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MOUNTAIN WEST WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPMarch 1, 2020Ryun WilliamsMakenzie EllisAndrea BradyLas Vegas, Nevada Air Force - 60, Colorado State - 48 THE MODERATOR: We'll begin with Colorado State. COACH WILLIAMS: Just didn't play well. Air Force really came out in that first quarter and had a big quarter. I think four 3-pointers in that first quarter. It really kind of set the tone positive for them, not so positive for us. And just could really never get anything going. So for whatever reason, one of those nights, but obviously needed to play better. Not a good time to not play well. THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes. Q. You've played Air Force before; you know they're not a strong 3-pointing team. How much shock value was there to hitting four, five, in the first quarter and especially their first two shots? ANDREA BRADY: I mean, obviously, like Coach said, it just allowed them to have a strong start to the game. And it was hard to come back from that 15-point deficit that we had at the half. Q. Did you look at this game as something (indiscernible) uncharacteristic? They did some things well that they don't normally do; you did some things not so well that you normally do? MAKENZIE ELLIS: Yeah, I think those players that shot a lot of those 3s have that low percentage, so we did take that gamble. But we also had assignments that we missed that we could have done better defensively. And those are things that I think would have evened us out in the first half. Q. Your shooting improved immensely from the first quarter to the third. Was there a specific message going into halftime? MAKENZIE ELLIS: Yes, personally I know I got together with the team and I said we have to play together. I think the first half we played very separate and very individualized. And, so, playing together, that's what got us those really good shots. And that's what pushed us, I think, to start to come back in that second half. Q. Although this wasn't the result you were looking for is there anything you can look back on the beginning of the season and think, wow, we've really improved on this looking at today's game? ANDREA BRADY: We kind of talked about it in the locker room after the game. It was a tough year, and like Coach said, we lost a lot of games within two to five points, and it's hard to just come back and keep competing. But this group did that every night. It was a tough year but a fun year. Q. Obviously not the outcome you want but when you look back at the season, five years from now what are you going to remember about this year? MAKENZIE ELLIS: I think the biggest thing I'm going to remember, this was my favorite year to play. I got only one year here, but I had a great time. The girls are -- that's what I'm going to remember, that's what I'm going to take away, and know that I actually had fun playing basketball and got to know these people. And Coach Williams is phenomenal giving me this opportunity. And those are the things I'm going to remember. THE MODERATOR: Questions for Coach. Q. You guys have a game plan for a reason and it's based off past results. How stunning is it when it kind of backfires that way? COACH WILLIAMS: It kind of did that first quarter. There's some unexpected 3 balls go in, or what have you, but that isn't what really hurt us. I mean, it was -- we could not get any rhythm offensively. Still, at the end of the day, you hold the team to 60 points and you still can't -- we cannot muster any offense. That's just been a huge, huge struggle for us here the latter part of the season. And we just got our wheels spinning the wrong way and it's just been hard for us to go on big runs and that sort of thing. So -- but give Air Force credit. Those kids made plays. And then we let Immel kind of get going a little bit. And then Snyder got going a little bit. And the kids that were supposed to be dedicated to, they got into some rhythm. We kind of got hit from all angles for most of the night. Q. When you looked back, if you looked at the first half they had 12 offensive rebounds. You had 14 total. Is that really more of the story? COACH WILLIAMS: I think the two things there in that first half, the offensive rebounds, absolutely, were crucial. They just crashed and we did not answer that. And then the turnovers, I think we had nine first half turnovers. So you give them so many extra possessions and they converted a fair amount of those. And, thus, the big lead there at halftime. Q. Talking about that, the assists were pretty much lopsided for that first half. You came out with four more in the second half versus the first half -- you had one registered assist. What was the difference going from first half to second half? COACH WILLIAMS: We tried to drive the ball a little bit in that first half and obviously didn't make those plays. Second half we just played some ball reversal and moved our bodies a lot better and kind of went to more of a little passing game. And you make some shots. I mean, let's face it; you'll have more assists when you make some baskets. And I think our top guards went 4-of-19 tonight. We got a double-double out of our posts again. Our posts have been pretty solid all year. We needed to be better in the guard play and just didn't get that done. Q. You talked a lot about the things you didn't like to see from your team today, but what specifically did Air Force do that made them tough? COACH WILLIAMS: Air Force really competed. They crashed the glass. They played very physical and they played with great intent and great purpose. They really did. They really played to win, not that we didn't, but they did a better job of it. And I think Immel's a really good guard. I think she kind of gets going, we stat some things. They had some how many banks did they have tonight? I mean nine points maybe on -- just how it goes sometimes. Q. When you look at the third quarter, Makenzie scores 10. Does that epitomize why you added her one year? COACH WILLIAMS: Makenzie has been so good for us in a lot of ways. You can see she's a special young lady and brought great maturity to our roster. And obviously very competitive. And so it doesn't surprise me she was going to go out guns a blazing. And she had a really good third quarter. I'm proud of our seniors. They can walk away with their heads held high. They gave it a great try. They gave us their very best. Yeah, you always want more, but they gave us their best. And it's nice to have Makenzie here for one year, absolutely. Q. Like you said, you always want a little bit more. You look at Annie, two more offensive rebounds, so she climbs up but she falls one short of total rebounds to finish in the top 10. COACH WILLIAMS: Annie, she has a tremendous competitive mindset. She has a great motor. She really fights and wants to go get the basketball. And, so, it would have been nice to move and advance just for Annie Brady because she's been such a warrior for our program. And coming back from that knee injury, she fought like crazy in that rehab to get back to playing this year. So it was -- it's tough when seniors don't have a really positive experience in this tournament. But Annie was a special player for us. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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