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BIG 12 CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT


March 8, 2006


LaToya Davis

Alesha Robertson

Marsha Sharp


DALLAS, TEXAS

BO CARTER: We'll have Coach Sharp deliver an opening statement for us and then we'll ask questions of the players for just a few minutes.
Coach, your thoughts about the game.
COACH MARSHA SHARP: First of all, congratulations to Missouri. I think it was an important basketball game for both of us and they really played well. I thought they played really consistently. They made some plays at a lot of different positions against us. Their guards were big and powerful. They curled off of some things that we had difficulty trying to defend because of their size and strength and athleticism. And I think that it's one of the reasons why they won so many basketball games this year. And we really struggled to try to maintain some consistency there.
Obviously we got in foul trouble and took some of our weapons away from us for probably way too long for us to have a chance to stay in the game.
But I'm proud of our team. I thought they really fought for a long time today and we had some people that played a lot of minutes in the game and at the end they were still trying to make sure that they tried to put them on the free throw line, play well as far as trying to follow the game plan and make some big shots to try to keep it close and keep us in range.
I can't fault anything that happened with our kids. They have been warriors and have tried to fight through some things and keep themselves alive for a while, and hopefully the committee will reward that and they will get to play another day. But regardless of that I was really proud of their effort and I thought that Missouri probably deserved to win because they were able to make more plays consistently on their side of it.
BO CARTER: Thank you, Coach. And we have Alesha Robertson and LaToya Davis with us. Please raise your hands for questions.
Q. For both players, you guys go up by 10 early in the game and they come back and just keep the lead the rest of the way. What was the difference after that run that you guys had early on?
LATOYA DAVIS: I think the difference was that they went on the run after that and we couldn't really answer, and like Coach said, they made plays consistently and we didn't.
ALESHA ROBERTSON: I think that when we started out with that run at the beginning our adrenaline was really high and they hit a few shots and came back a little bit and we -- every time we got on a run, they got on a run. They just kept coming back at us and it caught up with us.
Q. Alesha, there is some kind of erratic, unexpected officiating calls. Was that hard for you to guys to maintain consistency throughout all that? Did that affect you at all?
ALESHA ROBERTSON: Well, as a player, you just got to learn how to cope with those officials and just learn how they're going to call the game and then once you do know, you just got to play. You just got to play like they're going to call it. So if they're not going to call anything, you might as well foul.
COACH MARSHA SHARP: I like that, "coping." That's good. That's good.
(Laughter.)
Q. Did you guys kind of feel is sloppy at times or was it something that the Missouri defense was doing?
ALESHA ROBERTSON: Well, sometimes we didn't really, we weren't really, it was hard to play together there for a little bit. Just because their defense was really well prepared. And I just think that our execution just got out of hand there for a little bit. But I think we got back into it.
LATOYA DAVIS: I don't think it was really sloppy. I think that just when we had open looks we couldn't really finish our shots or go get the rebound. So I don't think it was sloppy, we just couldn't hit anything.
Q. How much not having Erin Myrick out there affected what you were doing out there?
LATOYA DAVIS: Well, Erin Myrick did play a big role for us, and we lost Chesley Dabbs early in the season, and we just had to learn how to step up in those places and that's just what you got to do when you lose a player like that, is just step up and try to fill in that spot. And I think that we did a really good job of that today.
She's a big enforcer inside but when you lose her, you lose the power but then you gain height with Patrice. So I think she did a great job filling the role. It was a terrible blow that we lost her, but I think that Patrice stepped you know and did a really good job.
Q. LaToya, do you think you guys should a tournament team?
LATOYA DAVIS: I think so because we have a whole bunch of heart. We never give up. And I think we played hard enough to show the committee that we are a pretty good team.
So I think we should get in. But that's their choice.
Q. Along those lines though, are you going to be sweating it out for the next few days until Monday?
LATOYA DAVIS: I just take it day by day and wait until Monday happens. Coach says we're going to meet Monday and we'll all get together. I don't think we'll be sweating it out but I think that we'll be anxious to see if we get in or not.
BO CARTER: Ladies, we'll dismiss you, but good luck in the offseason and we'll keep our fingers crossed in the post-season.
We'll take questions for Coach Sharp now. Thank you all for coming.
