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BIG 12 CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 7, 2015Veja HamiltonZahna MedleyRaegan PebleyDALLAS, TEXAS Texas – 67 COACH PEBLEY: I was really proud of how our team fought. If you're going to lose, we would want it to be because you just didn't make enough shots. I felt like we took, or gave our best effort defensively. They believed in their game plan, they worked hard at it. Were there mistakes made, yes, but I know there were mistakes made on the other side of the floor as well. But I'm just really, really proud of this team and our body of work as well and what we've accomplished this season thus far. I want to congratulate Texas, they did a fantastic job. They, I'm sure, felt confident with staying true to their game plan as well, but that's probably it at this point. Q. For both, but Zahna first, did it take some time to adjust to the shooting atmosphere in this gym, lower shooting percentage than first half, y'all kind of caught on the second half. Is that something that y'all saw out there? ZAHNA MEDLEY: I don't think it was the atmosphere, I think it was more nervousness, maybe a little nerves from the team in the beginning, like all the other teams in the Big 12 that were playing but I don't think it was really the atmosphere that caused us to shoot that low. VEJA HAMILTON: We're not new to this, I don't think it was the gym at all. I think there were just some shots that were open and they didn't fall for us tonight, there's going to be games like that, but I think overall we fought hard and we hit more shots in the second half and we just let the game come to us, and it just wasn't enough in the end. Q. For both student athletes starting with Veja, just the fact of the late comeback, the rally there, did you think you guys were going to be able to pull it off and what was your mindset at that point? VEJA HAMILTON: Absolutely. There wasn't a point in the game where I thought we couldn't win it. I think towards the end it was just trying to keep us all motivated and staying poised and encouraging us to fight throughout the whole game and that's what we tried to do. ZAHNA MEDLEY: I think I a hundred percent believed that we were going to come back and win the game, I had a hundred percent faith in my teammates like I always do and we just didn't make enough shots in the end to pull us forward. Q. For Zahna, were y'all just looking for that one person to hit that big shot, hit that big three there in the second half, seemed like Jada was the person that did that? ZAHNA MEDLEY: Yeah, I think we were all just finding open shots and trying to make those tough shots to get over the hump that we were in and Jada just happened to be that person, to have the bigs guarding her and they were sagging off of her a little bit. She was confident in her shot. Q. Question for Zahna, what was the difference between this game and the game you played in Austin from you guys' standpoint? ZAHNA MEDLEY: I think one hundred percent of it was effort, just staying to the game plan, sticking to the game plan, and just getting those 50/50 balls against them. Q. For both of you girls, what was different in the second half where you came out, you outscored Texas, what was the different mindset that you guys came out and played with? VEJA HAMILTON: I just think we knew that we didn't -- I think we came out a little bit maybe not nervous but just overthinking in the first half and I think we just kind of relaxed a little bit more in the second half and made more plays, found open men -- or open woman, my bad, and just kind of played more as a team, had our chemistry going. ZAHNA MEDLEY: I agree with Veja and we upped our confidence in the second half, just believing still in the game plan and that we could still pull it off. Q. Coach Pebley, talk about being on that first Big 12 championship team at Colorado and some memories you might have had from '97 and being around there. COACH PEBLEY: It was a long time ago, it was a long time ago, but oh, man, I feel like we played Iowa State, I don't remember exactly, gosh, I don't know, it was a long time ago. It's not even about me, it's about these girls and TCU and how far we've come as a program and I think how great we can become. The Big 12 is just I really think one of the best women's basketball conferences in the country. Our RPI's proving it right now. I think we're poised to go pretty deep with NCAA Tournament participants. I know that this conference, I remember very clearly the leadership that was in this conference back then from my coach, Ceal Barry, Jody Conradt, Sherri Coale was a part of the start of the Big 12. We had, I think, Deb Patterson was there my senior year, Kansas State might have been her first year. There was just awesome coaches. I mean, and you knew that they were together in building this league. They wanted to do what was best for their programs but they saw a vision of what Big 12 women's basketball could be. Angela Beck, too, at Nebraska, I don't want to leave her off the list. They went after it and they did things that sometimes weren't