Murray State University Athletics
Weekly Press Conference
2/2/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Quotes from head coach Joi Williams during the weekly women's basketball press conference on Feb. 2 at Pagliai's restaurant in preparation for the Lady Racers' Ohio Valley Conference road games this week at Eastern Illinois (Thursday, 5:15 p.m.) and Southeast Missouri (Saturday, 5 p.m.).
Opening statement:
"We had a pretty good week after winning three-straight games, but unfortunately that was snapped on Saturday (against Morehead State). I'm disappointed with how we came out on Saturday because I was really hoping we'd build on the momentum we seemed to pick up on Thursday with the win over Eastern Kentucky."
"I certainly don't want to take anything away from that win over EKU because it was a big win for us and our program. From what I understand, that was the biggest margin of victory over a conference opponent for our program in several years. I'm excited for our kids that they were able to experience that. I was a little bit nervous at halftime by being up by 21 points because we had never been in that kind of situation. I didn't really know what to expect or how our kids would respond. We came out and had a little blunder in the first five minutes of the second half, but then came back pretty strong to hold and finish out with a big win."
"On Saturday, I was really disappointed because we didn't come out with a lot of defensive intensity. The thing that we really try to impress upon our kids is that defense is what's going to win games. We got back into some bad habits, and it led to a bad result for us. To be honest, out of the 40 minutes in the game, we probably only played about eight minutes total at the level we should have. For us to come back from a 19-point deficit says that we're capable of doing it, but we're not good enough to not play an entire game and still win. There's a lot of lessons to be learned and some positive lessons to be taken. It would've been nice to open this five-game road swing with a 5-3 record. It's going to be a tough stretch, and if you try and think about all five games at one time, I get overwhelmed. Obviously, we're taking it one game at a time. Eastern Illinois is our focus right now, and we'll just go from there."
On the Lady Racers' upcoming five-game road stretch in the OVC:
"It is a little crazy, but I guess everybody's been through it. I'm glad we were able to get a road win at Tennessee State, and maybe that will help us to know that we can do it. It is tough, but I guess the computer generates the schedules, and you have to play the hand you're dealt."
On the importance of the first game (at EIU) in the road swing:
"This game is huge for us. Eastern is a team that's been playing very, very well at home. They have an outstanding player in Pam O'Connor. She's an outstanding post player, and that's been a big weakness for us because our inside game hasn't been very consistent. She's going to pose some problems. This is a game where we really need to make a stand, especially being on the road, because if you lose one, you find yourself getting deeper and deeper in a hole. Then you start putting more and more pressure on yourself, so this is big for us and I'm sure it's big for them as well. We just need to take care of our business and realize that going on the road is going to be tough so that we can be up for the fight."
On whether she believes the loss to Morehead State will break the momentum gained by the three-game winning streak:
"We will see on Thursday. We'll practice today and see how our kids respond. I think they know they didn't come out and play well. They realize that playing the last part of the second half was too little, too late. One thing I think they do know is that they can compete with anybody in this conference, so far from what we've seen. I think they'll take that as a positive. Of course, it's disappointing and we have to go back to the drawing board, so to speak, because we fell back into some bad habits against Morehead State We gave up way too many offensive boards, and we didn't play as intense on the defensive end as we need to. That's what it's all about. We had a good offensive night against Eastern Kentucky because our defense allowed that. Our offense is going to go through our defense. It's hard sometimes to get kids to really believe that. We played like we believed it on Thursday, and then we came out Saturday like we had won a championship and didn't have to play hard. It's a constant, day-to-day thing that we go through in trying to get them to understand how important it is to play good defense."
On how the team stands in relation to any goals she had set prior to the season:
"Well, I expect to win every game we go out and play. I know we were close in all of the conference games we lost (four losses by a combined nine points). We're really close to being undefeated in the OVC, but close isn't good enough. My expectations are big, and I think we can do some good things if we can play well on the road. I think a lot of it will depend on how we start this road stretch because it's been a constant battle for our kids with their confidence. My expectation is to win and to put ourselves in a position to win. We've been in position to win every game that we've played this year. That was one thing that I said before the season ever started. We wanted them to at least have a chance to win every game and if we couldn't pull it out, then we'd learn from it and try to get the next one."
On whether she thinks the team must also learn how to handle the success they earn:
"Absolutely. We were up 21 at the half against Eastern Kentucky, and one of our kids told one our assistants that they looked up at the scoreboard and couldn't believe it. They were in shock and they said it was because they'd never been in that situation before. I was very nervous at halftime because they hadn't experienced that before. I was afraid we'd come out in the second half the way that we did and not play well. Luckily, we straightened back up and got the job done. I was really afraid of that kind of negative reaction on Saturday and it happened. But again, I think they'll learn from that and that's what we have to do. They were disappointed in the way they played on Saturday. Morehead State played like a team that was jockeying for position in the conference race. Our kids have been used to just being happy to make the conference tournament and that's a big obstacle. The idea of them playing their first round game in the RSEC (Regional Special Events Center) has never even entered their mind. To me, that's what we were playing for, but it's hard to convince the players of that when they've never expected that or been in position for that."