Q. Can you state your case for a 17th straight NCAA bid?
COACH MARSHA SHARP: Well, first of all, I think the Big 12 is a good conference. That in itself should help us.
I think that when you finish fifth in it and your RPI was still below 40, I think when we started the tournament anyway. We had about the sixth or seventh best strength of schedule in the country. When you combine our non-conference and our conference games, and we had some pretty significant wins, I guess when you look at it now against Baylor and A & M and Louisville, and played Oklahoma very well, I think, both times we played them, hopefully those will be good things that will help us.
Obviously we had some, a few losses that we needed to not have, probably in their eyes. So we'll see. But I think it probably depends on some other conference races and how they finish, and if there are any upsets along the way and some different categories like that. But I think that hopefully we have shown them enough that we could be in. I think that obviously our non-conference schedule should be the part they look at. They talk to you all the time about they will reward you for playing a good non-conference schedule, and we'll see if it was good enough to help us this time.
Q. Were you surprised at all about how well Missouri shot and how much they were able to score?
COACH MARSHA SHARP: I thought they shot better today than they played, than they shot in the last several games they played. But not better than they shot during the year. I think they probably have regained a little bit of focus. I don't think there was any question they knew what was on the line today for them, and they really answered that bell. They played very well and shot it very well. Early on in conference play, they shot it consistently like that. Maybe the last couple of weeks they have struggled a little bit more from the field, but not today. I thought they shot it very well.
Q. What's life been like for you since your announcement?
COACH MARSHA SHARP: Well, it's been fairly hectic. There have been a lot of things that I wanted to -- a lot of people I wanted to talk about a lot of things I wanted to take care of and a lot of e-mails and notes and cards and calls and things like that, which have been incredible. They have been amazing. And people that I will always appreciate for their thoughts during this time. And it's been a really important time.
Obviously I've been trying to be focused on what we were being about as a team and some days that was easier to do than others. But I think that's both gratifying in a way, obviously there are moments when you think about things that you won't ever probably do again and that's a little bit difficult. But the most important thing to me still has been to try to coach this team and to try to get them where we wanted to be, and those were the distractions I wanted to avoid, so that I could do a good job with them until the very end. And that part has been hard for me to deal with a little bit.
But our players have been outstanding. They have fought through it and they have been focused and they really tried to make sure that they brought it every day and gave us a good look. And our practices have been solid and they have been good. And that I'm really grateful for that. It's helped us to really maintain some semblance of order, I think, in the last couple weeks.
Q. When did you know that Erin would not be able to play?
COACH MARSHA SHARP: Well, she was available. We probably could have played her a little bit. I was a little concerned about trying to do that. With as little preparation as she had had for this particular team, I felt like that because of their size that maybe we were going to be in a situation where Patrice could be effective and Patrice has a very little longer arms than Erin anyway, and we thought defensively we might be as good today without her. And if we had a chance to win today, I wanted to be positive that she was available tomorrow, because she does do a good job against Courtney, and we felt like that would be important. So we were trying to pick and choose a little bit. I think if we're able to play in the NCAA tournament, she will be available.
Q. First of all, her injury is a sprained knee, is that what they diagnosed it as?
COACH CINDY STEIN: I think that's right. Yes.
Q. And do they give you any kind of idea -- basically it's a day-to-day thing or how long is it looking?
COACH MARSHA SHARP: I think. So I think she will be available if we, if we want to play her, if we get an opportunity to play in the tournament.
Q. And as far as that goes, I asked the players, how about, are you going to be sweating it out for the next few days?
COACH MARSHA SHARP: Obviously we would like to be in a little bit better position. You would like to know that you're in, be a lock to be in. That's been something that we haven't been that concerned about. We have always been thinking about seeds. The last 15 years or so. So it is a little bit different scenario for me to deal with than I dealt with in a long time but, yeah, I'll be a little nervous and anxious for a few days here.
BO CARTER: Coach, congratulations. We'll be keeping our fingers crossed for Monday. Thanks.
COACH MARSHA SHARP: Thank you.

End of FastScripts...

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