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BIG 12 CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 9, 2014Karen AstonNekia JonesCelina RodrigoOKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA West Virginia – 67 KAREN ASTON: Well, I thought that, first of all, West Virginia's guards were really, really good today, and we weren't able to keep them at bay as far as early in the game transition buckets, and then in the second half we just couldn't stop their penetration. Part of it was our lack of efficiency on defense, but some of it was their ability to get to the paint and draw fouls. I was really proud of our team from the aspect that we really didn't play well. A lot of that had to do with West Virginia, but some of it had to do with our composure offensively wasn't very good. But I'm really proud that we didn't give up and didn't get to a point where we got to, dejected. That's an area where I think our team has really grown enormously. I'm proud of our effort. I think we've taken some really good steps this year, and in particular in this tournament. Q. The comeback that you guys made, some of it was made with players that don't always get a lot of minutes, for example, Nekia, Brianna. What does that show about the team as a whole that you can rely on other players other than the big two or the big three that get most of the attention? CELINA RODRIGO: I think it shows that we have a lot of depth, and on any given night any player can step up, and I think coach just went with the group that was playing pretty well, and in turn we were able to come back and almost get the lead, but I just think it just depended on the group that was in there, and like I said, on any given night anybody can step up. I think it's due to our depth. Q. Nekia, kind of the same question, but you in particular, you led the team in scoring I think in the first half and wound up with a really good game. When you go into a game like that, do you think it's up to me to get this team in gear? What's your mindset like that? NEKIA JONES: My mindset is just to bring energy and find a way to help the team just get better every time, every play, every step of the way. At that moment in the game, we just tried to bring energy and keep this team together and push to try to get the lead, but it didn't happen, but we've still worked hard, and we didn't pull it out. Q. Celina, their coach said you guys have played two not so pretty games against each other and wasn't surprised at this one. What is it about West Virginia that it's really tough to play them? It seems like they're really physical that maybe takes you out of your game a little bit? CELINA RODRIGO: I think since we're both pretty physical teams, it ends up I rot of fouls, we definitely put them on the free‑throw line physicality between the both of us. Q. Another question: Imani didn't score a field goal in the first half and Nneka may have had one. How difficult was it to get them involved in the flow of the game? Seemed like maybe a little bit better in the second half, but West Virginia was really tough today on them? CELINA RODRIGO: I think in the first half we knew that we had to get a better post presence in the paint, but I think as a team we just kept encouraging them and letting them know that we still trust them, that they're going to get position, and I think it worked out better in the second half. Q. Same question I asked a minute ago: It looked like Imani and Nneka had a hard time getting into the flow of the offense. Did West Virginia do anything in particular to neutralize them? KAREN ASTON: I think they did exactly what they've done every time we've played them, in particular when we played at West Virginia. I thought they did a terrific job denying our post players the ball. It's twofold: They have to work a little harder and get better position, but the other piece to that is that we have to be patient enough to reverse the basketball where we can get some pins from the way that they're being played on the first pass, and that's where I thought we were impatient, really, really impatient in the first half and didn't let the offense flow. Our team has a habit of wanting to score off the first pass and not having‑‑ and obviously I have to take responsibility for that because I don't think we're disciplined enough to make the next pass, and some of it is youth and some of it's that some teams we don't have to do that against, and then we run up against a team like West Virginia that really takes away your first couple of options, and we don't do a good job of getting to the next option. Q. Texas made a comeback in the second half with players that don't always get a lot of minutes. Does it say anything in particular to you about them and how gratifying is it that players that don't get a lot of minutes brought you back? KAREN ASTON: I think those players practiced every day. It's not like they don't get a lot of reps in practice because they do. They get about as much reps as the starters do. And I think that aside from Bri Taylor and Kelsey Lang have had minutes that really mattered throughout this year, so I mean, it just so happened that they were the ones that were really bringing some energy that the older players were struggling to find. So we went with that group just seemed to have a little bit more energy. Obviously Chass was in that group, and that was a killer when Chass fouled out because I thought we were right there, and that was obviously a huge play in the game. Q. She was pretty adamant that she didn't touch her. From your viewpoint, without getting fined by the league, what did you think of that particular play? KAREN ASTON: I'd have to go back and look at that on film. You always‑‑ I think coaches always assume that we never foul. It's always a bad call. But I try to not really make a lot of judgment on things until you look at the film because honestly most of the time you go back and look at the film and it's the way that they call it. Most often it is. It was just unfortunate for us because Chass was really kind of the anchor to that group, and she was playing well. She was shooting the ball well. Brady was struggling today, so it really hurt us when Chass went out. Q. I guess the big tournament, you'll find out next Monday, but all in all, the season, 21‑11, I don't know what your expectations were at this point, but how do you feel about your team going into the big one? KAREN ASTON: I feel really good about our team. I thought that they really came here to win the tournament. They didn't come here just to win a game. They're an extremely disappointed group right now. They're not ready to go home. I'm going to give them a few days off, and I don't necessarily think that they were ready to do that. They wanted to play tomorrow. I'm really, really excited about obviously the future of our program, but in particular what I think we could do in the NCAA Tournament. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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