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PACIFIC-12 CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 6, 2014Anthony LevretsMichelle PlouffeEmily PotterSEATTLE, WASHINGTON Utah – 65 THE MODERATOR: We've got Utah here, Michelle Plouffe and Emily Potter. We'll take questions, and we welcome Coach Levrets from Utah. Coach, some opening remarks and we'll go from there. COACH LEVRETS: First of all, very proud of our team and everybody that played tonight contributed to a complete and total team win against a really talented offensive basketball team. I thought we had a very complete defensive performance tonight and couldn't be happier for our players. Q. Michelle, everything seemed to be working. What was going so well for you out there today? MICHELLE PLOUFFE: I think my teammates were getting me the ball when we ran plays and knocking down shots when they needed to, and I think that opened up a little space for me to get inside. COACH LEVRETS: She's good. That's what was going on. MICHELLE PLOUFFE: We moved the ball really well. COACH LEVRETS: Oh, sorry, sorry. Q. Coach, you had said that one of the most amazing things about this off‑season was that your most talented player was your most improved player. How has she continued to grow throughout the course of the season? COACH LEVRETS: Well, it's been a tough year. She was really good at the end of last year and spent the time, unlike anybody I've ever seen that's already that good have that sort of improvement. Just her ability, although the crossover, full court, we still want to work on not using that one. But her ball handling, her ability to put the ball on the floor and get to the basket, play through contact, play off the dribble in isolation areas. Just improved her strength and obviously she has incredible stamina. She plays a lot of minutes and is just able to‑‑ she's better at everything she does. That's a credit to her work ethic and how hard she's worked. Q. Michelle, how much of a motivating factor is it for you to just keep this run going and extend your career? MICHELLE PLOUFFE: That's just what we're trying to do, play as long as we can. I didn't want this to be my last game, and I don't think we thought it was going to be. We were ready to come out and fight. It's hard to beat a team three times, and we knew that they weren't going to go away and they weren't going to stop. But I think the whole team played for our seniors, and I was playing for my last game, and I didn't want it to be today. Q. Emily, I forgot who the assist was for, but you had a three‑quarters court play. Does that galvanize the team? You guys looked pretty pumped coming into that timeout after it. It must have been fun for you? EMILY POTTER: Yeah, for sure. We've done that in practice, and I mean it paid off. Saw Plouffe and got that little high‑low kind of thing. Connected pretty far past, but I knew she had good hands and I knew she was going to get it. Q. Kelsey Plum got her points, but she really struggled from the field. What was working defensively against her? COACH LEVRETS: First of all, she's an incredibly talented young player. We really tried to make her earn baskets. We knew we were going to foul them some and they were going to make shots off the dribble, but we couldn't give her uncontested threes. Our kids did a great job. She got a couple, and over the course of 40 minutes, we did a really good job of being in her space and making her dribble to a shot. That was the plan. We did it really well at our place last time around in about a five‑minute stretch, and she got a couple against us. But you're not going to stop a kid like that. You have to contain her and make sure she earns everything, and I thought our kids did a goat job with that tonight. Q. It was such an impressive recruiting class, including Malia Nawahine, and she was state Player of the Year. Tonight she was playing defense Kelsey Plum and Jazmine Davis. What has her commitment been to some of the more unglamorous sides of the game but still effective? COACH LEVRETS: These freshmen are learning. It's been a hard year and there is no getting around it. We've been through a lot as a group. The freshmen have a ton to learn. The ups and downs and good and bad, and it's always harder when you're not as successful as you're used to being, but you just try to get them to continue to believe in what you're doing. Over the last month or so, I haven't seen a big change in Malia in her interaction with staff and coaches and players. It just bought into completely what we're doing she's obviously a long, talented athletic wing that has a chance to be really good. She keeps working, and I think she has a chance to be a really good player before she's done. Q. I guess to add to that, you could look at the two one‑point losses to Washington this year, and all the losses that you've noted have accumulated. How integral has it been to have a rock like Plouffe end this season? COACH LEVRETS: I'm not going to let her go. She and I have been through a lot together. I wouldn't have this job if it wasn't for her. She made a jumpshot as a freshman to beat BYU during the Mountain West tournament during my interim season which I was pretty appreciative of. So just having her, as good a player as she is, she's a way better person. Her steadiness, everything about her is calm and cool and collected. She's an unbelievable person. Hell of a player, but a way better kid and has been a great role model and example for everybody in our program. It would be really nice to play a couple more games with her and figure out a way to get her a fifth year. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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