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SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 2, 2006

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS

THE MODERATOR: From the University of Arkansas, Coach Susie Gardner, Sarah Pfeifer, Adrienne Bush and Rochelle Vaughn. If you would open up with a statement.
COACH SUSIE GARDNER: Well, you know, we were prepared for this game. Our kids were fired up for the game. We went over it in the locker room. The energy was there the first half. I thought we fought, we battled, we played tough.
And the second half was a different team. I felt like when Price got her third foul in the first half, they did a great job taking some charges, and then when she got her fourth foul, our best player is on the bench.
From the stats, we shot the ball poorly. Our kids had said at practice that they were committed to the press, we wanted to press, we pressed, and then it just dribbled past us. There was no help, no taking a charge.
You know, it's very tough. It's embarrassing to be in Little Rock, for the City of Little Rock to work so hard to bring this tournament to Arkansas and we had the fans behind us. You know, it's just really, really -- I don't know how to explain it in all honesty.
Q. How much did fatigue enter into what happened in the second half?
COACH SUSIE GARDNER: Well, we'll say one thing for Ole Miss; we have a larger rotation, and last game we played them, they played six players, and that's what they did rotation-wise. You look at their stats, their numbers and how many people play per game, I think that -- Awkward is really only their true point guard, and that was another part of our philosophy. If anyone would have shown fatigue, it would have been them because we rotate more players in and out.
Q. They had 44 points in the paint, and -- (Inaudible).
COACH SUSIE GARDNER: Yeah, it was layups, it was dribbling right to the middle. You would think that a post player or an outside guard, what a perfect opportunity to take a charge. We talked to them about doing that, but at the same time we can't get beat up and have a four one-on-one. At some point the score got so far, we can't not press. We had to look like we were still trying, but you're right. I mean, I don't know, they were easy baskets for sure, easy layups.
Q. This is for Susie and Sarah. You guys obviously struggled from the three-point line. Can you just talk about that and how tough that was?
SARAH PFEIFER: We took the shots, we just didn't make one. We started giving them back and then the team collectively missed shots.
COACH SUSIE GARDNER: We live and die by the three-point shot. In my opinion that's the best way to play women's baseball is the three-point shot. We can't jump but we can hit threes. After a couple of threes early, that gets the team started, that gets the fans started up and that helps to cut the score, as well. We had some very good three-point shooters, but we weren't hitting them, and that's a big part of our game plan. I felt like they were good shots. I don't think they were rushed shots. I felt like they were wide open, but they didn't hit.
Q. (Inaudible).
COACH SUSIE GARDNER: I thought Kristina Andjelkovic played a good game. She was all around, she was down on the floor. She was running the press. She played her heart out. She's got to end her career feeling good about it, I did everything I could in my last game. I thought she played well and I thought Moore played well.
We could have gotten the ball inside a little bit more, I guess.
Q. What's the difference between the first and second half as far as the three-pointers because there really wasn't any either half, but the first half you were able to compensate with the inside game.
COACH SUSIE GARDNER: I think the difference was basically the points was part of it. They were getting easy baskets, and baseball is a game of momentum, and they were just taking it. They had the momentum and we didn't, and I think that when you get down by a chunk, you tend to -- we couldn't get anyone to step up for us offensively, and I wasn't sure who was going to take the ball. I said, give me the ball, I'll take it. You've got to have somebody to take the ball and go down there and make good shots. That was the difference between the first and second halves.
Q. Adrienne, can you talk about the frustrating end to the season, and then it seemed like today kind of capped it off in a bad way.
ADRIENNE BUSH: That's one of those things where you start off so well in the SEC, everyone is positive and things kind of snowballed from there, and it's the same way when you lose. You try your hardest and you go out there and you make the plays and you try as much as possible, and I felt like in the first half that's what we did. And then in the second half, like coach said, it was like a different team out there. When things are going bad, they go bad.
Q. This is for Adrienne and Coach. Did you all feel like it was a home court atmosphere out there, and if so, did you not take advantage of that?
COACH SUSIE GARDNER: Yeah, the first half definitely. You talk about calling the hog, and that was happening. Certainly at the same time we had such a long drought of not scoring in the second half, that just takes the crowd out of it. I think you're right, we did not take advantage of that at all.
ADRIENNE BUSH: It was a missed opportunity for us, especially the second half. If we could have maybe just gotten a lead, built a little bit of momentum that way, we would have kept the fans into it. Missing shots, you know, like I said, it kind of snowballed, and it was really disappointing to be out there playing well the first half, and then the second half not doing the same thing. It was very disappointing.
Q. This is for Susie and Adrienne. You mentioned the charge. It sounded like you were hoping to catch some more people doing that. Talk about giving up your body and taking those charges.
COACH SUSIE GARDNER: We take a lot of pride in that, and we don't do take charge drills because you can't simulate a charge. The person going for the hole is not going to want to make contact so they can't reach in on the person -- it's just not game-like. Our charge leader takes them better than anybody and she'll lay it out there for you, and she gets in hard, too, because she lays it out.
I kept convincing the other players they knew what was coming; defensively that's the biggest play on this baseball team minus a blocked shot. It's a hustle play, it's a selfless play, somebody that will sacrifice their body. I respect Adrienne Bush so much because she will do that, and she did it tonight.
Q. (Inaudible)?
ADRIENNE BUSH: For me personally it's kind of one of those things, Coach -- I've been playing such shoddy defense lately, and that puts me in position to be able to take charge because they were driving with their head down low.

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