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NCAA WOMEN'S 1ST AND 2ND ROUNDS: WACO

March 17, 2016

Waco, Texas

THE MODERATOR: Our first questions are directed for the student-athletes. We have mics in the room, so if you have a question, please raise your hand.

Q. I'd like to ask both of you, clearly it's an NCAA tournament game, but you're playing at Baylor, you're in this room. You see all the banners for the championships. What's it like having to come into another team's arena, especially a successful team like this to play an NCAA tournament?
CHRISTINA SALVATORE: I would say it's something surreal that we've never seen before, but my freshman year we were at UConn and we've played at Baylor here before. We've played Louisville, Iowa. So being in bigger arenas, we usually have a tough non-conference schedule, and we're usually playing a ranked team or high-caliber team like that. It's pretty cool to come and see everything again, but like I said, we've been here before. So it's not super surprising for us at least.

ALI FORDE: Yeah. Same thing. We've been at bigger schools before, so it's really cool to go to those bigger schools and have the opportunity to play. But it's nothing we haven't seen.

Q. Talk about three out of the four years for you guys and how maybe it's different or similar this time around.
ALI FORDE: I don't know. Our team has a really close bond this time around. We just feel really close together, and so it's cool to be able to come with this specific team to the NCAA tournament and to share this experience together.

CHRISTINA SALVATORE: I'd say the first year or two that we went our freshman and sophomore year it was kind of like the emotions were high, going into an NCAA tournament. Now that we're back, I think we're a little more, I don't know, I don't want to say calm because it's super exciting, but we're a little more focused and we're here to win, and I don't know, it's more of a business trip as much as it is an exciting opportunity for us.

Q. Christina first and then Ali. Can you talk about the run y'all had in the conference tournament and how big that was obviously to get here?
CHRISTINA SALVATORE: Yeah, it was huge. I mean we talked all year about tournaments are what matters. We wanted to get that first-round bye, so once we did that, we just went in there pretty focused, and we had Weaver State first, which was a crazy game, buzzer beater. But I think that first game all of our nerves kind of calmed us down for the rest of the tournament after that game.

Then we had Eastern and finished with Idaho State, two teams that had beat us. So we were pretty motivated and hungry to beat both of those teams. And our seniors stepped up; Ali stepped up huge. Our freshmen carried us through the whole tournament with their shooting. So I think we all came together and did what we had to do.

Q. Ali and Christina, talk, watching the selection show and then what's the seeding that you guys have received? How is that like motivation for you guys coming in here?
ALI FORDE: I think we were expecting kind of a higher seed, but the fact that we got a 16 seed it doesn't make any difference. We're still going to go out there and play basketball. There's nothing you can do about it. You get what you get and you don't throw a fit.

CHRISTINA SALVATORE: I think from the success we've had over the past few years, I'm not sure exactly what the committee is deciding on. I know we were third going into the tournament. Again, I'm not sure what they use, but I think we were expecting, like Ali said, a lower seed, maybe even like 14, 15. But we're here and we're ready to play.

Q. Baylor defensively is very good at frustrating teams from the three-point line, which is where you guys get a lot of your offense from. In a situation where you find yourself not having the opportunity you'd like to have from the three-point line, how do you kind of plan on combatting their size inside?
CHRISTINA SALVATORE: I think we've played teams that really try to shut down our three-point shooting. Obviously not high caliber like Baylor, but again, we've played Duke and we've played teams that know we can shoot and try to take that away. We've done a good job of doing different things, attacking. They have size inside, but we have some pretty good sets and plays that get us open, so I think it's just going to come down to when we have our open shots to just knock them down.

ALI FORDE: Yeah, kind of like Christina said, we've played bigger schools that do know we have good three-point shooters, and I still feel confident that girls are going to get their shots.

THE MODERATOR: Any more questions for the student-athletes? All right. Thank you, ladies. All right. We'll open it up now for questions for Coach Newlee. Raise your hand and say your affiliation, please.

Q. Kind of what your players said, how important is it that they're not overwhelmed by the surroundings and the fact that they have been in places like this and that all the banners and stuff don't affect them?
COACH NEWLEE: Yeah, I think it's going to be huge. It is, like they said, we've played a lot of Top 20 schools in the four years that they've been here, certainly. Here -- I mean we've been here before, you know, just last year.

So you know, the building doesn't intimidate them. The banners don't intimidate them. They understand. We've played the best of the best, you know, going to UConn and having that kind of experience was overwhelming for them as freshmen, but now that they've been through the four years and been through the wars. I do try to schedule Top 20 teams every year, if we can, get out there and play those type of teams, just for this moment, you know, to be able to get in a place like this and stay calm and they'll understand we're here to play basketball and not worry about the name on the chest or the banners up above the building.

