March 21, 2010
Recap | Box Score | Notes
14/18 [4] BAYLOR (24-9) 69, NR/NR [13] FRESNO STATE (27-7) 55
HAAS PAVILION • BERKELEY, CALIF. • MARCH 20, 2010 Baylor Head Coach Kim Mulkey
On Fresno State's second-chance shots:
"When you shoot as many three as they did tonight, there are going to be long rebounds. I thought they got a lot of them. It wasn't anything that we hadn't talked about. It wasn't anything that we didn't go over in the scouting report. It's just NCAA basketball time. They hang around for a reason. They hang around because they're pretty good."
On younger players being nervous:
"You've got remember that there are nine freshmen and sophomores in that Baylor uniform. It was their first NCAA [Tournament] game, and I'm sure they were a little nervous and excited. I told them at halftime that they needed to slow down. Turn your motor off a little bit and relax. That's the competitor and that's the excitement of the NCAA Tournament."
On Brittney Griner offensively:
"Well she missed some shots. But so much is expected of her. She's double and triple teamed. She's pushed, and she's shoved. I have to be fair to that kid - she's a freshman. We have asked her to do so much. She has no one to operate down there [with]. I thought she did fine. First half, [she was] a little bit nervous. But then, I thought she did fine."
Baylor Center Brittney Griner On her play tonight: "It's my first NCAA tournament game so I was a little nervous but I got going after knocking down some shots and looked to my confidence to keep me going."
On being triple teamed:
"It's like any other night with always dealing with two people doubling down. Fresno played real physical defense, not anymore than any other team with being physical and trying to keep me off the ball."
Baylor Guard Kelli Griffin On Brittney Griner's play: "I think she knocked down open shots and when she was doubled, she kicked it out and we [outside guards] would capitalize on it. When she draws attention like that inside, it opens up things on the outside for the guards and I think tonight, we shot the ball well from the perimeter."
On her role as the point guard:
"As a point guard, you have to know those types of things [on being aware of shot clock, game clock, in bound time limit]. On a lot of the plays we run, we set picks so it is going to get close to the four or five count so you have to be aware of things like that as a point guard."
Fresno State Head Coach Adrian Wiggins General comments: "First I would like to give credit to Baylor. They have a class program and a world-class coaching staff. And they have great, great players. With that being said, I am very, very proud of our program here at Fresno State. We tried hard, we fought hard. They way we look at it we were down six at half and lost by eight in the second half. That is basically a couple of buckets in each half, and we have to figure out how to make up those baskets. We had a great rebounding effort. We had great fan support. It was awesome to see our crowd out there today. It makes you very proud to be part of this program right now."
On the progress of the Fresno State program:
"The goal, obviously, is to play to the best seed possible. We will continue to try to do that. I thought we had a good year and put ourselves in a good position. By getting an at-large bid is recognition of that. We have to do a little better, and hopefully our schedule will reflect that a little bit."
On the pro Fresno State crowd:
"What an awesome time. For our players to come out and see that many fans cheering for them...to take their day and come up and watch us play is something special."
Fresno State Guard/Forward Hayley Munro On how the size of Baylor's Brittney Griner affected the game plan: "We weren't too worried about it. It didn't change our game plan. As you could see we played behind her and tried to be as physical as possible and keep her out of the paint [because] that's where she's most dominant. I think we did a pretty good job of that. She's obviously a strong player and once she got it in there, she drilled it inside. I don't think she affected us too much, and we played pretty good defense."
On if tonight's loss makes it more urgent to win a game in the NCAA Tournament next year:
"One more year to go. We just got to get out in the summer, work hard, get stronger. I know I have to work on my fitness and we'll just come together as a team and work hard, and hopefully we'll get a win next year."
On following their own shots:
"We knew that we were going to shoot a lot of [three-pointers] today, so we had to make sure we ran after our rebounds. [It] probably didn't go as well as we wanted to. We thought we did have a good rebounding game, but you can always do better."
On what to take away from the season:
"I think just our work ethic as a team. It was great this year. We came together. We just got to get a bit more physical if we want to go further in the tournament next year. We've done a lot of great things, and we just want to get a bit further."
GUARD JALEESA ROSS On the team's struggles shooting from outside: "[It was] just shots not falling. I think we shoot really well most nights, and some nights that's just how it is. Shots don't fall in."
On playing in front of family:
"It's awesome. They love Fresno State, they love the team, they love the coaching staff. They feel just as much a part of the family as we do, so it's awesome to have them here."
On what it was like to see Baylor's Brittney Griner up close:
"She wasn't as tall as I thought she was. She was really long. Her height wasn't as tall as I thought it was, but she was definitely really long and her presence on defense was a lot bigger than I expected."
On progress being made:
"Definitely. I know we didn't reach our goal of winning a game in this tournament, but getting an at-large bid is a huge accomplishment for our program, and we're excited to keep this program going."
On the Fresno State fans at the game:
"It just made us feel like we actually did something this season. When that buzzer sounded, of course we were upset, but seeing the fans, the band, all that support we've had all year long, it made it feel a lot better."
