March 29, 2008
Head coach Wendy Larry:
Opening Remarks:
"It's exciting to be back in the Sweet 16. I had a reporter ask me the other day what it was like to be back. I'm not so sure that we ever went away. We've been in the NCAA Tournament now for 17 years in a row. Certainly, to go back to the Sweet 16 solidifies your presence in the Top 20."
On playing top seed UConn...
"I don't know if anybody looks forward to playing the University of Connecticut with the way they are playing right now. Certainly in our situation, it will be a great test for us because it was early in the year when we saw them in the Virgin Islands. We really hadn't established ourselves as any type of program what-so-ever. We didn't know just what we were going to be. We learned in that particular game that we had to compete for 40 plus and we only competed for 14. Ironically, 24 hours later we played Stanford and it was a huge lesson for us because we competed against Stanford significantly different in that second game. That was a turning point for our basketball team. We understood that we weren't that good and that we were going to have to work a heck of a lot harder to be somewhat successful."
On pressure to succeed...
"For the longest time in our conference (CAA), with the success that we've had, we have the monkey on our back. We have the pressure going into those conference tournaments to win. We were able to come back from 18 down in that conference tournament to win it. To play at home (in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament) is certainly an enjoyable thing, but obviously the thought is that if you play at home, you should win at home."
On playing UConn for a second time...
"We've played the University of Connecticut, we've been on the floor with them, we know who they are, we know how they compete, we know their passion, and now we can go out and say, `Let's see how much we've improved.' "
On UConn's Maya Moore and her potential impact on women's basketball...
"When I think of Maya Moore, I think of the word `yikes'. I think that we've seen the tip of the iceberg. I think under the system she's in, she will continue to flourish because there's still so much creativity in the offense that Geno (Auriemma) has created. In some regards, I have an analogy of Maya Moore. I think of when Cheryl Miller came on the scene, she was just it. (Here) was a girl who was 6-2, 6-3, had ball-handling skills, had presence, had charisma ... had so many things no one her size could have ever thought of having. In some regards, Candace (Parker) did the same thing at the University of Tennessee. I think Maya is in that same pool of candidates. There are so many things (about them) that are going to open doors for women's basketball and really grow our game."
On Jazzmin Walters hitting the three in overtime to beat Virginia...
"It's ironic because we had talked about her attacking and creating opportunities for other people to spread wide on the perimeter, and ironically, she was the one who penetrated and found (the shot). In her heart, she believed and knew when it left her hands, that it was good. My thought now is that Jazzmin Walters has gotten so much better. She's taking much better care of the basketball and making much better decisions. She's led us in attack and transition. For her to not see anything in the post-season as far as accolades - she seemed to always fall through (the) cracks - and then to make that shot was significant."
On size difference between ODU and UConn...
I'm certainly hoping that their speed will be significant. We felt the same way against (Sharnee) Zoll from Virginia. Obviously we've played against much bigger guards - we've had to deal with that, so certainly we'll deal with it again.
SENIOR GUARD T.J. JORDAN
On the team's growth since playing UConn in November...
"Our mentality is different since that game. Each game, we've had different people stepping up to win games. We're just enjoying the moments and working hard."
On thinking about the 44-point loss to UConn...
"Like Shahida said, that was in the past and we're in the present now. We're just a totally different team now and so are they."
On the UConn loss changing the team's mentality...
"I think by losing that bad, it made us see all the different mistakes we made. It was just a big transformation from that game (UConn) to the next day against Stanford."
SENIOR FORWARD Shahida Williams
On thinking about the 44-point loss to UConn...
"It's a new season and that game was late last year (November). We just don't think about it and when the clock starts tomorrow it will be 0-0."
SENIOR FORWARD Megan Pym
On thinking about the 44-point loss to UConn...
"We believe in ourselves and we have all the confidence in ourselves. We've grown a lot since that game."