March 27, 2010
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -
San Diego State Head Coach Beth Burns
Opening Statement Before I give a summation of today's game:
"I would like to thank the University of Memphis and the city of Memphis for the way we have been treated since the second we arrived. From the community that met us to the head women¡¯s coach Melissa McFerrin, who I found it was her game day, said if we need anything that the Memphis Tigers were a phone call away. Thank you for that, and our student©\athletes had a more positive experience because of your class and kindness.
"It has been a wonderful opportunity for our team. Duke is a great team, and I am proud of the way we battled, but there will be no excuses given up here of we had an off this or an off that. It is all about Duke. I was really pleased at halftime because we were able to keep them off the glass and get some scores. We were able to get to the free throw line and keep the turnovers relatively low. Duke made one run that we were able to coil a little bit and they were relentless. All credit goes to Duke, and they certainly had something they wanted to get, and they went out to get it. We don¡¯t look back. I am as proud as I can be of the two women to my right and the third senior who is sitting in the locker room. They came to a 0©\16 operation and made it look pretty good. Everybody who is returning to San Diego State has big shoes to fill because we don¡¯t intend to take a step back. We intend to be better tomorrow than we were today."
Was your team out of sync in the first minutes of the second half?
"It has been a long haul. It has been from Austin to San Diego and a week in Las Vegas. We play limited minutes, and that is not an excuse, it¡¯s a fact. Sometimes you are in games and can¡¯t wait until halftime, but in this game, I was like let¡¯s just huddle and keep going. I didn¡¯t want them to sit down and regroup. I thought it would be important for us to keep momentum. I credit Jen¨¦ (Morris) because she isn¡¯t full strength, but she won¡¯t admit that. She had a little pull in her hamstring yesterday and had an insertion, and look how she managed it. She probably has 30 gears and today she probably had 20. That was the difference in the way she played offensively and defensively. I am not insulating that would have changed the outcome of the game, but dictated some differences on our part. We have come this far with them, and the kind of things that Duke does limited us to what we could do with our bench because of their defense. Unless we couldn¡¯t manage fatigue or foul trouble, we stuck with the rotation we anticipated we would."
Can you think of a team that plays defense the way Duke does?
"I can and they are a great defensive team, but I feel like the Memphis Regional was the Memphis defensive bracket. They were in it, and the difference in Duke is that they change so often. They have the ability to have multiple defenses which make you adjust and assess. For our team, we need tempo and you can¡¯t have play crazy tempo because they can match you and close so fast. They change and give different looks about as well as anybody we have seen this year. I think their closing speed and versatility of their athletes puts you in a tough spot. We struggled to be consistent from our frontline, and you could see that tonight. I thought we had good entries and opportunities, but to be able to square, catch and shoot really bothered us.
Talk about the impact of Duke guard Jasmine Thomas.
That¡¯s why we wish everybody was full strength because it would have been fun. I have not seen Duke live. I had only seen Duke on film. She is big time live. I would add all the things that Jen¨¦ (Morris) said. The strength quickness and power in her body is amazing. For bigger kids, she is to quick, and for the smaller ones, we are too skinny to handle her. She is a complete player with her ball skills and her offensive ability. She is good, really good.
Talk about the turnovers in today¡¯s game compared to recent seasons.
I was pretty pleased at halftime because I think the majority of the turnovers were our frontline from not catching and finishing in the paint. We handled things very well short of that one spurt. We really identified where to give the ball and squirt out of things. Duke is good and they close so fast. If they can take it out of the net and slide their pressure on you, it¡¯s hard. Nothing surprised me, and we are who we are.
Talk about the adjustments at halftime.
The biggest difference in the game is we kept them off the offensive glass. If you break Duke down, they might get a third of their points from their half court option. They get a third from their defense, a third from their offensive rebounding. We have had inconsistent spells all season, and that¡¯s where we have lost games this season. We out rebounded everybody we played in the tournament, and if you go back to the regular season, we did not.
San Diego State Senior Guard Jen¨¦ Morris
Yesterday you were held out in most of the drills in practice (due to injury), how were you today (in terms of the injury)?
I was fine. Jasmine Thomas is a fast guard. Duke has great guards. I had to try and keep up with them in the transition game. We gave them a great fight. They (Duke) are a great team, and they have great guards.
You were only down one at halftime but it seemed like you had a tough time shooting the ball in the second half. Was it what Duke was doing to you or was it just tough to get good looks?
They are very athletic and long. They closed really well (on defense). We had times where we thought we had open looks, and they were right in our face. They have a great coach (Joanne P. McCallie). They were aggressive on defense. We knew that coming into the game. They stuck to their game plan very well.
Have you seen anybody in the course of your travels who is like Jasmine Thomas?
After the game, I looked up and saw that she (Jasmine Thomas) was only a junior. She is going to be really good. She is an amazing guard. She can do it all. She can shoot the three. She is good off the screen. She can pull up, and she is a great defender. She is very quick and athletic. I could talk on and on about how good she (Jasmine Thomas) is. I'm excited to see her next year. She will have had another year to develop. I just know she is going to come back and take the country by storm.
It seemed like you were setting up more in the half court game than you usually like to. Was that part of your game plan coming into the game?
We didn't get that many transition points, and like I said before, they closed out really well (on defense). They were picking us up full court. They had times they were pressing us and other times they would send someone to guard Q (Quenese Davis) full court. They stopped our transition game. We have become comfortable (as a team) running a half court offense. They are a great defensive team.
You guys made a little run at the end of the second half. What was it that inspired you to do that?
We are the Aztecs. We don't go down without a fight. This was the last time we (Quenese Davis, Jen¨¦ Morris and Kim Spinardi) were going to put on the Aztec jersey. I would like to thank San Diego and all of our fans. We weren't just representing ourselves. We were representing San Diego and everyone who believed in us over the years. We couldn't go down without a fight.
San Diego State Senior Guard Quenese Davis
You were only down one at halftime but it seemed like you had a tough time shooting the ball in the second half. Was it what Duke was doing to you or was it just tough to get good looks?
I think they did a really good job during that whole little flurry (of the second half) where we didn't score for a long time. I think it was more of us not being able to knock our shots down.
Quenese, the first few minutes of the second half your team misses the first 10 shots and then you have an intentional foul. Was that just frustration on your part?
It wasn't frustration. I just didn't want them (Duke) to get an easy bucket in transition. That would have just given them more momentum. I fouled her (the Duke player) the first time, and then I just fouled her a little bit harder the second time. It wasn't intentional though.
You guys made a little run at the end of the second half. What was it that inspired you to do that?
We weren't going to quit. It is our (Quenese Davis, Jen¨¦ Morris and Kim Spinardi) senior year. We just don't quit.