Q. Coach, I know the players answered this, but for you watching the selection show and maybe getting the 16 seed, maybe not what you were expecting, what does that do for you maybe motivating the team?
COACH NEWLEE: I think it should motivate them. I think certainly the 16 seed you always feel disrespected by the committee. I certainly do. I thought our season this year was more deserving of that, and I look at some of the teams that got 14 and 15 seeds, and you know, I think we're better than they are. You know, you look at the teams we've played in common, some of the West Coast teams, like a Hawaii, you know, and even teams that are coming in sixth in their league. And the problem is, you know, all we can do is beat the people that are in our league and beat the people that we play in the non conference.

And you know, I've heard from a lot of coaches -- I've been doing this a long time, and a lot of coaches around the country that texted me or called me after that show came on and said, man, you got screwed. And you know, I have to agree with them. I just think that it's tough. It's tough for these kids. It's tough for my team to go down this road. You know, it's been a program in the making, and now here we are in our fourth year with these seniors that have been here now going into their third NCAA tournament game, and to get that kind of seeding was shocking to me.

But the committee doesn't have to answer to anybody. They just don't have to answer to anybody. That's them. They do what they want when they want. I know on the men's side there's been a bunch of uproar over the same type of thing from all the people that feel like they didn't get what they wanted. Again, the committee does what the committee does, man, and we just gotta roll with it, and we're out here to play.

Q. Coach, even though you say you don't necessarily agree with the seeding and it kind of sucks. I assume it goes without saying, you're here, you're not backing down to anyone regardless of whatever your seed is.
COACH NEWLEE: Oh, absolutely. We'll absolutely go into every game, and in this situation, again, we're here; we're ready to play. There's been a lot of teams sitting at home wishing they were in our position, and that's the way we look at it is we're one of the top 64 teams in the country right now, and we're going to go out and we're going to represent the University of Idaho and the Vandals, and we're going to fight. We're going to fight like dogs, man, to get out and play our hearts out and not leave anything in that locker room. We're going to come out and we're going to battle.

Q. Coach, three out of the last four years, how special is that for this group of seniors and that experience moving forward to sell your program?
COACH NEWLEE: It's huge. It's huge for us and everything that we've built at Idaho, from ground zero to where we are now, three out of the last four times, and a huge part to those seniors that were sitting right here and the people that came before them as well, and now the freshmen adding to it.

So what a great accomplishment. It's a unique thing. It's not unique like the Baylors or the UConns of the world. I understand that. But major programs to go three out of four years in the NCAA tournament, that's what you're doing, and that's -- winning championships is huge for our team and going through that and for our program.

So unique experience. There's a lot of people that have never even been to the NCAA tournament, and this class has gone three out of four times. That's pretty special.

Q. I noticed you had quite an Australian connection there, pipeline. Kristy Wallace plays for Baylor, No. 4. If you knew of her and what do you see from her game?
COACH NEWLEE: Oh, yeah. I love Kristy Wallace. I saw her play multiple times Down Under. I tried to recruit her. She didn't call me back. I'm not sure why. (Laughs). But no, man, she's a great player. Like I said, I knew big time when I saw her play down there; great shooter, slasher. She's a very athletic kid, very smart, heady basketball player. I think she's a heck of a player, for sure, and like I said, I've seen her when she was younger than she is now, and I knew she'd be special when she got to the States.

Q. Coach, they've obviously got a lot of size inside. Can you talk about that matchup and just how you try to defend and go against it on offense?
COACH NEWLEE: Yeah, no, they're huge. They're huge starting and they keep bringing huge off the bench and huge behind that. They're stacked inside. But we're just going to have to battle. We haven't had a size advantage pretty much on any team this year, and that's the good news for our team is we're used to seeing big people inside and having to play against them.

So we'll try some different sets. We'll try some things. But you know, we're going to -- ultimately it comes down to we're going to have to be physical and we're going to have to block out because they rebound like crazy. I mean they are huge and athletic. There's a reason they're 33 and 1 and where they are. And I personally think they're the second best team in the country, to be honest with you, and that's a couple of my friends in the Big 12 that coach, they told me the same thing when they called me and said, well, you just drew the second best team in the country. And I said, yeah, thanks, appreciate you guys for making me sleep better tonight.

But yeah, that's it, man. They're big, and we're just going to have to get in and we're just going to have to battle with them.

THE MODERATOR: All right, coach. Thanks very much.

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NCAA WOMEN'S 1ST AND 2ND ROUNDS: WACO

March 17, 2016

Ali Forde

Jon Newlee

Christina Salvatore