	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

BIG 12 CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 10, 2019

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Baylor 88, Kansas State 60

THE MODERATOR: We are now joined by the Baylor Bears head coach, Kim Mulkey, and her student-athletes, Lauren Cox, Juicy Landrum and Kalani Brown. Coach, would you like to make a comment about the opening?

KIM MULKEY: I don't.

Q. Lauren, you had a double-double before the half. Tell me why were you so aggressive and able to make those stats before the half?
LAUREN COX: I was trying to be aggressive going to the basket and my shots weren't falling, but the refs were calling fouls and I was knocking down my free throws and being aggressive on the glass and attacking it.

Q. Tomorrow is the big day, Finals. How are you guys feeling? What are the emotions? What's going on in your mind? Tell me.
KALANI BROWN: I'm pumped. I'm excited, playing for another championship. That never gets old. I'm excited for our freshmen to experience a big game like this. They haven't had one in a long time.

Q. Kalani, you played a very, very good basketball team today and you drilled them in just about every category. How many games have you guys played where you played better than this, if any, this year?
KALANI BROWN: I don't know. I think we've playing good basketball all together. When we're all in sync like that I can think of a few games, the UConn game for example, I can't name 'em, Texas at home, thank you. It's just a few of them, but we've been playing good basketball. So I think most of our games have been good games.

Q. Juicy, they came out pretty hot. They hit like 7 of their first 11 shots, and in my mind, Kim may see it differently, looked like y'all were playing good defense, hand in the face. When they're doing that, is there any panic, any sense of nervousness?
JUICY LANDRUM: I wouldn't say nervousness. She said that in the huddle, that they were pretty hot. But our hands were up. But they're pretty good shooters.

Q. Lauren, 8 assists. I would imagine most of them were to Kalani, but were you looking for that? Is that anything that you really try to pad your assist total?
LAUREN COX: I think it's just something that happens. I'm not like -- when I catch the ball I'm not like, I'm going to do that and then I'm going to pass it to Kalani. I would turn to the middle and she would have the lob and he with just work really well together, kind of have that unspoken connection. I know where she wants the ball.

Q. Kalani, can you guys feel when a team starts to wear down a little bit? The opponent? Because it seemed like at second quarter, you guys started to pull away and impose your will a little bit.
KALANI BROWN: In a way, yes. I just think when somebody hits a big shot or we have a great player and one we just took the momentum and ran with it. When we play with energy we play a lot better.

THE MODERATOR: Ladies, congratulations. Thank you. Coach?

KIM MULKEY: Let's go! Hit me with your best shot!

Q. Kim, like I said, obviously they did come out hittin' shots with hands right in their face. What was just kind of the message in the timeout?
KIM MULKEY: Weather the storm. You keep playing good defense. You keep running the floor, shooters will fatigue. Usually you lose your legs first when you shoot a lot of perimeter shots like that. Just stay with your defense and weather the storm. They were shooting 60% at one point in that first quarter and if you look at the stat sheet which is one of the things I circled, they went from 44% in the first quarter to 18 in the second. That's defense. We're not doing anything different in the second quarter. There was nothing different defensively. It was just continue to guard 'em like you've been taught to do.

Q. Coach, congratulations on the win. This team has been aggressive throughout the tournament, throughout the season. What's the key to maintaining that offense? Do you guys practice differently for each team, or is it the same game plan?
KIM MULKEY: Back-to-back games is very difficult -- in fact we didn't have a shootaround or anything today. When you come to conference tournaments you get about forty minutes before your first game and now tomorrow we will get some time on the floor. You don't really go through anything extremely hard. You walk through things. You don't change a whole lot this time of year, you tweak a few things.

I've got a basketball team that can score a lot of points. I've got a basketball team that's got a lot of depth. The more that I can get them on the floor, the better we will be down through these playoffs. I have to keep coachin' them. I had 5 new ones on the floor and I wasn't real pleased and I took 'em off the floor for a few minutes. I have to coach them like I do everybody else. If I don't get their attention and let you know why you came out of the game you're going to get your opportunity to go back in and they did. We're going to see these in the playoffs, very physical. They make you think. They are 1-3-1, which is really a 2-3. Made the new ones think a lot and that's why they created a lot of turnovers, but put them in a position to see that.

Q. Once you find out who you guys will play against tomorrow, what's the strategy? Do you start looking through film again?
KIM MULKEY: We will watch half of this game if not more. I would say probably a half. We will go back and we will go to dinner and then after dinner we will get in the film room. We will go through a scouting report and go to bed. Then tomorrow we will come and walk through and shoot a little bit. I don't know how much we will shoot. How we're going to guard 'em. Most of the time when we do things it's usually more defense than offense. I know where we can score points. But it's two different kind of styles, two totally different teams that you would play. We've played both twice and we will be prepared for either one.

Q. Kim, Lauren struggled with her shot early. You talk about don't let your offense affect your other play. She kept playing defense but she finishes with 15 rebounds, 8 assists, just the way that she played today.
KIM MULKEY: She had to because Kalani was in foul trouble. Did Kalani play maybe a minute in the second quarter? I don't know. But Cox took over down there and she made everybody around her better. Freshmen came in, she would give them easy shoots. She would always defend the player where she could be the one helping the most. I think Lauren, she was so close to a triple-double. I think she was looking for that when I put her back in I told her shoot the ball. You're passing up layups to get an assist. Score the ball. She just kinda took over the game when Kalani was out and then Kalani comes in, plays, what, 20 minutes and look at her stats.

Q. Kim, there was a lot of discussion yesterday after the TCU game and the West Virginia game, some pundits have said that maybe the Big 12 may get as few as three teams in the tournament. What do you think about K-State, West Virginia, TCU and what are their chances? What do you believe they should do with them?
KIM MULKEY: I'm going to be partial and I'm going to always promote the Big 12. The second place team in the SEC was who? See, y'all don't even know.

Q. South Carolina.
KIM MULKEY: Thank you. You're not even a media guy. That's why I love you. You know more than they do. Here is my point. Did Baylor play South Carolina on their home floor earlier in the year? Look at that score and then look at the scores of Baylor and who they played in this league and see if they were tougher games. Those are things I would compare things to. I'm going to always promote the Big 12. I know how tough it is. The styles are so different. Playing West Virginia is different than playing Iowa State or Kansas State. Our league is as good as anybody. Now, we don't have big numbers like the SEC, what, 16, I don't know how many is even in the SEC, but you got some good teams that I hope they don't leave out.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Coach.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297