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BIG 12 CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPMarch 7, 2016Karen AstonKelsey LangBrooke McCartyOklahoma City, Oklahoma Baylor - 79, Texas - 63 THE MODERATOR: We're now joined by the Texas Longhorns, head coach Karen Aston, along with her student-athletes. Thoughts about this evening's game? COACH ASTON: I thought that it was nearly similar to the Waco game in the sense that we played well and competitively in the first quarter and midway through the second quarter it slipped away from us. They hit a shot at the end of the second quarter very similar to the way that it was in Waco. And, you know, instead of going down at halftime maybe 4 or 5 down, we went in 10 or 11 down. So I thought that was a significant factor. But, again, Baylor has the ability to kind of force you to be uncomfortable offensively and force you to do some things that are uncharacteristic, and they've been doing this all year long. So credit to their defense, which I think turns into offense for them. I had hoped that we would be more competitive on every possession in this game, and I thought that we were for a longer period of time. But they were the better team tonight. Q. Kelsey, then Brooke, I'm going to disagree a little bit with the coach's assessment. I thought you guys showed a lot more fire tonight than you did a week ago on Monday. You just didn't shoot very well. Tell me, did you feel that you were more competitive from that standpoint? KELSEY LANG: I think that at the beginning of the game we came out with a different mind-set and we knew that it would be a tough game tonight not only because we played three games in three days, but because we had already lost to them twice. So I think our mind-set, we were ready to come out and compete, and I would like to say that we didn't stop competing, and I think that we did when we were at Baylor, so I think that tonight we definitely competed for forty minutes. BROOKE McCARTY: Yeah, off of what Kelsey said, I feel like our team is always competitive, but like you said at Waco, yeah, we did give up. But at the same time we didn't give up tonight. That team is just a Final Four team who knows how to take advantage of your weaknesses and that's what they did to us. Q. Brooke, I thought Baylor's defense on Texas guards was pretty phenomenal, didn't look like you or Celina had an open shot, you tell me? BROOKE McCARTY: Yeah, their defense is pretty good, but we didn't take advantage of what they gave us. Q. Kelsey first, Brooke second, you will learn a week from tonight where you're going, who you will play. How do you feel about this team going into the main season which is the NCAA Tournament? KELSEY LANG: I think that we're definitely going to take advantage of these next two weeks to fix some areas that need to be fixed. And I know that the rest of my team is just as excited as I am to learn where we're going and who we will play and how we will be seeded. We're going to get to work for the next two weeks. BROOKE McCARTY: Yeah, the end of this season -- I mean, conference play doesn't really define who we are. So we're ready to get back to work and see who we play and where we play for the NCAA Tournament. Q. Brooke, Baylor has now won six straight Big 12 Tournaments, six straight Big 12 seasons. You feel like you've set you guys up to create more parity in this league? BROOKE McCARTY: I feel like we're always going to be competitive and we're not looking forward to next season yet. We have to finish this season and whenever that comes around I guess we'll see. THE MODERATOR: Ladies, congratulations and good luck to you in the NCAAs. Questions for Coach? Q. Coach, like I said before I thought you guys fought harder. I don't know if you played better, but I thought you fought harder. The biggest difference in the game I thought was Baylor's defense, you tell me. COACH ASTON: Well, again, I want to make sure that I'm clear on my opening statement. I do think that we competed harder and I don't think there was ever a time that we checked out, maybe like we did in Waco. But what I'm trying to say is that to beat a team like them, you have to play every single possession. You can't miss one. You can't not go back down the floor. You can't give up competitive-wise and not reverse the ball because it's hard. That's what I'm trying to say. I'm not trying to say our kids didn't compete at all. I think that they did, and I do think that we were better in some areas tonight. But I also think that we did some of the same things that caused us problems in Waco, and it is their defense. I agree with you. They force you to be uncomfortable and they make you make decisions that aren't the best. They're also pretty good offensively. Q. I notice Lashann has played a lot more and probably for a good reason. She had the most points tonight which is pretty big considering it's a freshman playing in a championship game. What do you see in her now that you didn't see during most of the season? COACH ASTON: I think Lashann went through a period of time during conference play, and all freshmen go through it, where she was struggling with the fact that the conference teams were playing her tendencies, and she kinda got real down in the dumps on herself and couldn't drag herself out of it. It had a bit of a pity party for several weeks, and some freshmen go through that and they don't know how to dig themselves out of it and you have to let them dig out of it. I started to see a little bit of it last week in practice before we got down here, and I call it the flickering light, and it starts to flicker and usually when it comes on it doesn't every go off with a player like Lashann, but it takes time sometimes. I thought she was really solid in this tournament. She was a lift for us, I thought a lot of kids off our bench -- I thought Jordan played well all week long. Tasia played some good minutes. So I think our young kids are really giving us a lift right now and that bodes well for tournament play when you have different kinds of match-ups and you have different ways you maybe have to play in the NCAA Tournament. Q. The bench points were 35-8. How gratifying is it to win that department by that handily? COACH ASTON: I'm glad that they're improving. I thought they had a good tournament. Celina Rodrigo played well during this tournament. Brooke played well, and I'm proud of our team. But there is a standard that we're trying to get to and hopefully we'll learn some lessons and grow from this. Most definitely, congratulations to Baylor. They were good tonight. Q. Do you agree that you guys are far more advanced right now than you were a year ago at this time and you made the Sweet 16 last year. What are the possibilities for Texas coming up? COACH ASTON: We won 28 games, so if you have a chance to win a couple of games in the tournament you get to 30 and that's a great season if you have a chance to win over 30 games in your season. So, again, I said this last night, really proud of this basketball team, and they've been very resilient and been a joy to coach, really proud of this team. Q. With the tournament set to come back here the next few years, are you optimistic about how this event can grow here and to continue to get more people in the stands, just based on the attendance that you saw this year? COACH ASTON: I am optimistic about it. I think that if we -- I think that was the point of anchoring it was to try to get people familiar in the community that this time of the year this is the thing to go to, and I thought that there was some fun things. I had a lot of friends here in the tournament and they talked about the different things that the Big 12 did and I think from a fan perspective, and I think that's what it's all about is to make it fan friendly, and that makes the kids enjoy the tournament better. So I'm pleased with the way that the community reacted, and I would think if we get this thing going and people get used to this being here this time of the year and plan around it, then we can make this a great event. I'm proud of playing in the Tournament Championship, and I thought that Texas represented well as did Baylor. So I'm proud of what happened with it this year. THE MODERATOR: Coach, congratulations on a great season. Best of luck in the NCAAs. COACH ASTON: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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