guys are‑‑ because you know that UConn is UConn by itself and everybody else is there, and I don't like to have to say that but it is what it is and it's the true. So it's incumbent upon all of us to be a whole heck of a lot better. I think they set the standard in each position with what they do and it's as simple as that, and we're okay, we can aspire to that but we're going to have to wait. In years before we have always known that we were in. We were out last year, which wasn't a shock. This year we don't know. I think that based upon the way I thought that Betnijah, Kahleah and Rachel and others practiced this summer, I thought that they really remembered that. They personally ‑‑ more credit goes to them than to any of us, at least me specifically, or to the coaching staff because had it not been that they decided they didn't like where they were, they came back ready, they worked hard and we're grateful to be able to coach them and to put this together for them. I know that they want better and they're going to work, continually. I know that they don't believe that it's over, so maybe tomorrow‑‑ not tomorrow but maybe the next day they will get some shooting in but they will come ready. As a young group, we're proud of them and they will be back. If we have an opportunity to show our talents this year, that will be great and if not we will be that much more determined through the summer and this group will come back with that much more resolve and I have no question in my mind, based upon what I've seen, not what I've heard about but what I've seen, I'm proud of the way they have come back this year. Q. Kahleah, can you talk about how difficult it is to attack the basket and get to the free‑throw line with how much size they have in the middle? KAHLEAH COPPER: It was really hard, but our coaches prepared us for that. I knew once I had to attack my guard had to slide up and we had toe kick it out. They're really long, and as long as we kept getting deeper into the paint they were close IN on us, and that was expected. Coach prepared us for all that but yeah it was difficult. Q. Vivian, based on what you said about showcasing your talent, if it didn't happen NCAA Tournament, would you consider a NIT bid if it came? COACH STRINGER: Is my athletic director here? You know how I feel about that. You know that. You of all people know that. But I think that we will do what is best for the team. Probably what's best for the team is that we will take advantage of the experience, the opportunity, one, to practice, to play, to compete, and it's a team that while I could be disappointed that we are not in the NCAA Tournament, I would because‑‑ I would do that because I know that this would benefit the team, the fact that we can go to Europe this summer, that's what I'm trying to do. I think this team is capable of lots of good things, so to answer your question, Mel, yes, but don't tell anybody else that, because we planning to go to the NCAA. Let me leave it like that. THE MODERATOR: Questions for the players? Q. Rachel, you set the program single‑season block record today. Can you talk about what you take out of this season, given the loss? RACHEL HOLLIVAY: Just keep working hard and try to do the best I can, help my teammates. Q. Betnijah, I know you guys practice real hard. Where you practice for something like that, being down 25‑5 or whatever it was? Does that shock you when you are out there and how do you not let that get the best of you? Obviously you guys played better the rest of the game. BETNIJAH LANEY: I don't think it's something you practice for; it just happened. We talked about we knew what their game plan was, to take us out in the first custom minutes and we tried to focus on that and make sure they didn't but it happened. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, ladies. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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