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BIG TEN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 1, 2012Jordan HooperLindsey MooreRebecca WoodberryConnie YoriINDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA Nebraska – 88 THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Nebraska coach Connie Yori and Rebecca Woodberry and Lindsey Moore and Jordan Hooper. Coach, a couple of opening comments. COACH YORI: I thought in the first half we were very aggressive. We moved the ball well. We were aggressive off the dribble. We got some things in transition. Very different game than the first time we played them. I think we scored more in the first half than we did in the entire game the first time we played them. But a lot of it, our players played with an aggressive mentality. They played with confidence. They did the things that we asked them to do. In the first time around, we were very passive, and I thought this time we just played with a different mentality offensively. And the other key stat is we rebounded. We gave them very few extra opportunities, and we did a really good job on our defensive glass. THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Coach. Questions for the student‑athletes, please. Q. Lindsey, have you ever sat down that long for a game? LINDSEY MOORE: I don't think so. I think that's the first time that I've‑‑ I don't even know how many minutes I played. But I think that's probably my season low. Q. Is that hard to do? LINDSEY MOORE: Kind of. I think when T got hit, she was like, All right‑‑ Coach Kelly was like, One of you guys go. I jumped off the bench trying to get in, but she ended up being fine and I came back. Q. Why were you guys so much different than the first time? LINDSEY MOORE: I think we executed what we wanted to do early, and I think our pressure really bugged them. In our first game against them, I don't think our pressure really affected them at all. And this time we're actually able to get out, pressure, pick up how we want to and play the style we want to play. Q. Jordan, would you say this is the best you've seen the team play all year? JORDAN HOOPER: We came in with an aggressive mentality. We focused on what we wanted to do, and we executed. Q. Jordan, the last game against Northwestern, you guys really struggled from the 3‑point line. But today the first two shots you took were 3‑pointers. You want to talk about that? Was that a mindset going? JORDAN HOOPER: Wasn't really a mindset. I think it's just a confidence level. I think I've gotten more confidence as the games‑‑ the last two games have gone on. So I think it's just confidence. Q. After you hit your first one, Dannielle came down the court and hit one. Did you want to go back and hit another one? JORDAN HOOPER: I didn't really pay attention. I mean, I knew that happened, but it wasn't really in my mind to do it again. We just had to score more points. That's all we worried about. Q. The same thing Lindsey talked about, you sat on the bench basically the entire second half. What was that like knowing you didn't have to go in anymore? JORDAN HOOPER: It wasn't tough because our team was doing so well, but it was kind of weird not going in every couple of seconds, I guess. Q. Rebecca, how did you and the other freshmen‑‑ how were you guys so successful today? REBECCA WOODBERRY: I think we were successful because of our practices, and we just work hard in practice. So when we have the chance, when our teammates need the rest, we're able to go in and contribute the way we're supposed to and run our system. Q. Rebecca, the intensity didn't seem to drop off when you guys‑‑ all freshmen played the last ten minutes. Why is that? REBECCA WOODBERRY: We kept telling each other to keep the fire up and keep playing defense hard because, like Lindsey and Jordan said, our pressure was bugging them. So we wanted to make that a point, to keep the pressure up, because if we weren't scoring, as long as we were playing good defense, we'd be all right. Q. Lindsey, everybody is going to talk about the main shots in the first half, but how much did the little defensive plays and the steals and getting some of those hustle plays help you guys execute on offense? LINDSEY MOORE: Our defense created our offense I think today, and that was a huge part of why we were able to get so many good looks. Our pressure was really bugging them. And it's hard‑‑ it's a hard team to play against when we're up pressuring and taking things away. So our defense created our offense today. Q. Lindsey, you think this game sends a positive message about how Nebraska will be able to compete in the Big Ten long term? LINDSEY MOORE: I hope so, because this is the style we want to play. And the fact we were able to execute on both ends of the floor I definitely think shows how we are today. