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MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 11, 2014Stephanie BairstowJerry FinkbeinerJennifer SchlottLAS VEGAS, NEVADA Colorado State – 72 THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Utah State. Coach, if you could make a few opening comments on today's game. COACH FINKBEINER: Yeah, I was really proud of our team, as you saw. I thought we were in charge of the game, in control of the game, probably the better team for probably 36, 37 minutes of the game. I thought their poise really showed up the last minute and 15. They had a chance to get tight. They had a chance to cough some things up. They delivered in the last minute 15. Credit Colorado State. We broke down defensively with strong right‑handed dribbling. As our scouting report, they go right, they go right, they go right. It wasn't just one play, it was 40 minutes of hard drives to the right. Thinking the discrepancy in the fouls, maybe that was it. Maybe that was the reason. I don't know. We won in all offensive categories except for free throws. They drew those free throws out with the hard drives. So it's hard to know what to say this moment other than I remember the first time we played Colorado State, they beat us by 20‑something, third time 20 or 30‑something. We really thought we had a chance in our game plan. The spirit of our kids, last eight games, we've been playing really well. Obviously, our season's over with. We'll evaluate this tape real close. There's some questionable plays the last minute and a half. I probably better not watch. From our perspective when we had the ball, we were guarding. The game was that close. I'll look at it as a big picture of 40 minutes, where things broke down the first minute, the last minute. The very first game of the season we played Colorado State, I impressed upon coach, they have kids that have a lot of poise. They play with poise ahead. They play with poise behind. I think that was the difference the last minute 14. THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up for questions for the student‑athletes. Q. Seems like Colorado State adjusted their defense in the second half to lock more on Jen. How did that open things up for Stephanie? JENNIFER SCHLOTT: Yeah, they really sagged in a lot on me. They focused basically their defense around me. Steph found the open gaps and knocked down shots. She was big‑time for us today. She really kept us in the game. Q. Jennifer, Sam Martin took over for a stretch there early in the second half for them. You had kept her from doing anything in the first half. How much of a factor was that in what happened? JENNIFER SCHLOTT: Yeah, she did. She's a great player. That's what great players will do. They definitely dominate down low. I thought she got good position on us. They have great shooters so we couldn't sag in that much. That's really what happened. Q. Jen, what defensive adjustments did they make against you in the second half? JENNIFER SCHLOTT: They were in their zone and they just kind of closed up driving lanes for me. They contested the three pretty well, I thought. Q. Stephanie, it seemed like the first half they were willing to kind of play your guy's kind of game, trying to shoot the threes. It was working in your favor. Did you feel more you were playing Colorado State's style of game in the second half and maybe that was why they were able to pull it out in the end? STEPHANIE BAIRSTOW: A little bit, yeah. I felt that, yeah, we couldn't really get our shots that we really wanted to take that second half. Fortunately enough I was able to get my shots in the end, but it didn't really come out in our favor, so... Q. Steph, can you talk about Jen, what it's been like playing with her. She became the all‑time scoring leading today. What has that been like? STEPHANIE BAIRSTOW: Jen's a phenomenal player. Probably the best player I've ever played with her. It's been a real honor playing with her at Utah State. Q. Can you take us through the final minute. STEPHANIE BAIRSTOW: I remember coming off the bench. We just said, Lock down D. We were trying. I unfortunately had an error on my part in the final play by them. I fouled. She got an end one. I was a second behind. I think it came down to that in the end. Q. Rebounding gave you such an edge today. How did you try to match up with Colorado State and ultimately beat them on the boards. JENNIFER SCHLOTT: Yeah, they're a great rebounding team. But we just knew that we needed to box out. That's been our Achilles' heel the whole season. That was a big focus on us. THE MODERATOR:  We'll continue with questions for coach. Q. What do you tell your team after a game like this? COACH FINKBEINER: Well, some I can't say here because as a team you spend so much time together, there's a lot of emotion right now in the locker room. I think what I told them is that, you know, I think we're the best team in the conference the last six, seven games. We had good health. Mak Williams is back in the lineup. We had a lot of confidence coming into this tournament. Saying that, I'm saying this to the world right now, that's kind of the player/coach thing. Just let them know that we did everything right the last three weeks with team relationships, chemistry, saving everything we had for the last. We did everything right. I just wanted the girls to know that we felt as a staff, you know, coming here that we felt like we could win it, we really did. So it's a letdown right now in that locker room. I thought the girls, you know, showed some good things right here. It was tough two minutes ago. So our sights was not being on the eighth seed. We tried to use everything as a positive. We came in here, having one game underneath their belt. We had one game already on this floor, using that as a positive. We promised them some things the next days, with two days off, getting ready for the semis. Everything was set. We made some errors the last four minutes. I look back, where I'm going to lose sleep, we had multiple four‑ and five‑point margins the last 10 minutes and we could not get a defensive stop. Again, I got to flip it across to coach and the Rams. Every time we got four or five points ahead, they got a bucket. We were one rebound away, one shot away, one hold away from I think maybe giving us an advantage strategically. Again, I get back to I'm so impressed with Colorado State and their poise they have. I'm using that word a lot. Just calm girls out there. The scary thing is most of them are pretty young. Q. Can you comment on Jen becoming the all‑time scoring leader and talk about what she's meant to the program, this being her final game. COACH FINKBEINER: Yeah, Jen, she's gone from two and a half points a game her freshman year, four and a half her sophomore year, to about 13 last year, and all of a sudden 27. It's just a testament of keeping the nose to the road and grinding things out. She's a little kid that has a lot of bumps and bruises, just always keeps bouncing back. Wants the ball in her hands. She's also an academic All‑American nominee, a great student. She's got everything a coach wants. I remember back, I've told this story to our media, when I got the job two years ago, my son Ben is assistant coach at Boise State. He said Jen Schlott is your best player. Looking at the stats, with two points, three‑ or four‑point average, this little kid, my baby is bigger than she is, but it's just been a pleasure to coach her. It's going to be good for her body the next two weeks to get away from the game a little bit. She has a chance to play at the next level, a couple different levels. If she wants to do it, she's going to have opportunities. I can't stress enough the academic side of Jen Schlott, just the girly girl she is in some situations. Just the perfect student‑athlete. Q. Wondering in general what do you feel your program takes away from this Mountain West tournament experience. Young players stepping up for you. COACH FINKBEINER: We've had six or seven games this year that have been just like this, maybe seven or eight games in conference, where we've had control and lost in the last two or three minutes. I think the new kids on the block, it's all about transitioning into opponents, the routineness of travel, where you're going, what this gym looks like. I just really was proud of our girls as we finished the journey this year in our first year that we were ready to go. We're just ready to go. But it was a transition that I'm so impressed with the Mountain West. I'm so impressed with the coaching staffs. This Las Vegas venue. I mean, it's just a good place to be for Aggie basketball. Our recruiting will change a little bit. We need to get a little more physical. We had a little smoke and mirrors we were working with this year. We look forward to the membership in the Mountain West and how we can contribute to it. It's been a good first‑year ride. Our record I don't think shows how competitive we were. We're looking forward to the future here. THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much. COACH FINKBEINER: Thanks, guys. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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