Murray State University Athletics
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Felton addresses weekly conference
12/5/2005 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
OPENING STATEMENT: We started out the road trip in not-so-good fashion, going to Northern Iowa. I'm real disappointed in how that game turned out. We really tried to focus defensively on Cassie Hager, their 6-7 kid, and she hurt us in the paint.
Then, we went to Missouri. Against Alcorn State, we had a very good shooting night. We shot the threes very well. Offensively, we executed and did a very good job. We also did a pretty good job rebounding. We gave up too many offensive boards, but it didn't come back to haunt us.
And then, Missouri; that was very disappointing. We had a chance to compete with a Big 12 team, and we put ourselves in a big, big hole very early in the game. They're a team that you can't get behind like that, a team of that caliber, with that many athletes and that much size. We got into some foul trouble early, and offensively, did not execute at all in the first half, and that's what led to a lot of our troubles. In the second half, we came back and we competed a lot better, but by that time, we had dug ourselves too deep, so it was a little too late.
This weekend, we open up the OVC season. We're excited about that. Obviously, I never would have thought that we would be 1-5 at this juncture, but we are, but we're 0-0 in the OVC, and that's what counts; that's what matters.
We're still trying to get some kids healthy, and hopefully, this weekend, we'll have Shaleea Petty back for some minutes on Saturday night. Gerraca Matthews is still not healthy; Alaina Lee is not very healthy. So we're still battling that, because those kids make a big difference. They're very athletic. Right now, we're playing with some kids that we recruited to play in more of a support role and have to play a bigger role right now. So, it's a learning experience for them, and we've struggled so far with that. Hopefully, this weekend, we'll have some more kids who are healthy. Joi Scott will be available Saturday against Morehead State.
ABOUT THE TOLL LAST WEEK'S TRAVEL TOOK ON THE TEAM: It was tough. We played on Wednesday night at Northern Iowa, then we had to drive straight to Missouri, and that took us two extra hours because of the snow and ice on the road, so we got there at 7 a.m. on Thursday. We kind of had a walk-through on Thursday; we just shot around some and looked at Mizzou Arena -- let them get loose, then played again on Friday night, then had to play a Big 12 team in Missouri on Saturday night. You could really tell it by the Missouri game: we didn't have very much legs left. As banged up as we are, that kind of hurt us.
They got some rest yesterday (Sunday) and some today (Monday), and we're going to watch some film today and let the kids rest and try to get their legs ready for Thursday and Saturday.
ON PAIGE GUFFEY's 6-for-6 NIGHT FROM THREE-POINT RANGE, SETTING A STATE FARM TIGER CLASSIC RECORD: She can shoot the ball when she's open, and our kids did a good job in locating her, finding her, and she had her feet set, and she shot it. That's what we want her to do. I don't want her to try and create anything; that's not her strength. She does a great job of catching the ball and shooting it. Our other kids did a good job of finding her so she can knock that shot down whenever she's open.
ON THE GUFFEY TWINS' PLAY: They are perfectionists, both of them. Of course, they both want to play, and they're freshmen, so that's difficult. We've had to have Amber start at point guard as a freshman, and that's just tough, to go up against this competition that we've been facing (MSU's strength of schedule was ranked third in the nation last week by CollegeRPI.com), and to have both of my veteran point guards out and have to start her. Paige understands that Amber can play that role, and that's why she's playing a lot more right now. I'd like to have my veterans in there -- not tos ay that Amber wouldn't play if I did -- but I think Paige understands that her role is more of a wing player and to shoot the ball. That's her role, and Amber has a little bit bigger role at this point because of our injury status.
ON PRE-OVC DISAPPOINTMENTS: Defensively, we haven't done a very good job. We worked all pre-season on some things that we wanted to do defensively and have not been able to because of our personnel situation. You really can't pressure too much and press a lot for a sustained period of time without a lot of speed and quickness, and all of our speed and quickness is in the training room right now.
We've had to try and do some different things inside. We have given up more points in the paint than I would like. One good thing is that we have scored more in the paint; we've done a better job of having some threats inside. We've got to do a lot better defensively. I'm really concerned about that, so we'll just continue to work on that and make that our emphasis every day out.
ON EASTERN KENTUCKY: They're coming in with a 1-5 record also, but they're 1-0 in the OVC, and that's what matters right now. They've had a win against Tennessee-Martin. They bring in a veteran point guard -- a senior point guard -- in Laura Shelton, who leads them. She does a great job leading; she does a great job getting everyone to rally around her. They've got the OVC Freshman of the Year last year, Ashley Cazee, who is an all-around threat. She can shoot the three, she can put the ball on the floor. They also have a very good freshman coming up in Jayme Thiem, who is a guard and playing real well for them right now. They had a kid, a post player, who was out last year (Fatai Hala'api'api) because of a knee injury, but she's back, real strong. They've got a junior-college transfer, 6-3 Andrea Jenkins, who is playing really well for them right now, rebounding the ball well. So, they're going to present a challenge. If we're full-strength and ready to go, I think it will be a good game.
ON JOI SCOTT: Joi has been practicing unbelieveably well. She's ready to go; she's very excited. She will bring a whole new dimension to our team, especially in the post area, just having a go-to player there. I'm sure she'll have some first-game jitters. Joi hasn't played for almost a year-and-a-half, so she's ready to go, and we're ready for her to go. We hope she comes out and has some success early.
ON MOREHEAD STATE: Right now, Morehead is on top of our conference. People say that their strength of schedule is not very good, but they're winning. They are 4-1, and they are playing with a lot of confidence. Their stats look like they are pressing a lot. They've got a kid who is a transfer from Saint Louis University who had to sit out last year who is playing very well (LaKrisha Brown, last week's OVC Newcomer of the Week). They've got three kids who are averaging double-figures, one an all-conference player in Anitha Smith-Williams. They're going to be a challenge. I'm just real happy we're going to have Joi for that game, because their inside game is pretty strong.
Morehead has a brand-new coach, so I'm sure they're excited about this season and the changes to come, so both games are going to be challenging, and we look forward to starting the OVC season.
ON SHALEEA PETTY: She will be eased in this weekend. The trainer came in my office before I came down here and said she was going to pick up her practice mninutes, and she'll be going pretty much full-go this week, and we will have her available. How much, we don't know, but she will be available Saturday to play some minutes.