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, ladies. Questions for Coach. Q. Coach, at what point can you actually relax during a game like this when you're up 20, 30points, if at all? COACH YORI: Well, I'm not one to relax a whole lot. I felt like a couple of minutes left in the game we were finally in good shape. But up to that point you want to keep playing your possessions. It's a focus in our program on a daily basis to focus on the possession. And we want to do that and we want to keep doing that. And I think the exciting thing about this game is that we did have kids who continue to do that. And we had five freshmen on the floor. I don't know how many minutes. But good part of the second half. So the fact that we kept playing well, there was some relief there. Q. Can you talk about what you did during that big run in the first half defensively to keep them from scoring and neutralize their height down at the post? COACH YORI: If you look at the stats, we won all the aggressive stat lines. We turned them over. We run the battle of the boards. We got to the foul line more than they did. So those are things you look to do, we look to do within our system. And those are important stat lines. And we won the battle of the possessions and we were the aggressive team. And we are a pressure team. We want to get out and play that way, and I thought our kids did a really good job of buying into what we wanted to do today. Q. You're 2‑0 against Iowa, which you face tomorrow. What do you really remember about those games? COACH YORI: I remember they were both really close games. And they came down to the wire. And we were fortunate to win two games, and we know Iowa's a really good basketball team and playing their best basketball right now and they won eight in a row, and they're going to be well rested and they've got the advantage from that standpoint. It's hard to beat‑‑ it's hard to beat a really good team three times in a season. So we'll have our hands full tomorrow. Q. With the win streak they're on, their freshmen‑‑ Samantha Logic has really been dominating. Can you talk about how you plan to limit her defensively tomorrow? COACH YORI: We don't really have a plan right now. We're going to get back to the drawing board when we get back to the hotel and figure out what we want to do tomorrow. Q. And also can you just talk aboutin a kind of a lopsided win like this today, how beneficial is it for you to rest your star players and keep them fresh for tomorrow? COACH YORI: It's huge. Like I said, when Katie Simon, who barely played for us, plays more minutes than Jordan Hooper, that's a good thing in a tournament setting. So we were fortunate to get the lead and hold the lead and not have to bring the starters back in. Q. Was there a certain anger in your play today? COACH YORI: I don't think we have angry kids. So I would say no. We've got happy kids. Q. A little revenge‑‑ COACH YORI: We've got angry coaches sometimes. Happy kids. Q. Revenge? COACH YORI: I don't know. You can maybe go with that angle. But I don't think that was what our focus was. Our focus was to do what we wanted to do and be who we wanted to be and be aggressive. Q. There was a couple of shots on the chin and that kind of thing? COACH YORI: That's the game. You're always going to have that. Q. After the Ohio State game, you said your team resembled a box of chocolates, after the Forrest Gump reference. What would you say they pulled out of the box today? COACH YORI: Well, I like a good caramel with chocolate on it. So maybe that would be it. I don't know. Yeah, we played well. And it was good. We played two consecutive games now, when we were not playing particularly well for a period of time. And we've played two really good games in a row. So I think there's a lot of confidence to be gained from that going into tomorrow and heading into whatever happens after tomorrow. Q. Can you talk about Brandi's on‑the‑ball pressure and how important that is? It doesn't necessarily show up in the stat line, but just frustrating Northwestern's offense? COACH YORI: The good fortunate thing we had going today is we had our freshmen Tear'a Laudermill and Brandi Jeffery primarily, they were able to get up in pressure and really create some havoc. When those guys do things offensively and make plays on the offensive end and make good decisions, then they get to play more. And they did that. And I think there's a wearing effect that we play with, and when we can play with some depth‑‑ we had a series of games there that we did not‑‑ our bench did not produce for us. But we had to go longer minutes with our starters. We're not very good when we do that. We are a team that wants to play kids that are fresh. We want to keep running kids in at that position in particular. And when those guys play as well as they did today, that's going to help us in the long run. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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