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NCAA WOMEN'S 1ST & 2ND ROUNDS: WEST LAFAYETTEMarch 22, 2014Whitney BaysCourtney MosesSharon VersypWEST LAFAYETTE, INDIANA Purdue – 84 Q. Can you reenact the flex you did after the blocked shot there?  What kind of moment was that for you to go long with the whole game, the way you started and to have that kind of play and feed off the energy of the crowd? COURTNEY MOSES: We started off really well. Coach always talks about getting a great start, and collectively as a team we did just that and it was just a play within that run to keep the energy going. Q. What was it defensively you felt like you did so well, not only the 20‑2 stretch to start things but to hold the team to 55? WHITNEY BAYS:  We really paid attention and I thought that. Dee Dee Williams did a great job on one of their best players and we rebounded 50‑28, so that was a key stat. COURTNEY MOSES: Yeah, just feeding off what she said, rebounding and I think we communicated really well like on screens we were talking and switching and we really had each other's back and we really came out with a good win today. Q. Whitney, just to be able to control the boards the way you did, how much do you think that limited their transition opportunities? WHITNEY BAYS:  Well, rebounding is always an emphasis for us. I just tried to crash all the time and I think it helped us in transition, getting out and getting some shots. It was able to slow them down sometimes, too. Q. For both players, just playing here in the NCAA Tournament, how does that help you guys move forward year‑in and year‑out? WHITNEY BAYS:  Definitely with our fans it helps us and we practice here, we played here all year so I think it does have our benefit, its benefit, but yeah, it's our home court so there's pressure to get the win obviously, too. COURTNEY MOSES: Our fans were awesome today. They were very, very loud and hope to see them again on Monday. Q. You got off to a slow start but you overcame that and what got you going there and do you feel like you had a pretty big advantage inside what maybe was a difficult match up? COURTNEY MOSES: I think all of our post collectively did a great job. It's been a long two weeks, that's not an excuse by any means but definitely we need to knock‑down those shots if we try to get further into the tournament. Going off of them and they still kept going into me and that gave me some confidence and I was able to get some looks and actually finish. Q. Did you see the first game at all, Oklahoma State, any opinions on them in the impending Big Ten, Big12 matchup? COURTNEY MOSES: Yeah, we saw a little bit of the end of the first half, three minute, and Oklahoma State is a very good team, they are solid, every position will be a tough match up for us. WHITNEY BAYS:  Yeah, we saw what they had to offer and everything and they are a good team and we just want to, we are not satisfied with today. We want to keep moving forward and obviously get as far as we can. Q. How nice is it to see Coach get win 300? COURTNEY MOSES: It's awesome. She's had one great coaching career at Purdue and that's going to continue on this year, and to get 300 and be a part of that is special. WHITNEY BAYS:  Knowing Coach, there's many more to come. She's a great coach and she prepares us for everything. We are going to go over Oklahoma and really prepare for them and she covers all the bases. Q. How big of an emphasis was it to get the ball inside, not only to Whitney but just feeling like you had a pretty big advantage there on offense? WHITNEY BAYS:  Yeah, we knew Akron's players‑‑ our post players have been good and we could go high, low, so that was the emphasis the last two weeks was working on the high‑low game and getting inside. Q. Dee Dee has been on this run of being able to take out one of the other team's best player; where would you rank this one as far as the last month or so, what she's been able to do? COACH VERSYP: You know, I mean, Dee Dee is just enjoying the moment as a senior. She's embracing everything. She doesn't want everything to be her last game. She's just Dee Dee and she's just really doing great. She's knocking people down and she did a fantastic job. Bridget came in and played some of the minutes to give her a rest and you know, when they listen to the scouting report, we really work on a lot of tendencies, a lot of coaches don't do that, they just say this is a good player. But we really work on their individual tendencies and Dee Dee has been like this since she was a freshman. So she's a tough one to replace just because of that mind‑set, so she's one in a million. Q. How were you able to slow them down, and in particular, Hanna, one of their leading scorers, probably shot one of the worst she's ever shot before, how were you able to contain her? COACH VERSYP: Well, we knew their best game is transition offense, so we did a lot of transition defense all week. We knew we needed to crash the boards. We sent four to the boards to put pressure on them that way, and then on a made basket we tried to jam them; meaning that we tried to find somebody three and slow her down a little bit so we could have time for our players to get back, and then, you know, Luburgh is a fantastic player. Die de's length at 6‑1, her athleticism and then we had other post players if Dee Dee got caught and they were switching out and then bridge it is 6‑3. So she was taking the same shots she normally would have but I don't think in their league they have 6‑1 and 6‑3 and I think that was the difference. Q. Just the combination of defense and rebounding in this game, just really was the answer; doing anything they wanted to do pretty much offensively? COACH VERSYP: Yeah, that was a big key for us. I just felt we always give our kids a challenge. They are the ninth‑best scoring team in the country and we wanted to keep them under 60 and we did that today. You know, so when we set out goals, that's the big thing, and when they know someone can score like they can and run up‑and‑down, they all can shoot the ball well and do some great things, we just have to make sure we keep doing what we're doing. Defense, our players know defense is where you get it done and on the board. Q. I know you'll start preparing right away for your next game, but will you spend my time celebrating your career milestone? COACH VERSYP: I won't, because it's not about me. You know, our fans, some of our family and our groups getting together, but it's for the NCAA. It's not about the wins. Again, it's just about all the coaches and all the players that have been a part, I guess, of the program all through the years and I'm just very fortunate that I've had some great ones for us to continue to achieve milestones. Q. You probably knew you had an advantage with Whitney, after she got off to a slow start, did you have to tell her to keep going at it or did she just pick it up eventually and start hitting some? COACH VERSYP: I mean, she‑‑ I just knew she would be fine. You know, when she had the three offensive boards to pad her stats, to finally make the basket, I think I was on the sideline jumping up with her every time, but you know, she's just a workhorse. She'll figure it out. She's one of the craftiest offensive players that we have and that I've ever coached and then we get to have her for another year. But she's fun. She's just fun to watch. She has to work it out. Players have to work it out. Q. What was your view of Courtney's block and her celebration? COACH VERSYP: I was right there. I was right in front of her. I saw these big eyes and this little body coming up. You know, when you have someone like that that can have a block from the weak side, it's pretty exciting. Q. How important was the big start to shake off any of the rust or nerves? COACH VERSYP: It was huge. For us to get off to a 16‑2 start, that was big. You know, that's what we have to do, and that's what we talked about and the kids have been hungry and they are tired of practice and they wanted to go get somebody else. It's just really trying to set that tone early. And I thought our fan base was incredible. It sounded a lot more than what the attendance says. It was amazing, and that's what we have to continue to hopefully forge forward on Monday. Q. Oklahoma State, what do you know about them? COACH VERSYP: You know, there's a lot of similarity. They have got a great shooter on the outside that's got great size. They have got a good low‑post player, like Camile for us, they have a great point guard and scorer in Martin. They have all the pieces to the puzzle so we have to play a game like we did today. We have got to have a lot of bodies in there. I thought today we wore people down because we rotated a lot of players. You know, but it will be a fun matchup. If you have a four and five match up in Big12, Big Ten, it's just a different style, so you know, obviously we'll embrace it. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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