going to be great for their school but it was the best thing for the Big 12. The Big 12 is special, I really think it's special. The home crowds, you see the parity in our conference right now and I believe it's because of home crowds. Home teams won a lot in the league this year. I've had people ask me a lot, like what's the difference, you played Texas at home and Texas on the road, what's the difference between Baylor playing Iowa State and losing or Baylor playing Oklahoma and losing but they won at home. It's home crowds. The vision of those coaches back then -- back then, it sounds like they're way too old -- but I think helped contribute to building a fan base in the Big 12. We attract I think some of the best athletes, great coaches, administrators that believe in women's basketball, the conference believes in women's basketball. We're going to host the regional here and the Final Four here and women's basketball is important in the Big 12. So it's a long answer to your question but I love being a part of this conference. Q. Was the difference between the first half and the second half just confidence in the shot selection? It seemed like several players weren't taking those shots that they've been comfortable with and made through the season in the first half and were kind of letting them rip in the second half. COACH PEBLEY: I think you've seen it in a lot of games that have happened so far, just rough shooting, not great shooting by many teams from the perimeter, but I just don't think you change a whole lot of what your team's doing at this point in the year. We share the ball well. We've got a lot of people that can score for us. I was proud of the shots that Caitlin took, that Jada took, D. Breaux again, we had -- D was vomiting, throwing up, I didn't know if she was going to play until tip. I'm not surprised that she didn't shoot as well but she's a senior and deserved a chance to be out there and fight for her team. You know, the difference between the first half and the second half I think also was the fact that we moved the ball better, we didn't hold it as long. We also had a little bit more offense from our defense that helped that scoring. Q. You have about nine days now to wait for the selection process. One, what's that going to be like, and two, what would you like the selection committee to focus on in terms of your body of work? COACH PEBLEY: That nine days is going to feel -- see that little guy sitting right back there sitting next to Kim Johnson? He was nine days overdue. He was born ten and a half pounds and it was about a 25, 26 hour labor and I begged my OB/GYN to induce me. And I think these next nine days are probably going to feel like that last nine days of carrying him. But it was worth it, absolutely was worth it and it will be worth the wait here because I just really think I trust the committee and I say that first, and that is not just speak. I really trust that committee. I know that they do an excellent job of seeding and selecting. You know, I just think the Big 12, again RPI, we've gone out and we've challenged ourselves in the nonconference as a conference, and we included have. I don't think we really have any bad losses right now. We have good wins, we swept Oklahoma State, we beat Iowa State, we beat Texas. We got that third place tie -- we won the third-place tiebreaker because of those teams that we were tied with, we had the most wins amongst those teams. So I'm biased, but I don't know how you leave out a team that had the most wins amongst those teams that were tied for third. But the committee looks at a lot of different variables, there's a body of work, there's RPI, there's last 10 games, there's so many things. But I'm just really proud, and special things are going to still happen for this team. I told them at the end of the game in the locker room, their season's not over, I trust the committee and special things are in store because this team is still so engaged, so extremely engaged and eager to continue to play and they're quality. They'll be a quality product. Q. The ultimate difference in the game, did you see it as just a few more missed opportunities on your side especially down there in the stretch, a couple of missed layups? COACH PEBLEY: Oh, absolutely. And also I'll say we also beat West Virginia, they were in that tie, too. Yes, Chelsea missing the layup, the ball slips out of her hand as she's going up for it. And Veja missing an open layup, missed the front end of two 1 and 1s right there at the stretch. Again, if you're going to lose a game, I want it to be because you just didn't make enough shots. We put ourselves in situations to win it. I hate seeing it that juniors and seniors weren't able to finish those plays because they deserve to, they've worked hard to, they've made way more of those than they've missed. Look at our free throw percentage as a team, those specific young women. Chelsea in a fast break layup, we don't see her miss those. We've had so many opportunities, so many. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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