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BIG 12 CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 9, 2014Nina DavisNiya JohnsonKim MulkeyMakenzie RobertsonOKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA Baylor – 65 Q. You held OSU to 26 percent shooting in the first half. Can you kind of speak a little bit about what you guys did defensively there? MAKENZIE ROBERTSON: I mean, we've played them twice already just like any other team, so we know their strengths and weaknesses, so we just tried to capitalize on it. Q. Niya, I don't remember a time when you would have taken 12 shots. They were obviously leaving you open. Talk about your ability, you've got to be able to? NIYA JOHNSON: Well, when I first stubbed out, coach came up to me and told me to keep shooting the ball, shooting the ball with confidence, and I just took her words to heart and I just kept shooting until it fell in, and once it went in, they were big shots, so I was satisfied. Q. Makenzie, you guys are wearing the 400 shirts. Talk about playing for your mom and being there for her 400th win. MAKENZIE ROBERTSON: Well, that's kind of special. I mean, I think we got to celebrate her 300th my freshman year maybe, and so I'm happy to be here for 300 and 400. It just makes me really proud of her and that I get to be a part of it. Q. Nina, just talk about your experience the first time here. Looks like you feel pretty comfortable in this setting? NINA DAVIS: My first time here has been great. I love the essence here, just playing every game, every game is aggressive, everybody brings their A game in. I'm just really loving the atmosphere out here. Q. Nina, talk to me and tell me is it easier being the first game out while now you have the championship tomorrow night, you get a little more rest under you? Does that help you guys? NINA DAVIS: It's very important because this game right here, we basically had to play to the very buzzer, so we used a lot of legs. It was a very physical game, and so just having the first game and being able to rest is definitely a plus. Q. Makenzie, what are your thoughts on the match‑up tomorrow with either West Virginia or Texas? I know you just played West Virginia a week ago, obviously, but your thoughts on that? MAKENZIE ROBERTSON: Well, they're both great teams. It's been pretty close both times‑‑ well, this last time with West Virginia, obviously, was a heartbreaker for us. But both games, both teams are just great, and they come out and you give it your all and they both hustle. They're both physical. We have to come out and stay focused and be ready for whatever they throw at us. Q. Coach, it seemed like officiating was tough to overcome. Were there any adjustments made from you or the players in relation to the officiating? KIM MULKEY: It was just a physical game. It was a very physical game, and I probably should have made an opening statement, so I'll say it now, and make sure y'all write this, or maybe y'all can answer it for you: Are there any major BCS leagues that play each other twice? Come on. Is there? We might be the only two leagues, this league and that one that do it. It's a grind out there. It is a grind. You see the scores. We know everything about each other. You don't even have to do a scouting report, so when the NCAA sits down to do their selection, they need to keep that in mind, that you're looking at six teams in this conference that go at it night in and night out, and we don't have traveling partners or whatever they call all that stuff, and we don't‑‑ we're not able to avoid certain teams. You've got to play everybody in this league. And to come out here and have to do it in a conference tournament again, it's just a grind, and it may not look very good. I don't imagine that game was very enjoyable to watch on TV. There was a lot of stoppage, a lot of fouling, a lot of all that going on, but both teams are battling and just trying to win. It was just that kind of game. Q. You talked about the grind. Do you think the grind is wearing on Odyssey, or is this‑‑ KIM MULKEY: No, no. Q. Is that the case at all? KIM MULKEY: I think it has to do with her being guarded by everybody on the other team. They take turns. They take turns, and then two of them do it at a time and three at a time and throw this one at her. No. She sees it all. She sees it all. I think she'll lose her composure some, but she doesn't lose it near as much as I probably would as a player because she is‑‑ I just don't know if there's anybody in the country that's guarded like her. I mean, you think of the players that are up for Player of the Year, the positions that they play, they don't see that kind of defense. They don't see three and four players, fresh players, come at her and then a double‑team here and a triangle‑and‑two and a box‑and‑one. You know, it wears on you because good coaches and good teams aren't just going to let her come down and shoot it, so they make it difficult for her. Q. I know you expect it from Nina at this point, but another big game, 18 points, 12 rebounds. Did you see some maturity out of her being able to do it kind of battling with the foul trouble that she had? KIM MULKEY: Well, she and Sune got in foul trouble early and then Kristina picked up her third there early. Nina today probably did it in a quiet way through the middle part of the game, and then she got some big buckets there late. She's just one of those players that when the game is over, you don't realize she had another double‑double. She just does her job in there, and she also had to guard Martin, so she wasn't just doing it on the offensive end, she had to guard Martin, and Martin is playing very well right now. Q. Kim, 400th career win. Did you know that they were printing those shirts up? KIM MULKEY: No, no. Actually I thought when we went to do the interview with television and Nina had hers on and she said one of the coaches, I think, gave them to the girls. Actually, you know, you get caught in the moment. You kind of say, well, Coach, surely you knew you were at 400. You know you're at 300 something, but about two days ago I got a text from a fan that said something about now, go conquer 400. I had to ask my assistant what are we conquering? He goes, Kim, you're right at 400. Duh, you're right, I am. But you don't think about that. You're thinking how can I win this conference tournament and then you're thinking how far can I go in the NCAA Tournament. That's a lot of basketball games, and the good part about it is I don't have a lot of turnover in my staff. Those coaches have been with me a long, long time, and the players that have come to Baylor that I got to coach, you know, when I'm in my rocking chair and hopefully grandbabies crawling all over me, I can pull out some clippings and they'll be all yelling, and I can say, see, I really did used to coach. You can tell them all I'll go all Cruella De Vil and I'll teach them all about the dalmatians and pull out that book and say this is as close as I could come to a spotted jacket. I was looking for him today, tell him I miss him. Q. Talk about the end of the game there. Did you expect them to not foul Odyssey when she was there at the top and the ball kind of got knocked around? KIM MULKEY: No, I'd have to think about how many seconds were left on the shot clock, but I know what I did tell her, the same thing I told her in the West Virginia game. You keep the ball in your hands and you don't get rid of it. Odyssey Sims, she's a senior, she's an All‑American, and we won. It was a grind out there today, and we're in foul trouble and we couldn't hit shots, but guys, we won. I meant what I said about this league playing each other twice. I think you get a true champion, that's for sure. I remember 14 years ago when I came into the league, back then I brought up why don't we play each other twice and we'll find out who the true champion is, and everybody just looked at me like I was growing a third eye. It's like, are you kidding me? I like it, but it's a grind. But what you hope happens is the selection committee understands, wow, let's look at this league they're in and how tough it is and give us a lot of good seeds. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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