March 10, 2014
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LAS VEGAS -
San Diego State-Air Force Postgame Quotes
COACH Stacie Terry: Just really happy we got the victory tonight. I thought Air Force came out and gave us a really good game.
Their record does not reflect how good they are. I just want to give them so much credit because they play hard and play everybody tough. I admire that about that team.
So excited for us to get the win, but thought we have a lot of things to improve on. One thing I'm most proud of, we had 17 assists, which is huge for us. We're playing shorthanded without a point guard. For us to take care of the ball and share the ball like we did tonight is a good omen for us going forward.
Q. You were up 50 42, Air Force scores three quick baskets about five minutes to go. What is the mindset as you were in the timeout talking over the strategy?
Khristina Hunter: I think our mindset was just to stay calm and play harder. It's win or go home, and we're not ready to go home yet.
Q. Sometimes a natural tendency with a team like Air Force, their record, teams can overlook them a little bit. Did you have any of those thoughts coming into this game?
Khristina Hunter: I don't want to say we overlooked them. I think we were just nervous being here knowing that we're one and done. I think they came out as hard as they could. We came out and we just got to pick it up for tomorrow.
Q. Last year you entered as the heavy favorite coming into the tournament. You made the championship game but fell short. Does that motivate at all coming back this year and playing?
Cierra Warren: I mean, I didn't play last year so I didn't actually get to experience that.
But just being there, I got to watch the last game, I knew we were a better team, we want to get back to that spot and get the win.
Q. Can you talk about the offensive glass there the last few minutes. You were strong. Was that a matter of you being a little bit more aggressive and attacking the basketball in those situations?
Cierra Warren: In the beginning they were boxing us out, keeping us away. We knew we had to go to the board and score. That's how we win our games.
Q. Quick turnaround going into tomorrow's game. Nevada got you the first time going in. What are you going to look to do differently?
COACH TERRY: I don't know if we're going to do a lot of things differently. We just need to do some things harder. I don't think we played our best game up there. Excited to have another shot at them.
We need to rebound the ball. We need to rebound the ball better. We need to take care of the ball to have an opportunity. We're shooting such a very high percentage from the field, we shoot ourselves in the foot and turn ourselves over.
We didn't have opportunities to score. But they're a very good team and can score a lot of different ways. They have bigs that can match up with our bigs. They have guards that can shoot the ball and beat people off the bounce. They're tough guards. We have to go back and prepare and give a good effort to be competitive.
Q. You're playing without a point guard right now. I thought your girls did a good job of making the extra passes to get open looks. Is that something you were working on in practice?
COACH TERRY: Absolutely. Everybody knows how talented our bigs are. The two that sat next to me are two of the best in the conference. Everyone knows that we're going inside.
Air Force did a great job taking that away. That being said, our guards were patient, knocked down shots when they needed to. Chloe Johnson had seven assists for us. She was amazing for us. If she can play steady like that, we'll be good.
You're right, we're playing point guard by committee. Khristina is a point forward. We've made many references to Magic Johnson. They probably don't even remember who that is, they're so young.
Like I said, if we get a shot up, that's good for us. Our offense is offensive rebounding and getting a second chance. They did a great job taking that away from us tonight. We were very resilient, got some big boards down the stretch that we needed to win.
AIR FORCE COACH ANDREA WILLIAMS: It's the best game we played all year. It was great team energy, effort, focus from the tip with our scouting report, what we wanted to do. Especially the short turnaround.
I was proud of how they came out both halves. It's usually been the story of us, one half better than the other. Puts us in the hole, where we're up and can't sustain. Good to have that team energy and focus and execution tonight. No better place than the tournament.
Q. Jimi, you were able to tie the score at 50 late in the second half. What was the confidence level when you were able to tie the score?
JIMI BLAGOWSKY: I think at that point we knew they were going to go on runs and we were going to go on runs. We were able to make another run back at them.
Then we thought the focus was there, the energy was there. Then we just, you know, couldn't get them off the boards. They were able to make another run. It was a little too late for us to make a final push to get back and beat 'em, so...
Q. If you could talk about the rebounding advantage San Diego State had towards the end.
JIMI BLAGOWSKY: We knew that was going to be one of our main focuses coming in with the height disadvantage. We did one of the best jobs we did all season in rebounding and keeping them off the boards. Just kind of let up a little bit, couldn't get them off, couldn't push them back. Just one of those things. Game of inches. Just a couple inches here and there.
Q. Camille, this has to be a tough season for you, not a lot of victories. What was the mindset coming into the tournament? Was it loose, positive?
CAMILLE THOMPSON: We were really positive. Our mindset going into the tournament was 0 0. It was a close game, our last home game, we knew we could beat this team. We had a very positive attitude. We were ready to give it our all and give everything it took to win.
Q. Talk about defending Cierra Warren from San Diego State?
CAMILLE THOMPSON: We were in a sagging 2 3 on the defensive end. We were concentrating on her as well as other posts, packing in the zone, not letting them throw it in.
That was basically our mindset, do everything we could, push back for her not to be able to score and take away her feet as well.
Q. The last few minutes, San Diego State taking over the glass, was that something about them being more aggressive or the ball bouncing their way?
COACH WILLIAMS: They're big and they're going to come at you. That's part are their mindset and that's their game. They miss a shot, they're going again. They're very athletic.
They went on a run, second chance points hurt us. Rebound put back. They're terrific athletes. Cierra Warren is phenomenal. All league player.
Again, our kids battled, fought back. One of our focuses was rebounding and trying to make it closer than it has been than before, try not to give up. You know they're going to come after you, it's tournament time.
Q. You mentioned the battle and fight of the team. How proud were you they were able to stick with it for all 40 minutes?
COACH WILLIAMS: Oh, yeah, definitely proud. I'm proud of them. They were fun to coach all year, although it doesn't translate into wins and losses that way. We've had different people different times of the year not with a full till of 15 players. So who is going to show up this time?
We're going to need our big two to score for us to be in a game. The first half against Boise, those two didn't score. You can imagine what our offense is going to be.
For them to refocus, short turnaround, tournament time. These seniors were part of the group that won the first games three years ago. They tried to reiterate that to the freshmen that that can be done and set that legacy for them.
It was good to see. It was great energy, effort, focus for the 40 minutes, the two halves, what we needed to do all year, able to get Ashton Williams back on the floor after being injured. Again, Missy Byrd trying to be another rebounding force for us.
They didn't quit. The energy, focus and positivity is great. It's a great locker room that we have.