March 23, 2010
Recap | Box Score | Notes
[4] BAYLOR (25-9) 49, [5] GEORGETOWN (26-7) 33
HAAS PAVILION • BERKELEY, CALIF. • MARCH 22, 2010
BAYLOR HEAD COACH Kim Mulkey
With the way you played offense with 21 turnovers, 30 percent shooting and six baskets in the second half, were you surprised you ended up winning by 16?
"We have won games with bigger margins and a lot more turnovers. It might be the most physical game I have ever been a part of. When I say that, I am talking about no calls. In the Big 12, early in the year, the hand checking was called a lot. I felt like it was a free for all out there. We are used to physical play. To answer your question, it wasn't a pretty game, but the most beautiful part of the game was our defense. I think when we hold a team that shot 70 times to only 17 percent from the field, I think you are guarding somebody. If you look at their scorers and what their field goal percentage was individually, no player for them scored in double figures. We got everybody back [in the second half]. We got MJ [Melissa Jones] on the floor; we got [Brittney] Griner back. It was good to coach the kids that we started with. Now let's go and at least see if we can make [Tennessee coach] Pat [Summitt] do a scouting report."
Brittney Griner posted an NCAA and single-season block record tonight with 13 in the second half. Talk about her defense and what she was able to do after not playing much in the second half?
"The story needs to be what our team did without Griner on the court in the first half. We had a double-figure lead going into halftime with her playing maybe 10 minutes in the first half. That is big for our basketball team because she draws so much attention, and God knows she deserves every bit of it. I think what they did to Griner was what their game plan was, but what Brittney allowed herself to do was not to allow the lack of offensive production affect what she did on the defensive end of the floor. For a freshman to do that, and continue to do that, it was big for us."
You knew you were going to have a good team, but you didn't know when. Now that you have made the Sweet 16, do you feel you have a pretty good team?
"I sure would have liked to have all the pieces in place earlier in the year. With MJ [Melissa Jones] missing the last half of the year you had your bullets down. I know tonight our defense was really special. Our opponents have been shooting around 30 percent all season. We have been guarding people all year...we are trying as quickly as we can to get them all going in the same direction. We understand what we are up against with Tennessee. We respect them so much and would like to be where they are some day."
BAYLOR GUARD Melissa Jones
On heading to the Sweet 16...
"It's so hard to describe how we feel right now. The locker room was pretty intense afterwards because this is what you play for. Anything can happen during the season, preseason, but this is when it really counts, so we couldn't be more excited."
On the play of her other teammates...
"I think our team is so diverse. You can't guard just one person because I think we're talented enough to attack with any one person, so it's hard to guard everyone on our team."
On the defense in the first half...
"I think it was a huge first half as far as we were defensively. I think what really helped us was our chemistry. We were able to talk to one another if we needed to switch [or] if we needed to stay. We had such good communication that we were able to build off each other, and I think we had pretty good defense in the first half."
BAYLOR FORWARD Brittney Griner
On if she could see the Georgetown players grow frustrated as the game wore on...
"Yes, sir. They looked a little frustrated."
BAYLOR FORWARD Morghan Medlock
On the calming role of the upperclassmen when the game gets chaotic...
"We're upperclassmen and that is our role. When things get chaotic out there, coach can't suit up and play and come out there and calm things down. I think as upperclassmen it's our job to lead the young ones on the floor and just let them know, `Hey, everything's going to be okay. Get a steal here, a big rebound here and just calm everything down.' There's no need to get in a rush and play the other team's game. They need to adjust to us."
On if this was the most physical game this year...
"I wouldn't say it was the most physical game. We play in the Big 12, so we're used to that night in and night out. I think this game did have the capability of a Big 12 conference game, and playing in the Big 12 with all that physical play, I think that definitely helped us tonight. We kept our composure."
On how far the team has come since it last played Tennessee...
"I think we've grown so much on the floor, off the floor, in the gym, outside the gym, all those kinds of things. We're better at ball reversal, the younger kids understand every possession means something. It's that important to get that steal, that rebound, knock this free throw down. Get this stop and switch on this play. We've been doing a great job at following the scouting report. Our coaches put together a great, great scouting report, and our young kids are learning how to execute the plays and a lot of key things about personnel. I think the Baylor-Tennessee matchup will be a completely different game than it was at the beginning of the season. We're two totally different teams. They've grown; they're still young. We're still young, and we've grown a lot."
GEORGETOWN HEAD COACH TERRI WILLIAMS-FLOURNOY
On the team's performance tonight...
"I think they continued to play hard the whole game. They never gave up at all. It would be a whole different ball game if we had made shots. We beat Baylor tonight if we made shots. We shot 17 percent from the floor and 17 percent from the three-point line. You shoot like that and you won't beat anybody. I really think our girls did a good job of doing what we do overall though. We forced them into 21 turnovers and we held [Baylor center Brittney] Griner as best as we could, and to Baylor's credit they had some players step up. I think our kids did a good job in continuing to play hard."
On whether it was an advantage having Griner out of the game for a brief period in the game...
"Absolutely, but that really didn't seem to make a difference on the offensive end. The shot was either going to go in with Griner on the floor or not with Griner on the floor. We missed some easy buckets. I think with her out of the game we wanted to get back in the game, but the shots just didn't fall. You can't make them go in."
GEORGETOWN FORWARD JALEESA BUTLER
Can you describe how you thought your team did going against Brittney Griner?
"She's a good player. Like I said before, she's a big presence down there. She ended up with 14 blocks. We just couldn't make shots tonight. We did what we could to defend her, but it all boiled down to us not being able to make shots."
How frustrating was it to end up shooting 17.1 percent overall?
"It's very frustrating. The point of a basketball game is to have the most points at the end of the game when the time's gone out. To not [be able] to put the ball in the basket, and know that you're playing hard, and you're playing good defense and you just can't seem to make the ball go through the hole, it's very frustrating."
GEORGETOWN GUARD MONICA MCNUTT
How frustrating was it to end up shooting 17.1 percent overall?
"[Jaleesa Butler] hit the nail on the head. The objective is to score. We defended, we rebounded and we dealt with [Brittney Griner's] presence in the post. We couldn't buy a bucket tonight. It hurts so bad, but that's what happened tonight."
Do you think Baylor was getting back on defense too fast for your team to put together a good offensive run?
"I'm going to credit Baylor for playing great defense tonight. But we couldn't buy a bucket. I'm sure any one of my teammates would have given the world to shoot like we did [Saturday night versus Marist]. We had good looks tonight, but it rimmed out or tipped out or whatever the case may be.
