Murray State University Athletics
Women's Basketball Press Conference
2/26/2007 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Lady Racer head coach Joi Felton addressed this week's press conference.
Opening statement
We're excited about all the "firsts" this year, and the second seeding in the tournament being the highest for our team. However, we were disappointed about Saturday night (a 62-60 loss at Tennessee-Martin). We had it right in our grasp, but we couldn't hold on to it. We got the game to a tie score, and then, it came down to rebounding. We emphasize time and time again that rebounding wins championships. We learned from that game, and hopefully, tomorrow night, when it's "one and done," we can go out and take care of business in the paint as far as rebounding goes.
How did your team handle losing that game?
They were disappointed. They weren't emotional wrecks or anything, but it was very disappointing because they knew that they had worked hard all year, and that's one of the goals that we set. To have it be so close and not be able to grab it was disappointing. The positive thing was that -- we got out-rebounded by 20 (45-25), Ashley Nichole Hayes had eight points. We made a lot of errors defensively and made a lot of fundamental errors -- to lose by only two points and to play like we did, that was encouraging. They saw the bright side of it, that if we take care of business and do what we need to do, we can go deep in the tournament. We feel good about that, but the loss was disappointing because we really worked hard to get there all season. We've got to quickly switch our focus.
That game against Tech, we lost Joi (Scott) with four minutes to go, and we come back and win. Then, it's Friday, and itkind of sets in that we don't have her. We go out Saturday, and we play tentatively at first -- I think we missed six or seven shots within a five- to 10-foot range from the basket. That's focus, whether it has to do with her not being there or not focusing for whatever reason. It kind of stung us. I know if we had it back, that we would do things a lot differently.
Our big thing about tomorrow night is that we don't want any regrets. We want to go out and nobody come in that locker room and feel like there's anything we could have done differently.
How is Joi Scott doing?
She's doing all right. She's day-to-day right now. She's still got some swelling, so it's hard to tell anything right now. The doctors can't get a good evaluation until that swelling goes down. That was yesterday. I haven't seen her today. I haven't talked to a trainer about her situation this morning.
So you're working on the assumption that you'll play without her?
Yes, we have to. We have to prepare like we will not have her, and that's what we did yesterday. She didn't practice yesterday. We have to prepare like we won't have her, and if we do, we're back to our usual game plan. Our focus and our impetus are a little bit different without her. Obviously, it's going to be on perimeter play, and we've got some perimeter players who can really get some things done. Now, they just have to step up and do it. Shaleea Petty, who has played outstanding the last two games, has always been in the mode that her role and her job has been to create and get good looks for Joi Scott. Now, she's in a mode where she knows she's got to score. You've seen that in the last two games, that's she is very capable of scoring the ball. Alaina Lee, Amber Guffey, Ashley Nichole Hayes -- we've got the people who can score in the paint and can shoot the ball from the perimeter.
The thing that Eastern Kentucky brings is that they're athletic. They're big in the post -- 6-2, 6-3 -- and we've got to run with them in transition, and we've got to box them out and keep them off the boards.
It seems like Amber Guffey has lost some confidence in her ability to shoot down the stretch. What are your thoughts on that?
The first thing about Amber is that she is so unselfish. We basically have to beg her to shoot just about every practice. When people scout her, they know that whenshe penetrates, she's going to pass, so they play her like that. So, when she does penetrate, and nobody guards her, she's indecisive, and she'll either throw up a bad shot or she'll turn theball over trying to thread the needle and pass it to somebody who's not open. It's obvious that, when she drives, nobody helps on her (on defense), because everybody knows that she's going to pass the ball. She's watched tape. Amber is a very smart player. Yesterday, in practice, she shot the ball well. We didn't have that issue yesterday. Hopefully, she'll have a good day again today, and that transfers over on Tuesday, because I've just told her, point-blank, "We need you to look to be a scoring threat."
We lose 22 points (with Scott's absence), and I don't look for one player to make up for Joi's 22 points and eight rebounds, but I expect it to be an effort where several people might have two or three more points, and at the end of the night, it will make up for it.
What about the rebounding issue without Joi?
Joi is averaging eight or nine rebounds, and I told them in the locker room that Joi Scott is not the difference with somebody out-rebounding us by 20. Everybody collectively has to take care of their responsibility: Ashley Nichole Hayes, Jenny Petrie, Erica Gordian. The main thing about rebounding is that it's heart and fight. We have got to be conscious of when the shot goes up, we've got to make contact with somebody and go get the ball, whether Joi is in the game or not. There have been several games where we've been out-rebounded, and Joi's been in the game. We haven't out-rebounded our opponents a lot of times this year, and she's been there. It's been a sore spot for us whether we have her on the court or not, but I'm sure in Eastern Kentucky's mind, they might crash the boards even harder, and we've got to prepare for that, because if there's a weak spot, they figure, "Well, we've got to go inside, and we've got to crash the offensive boards." We've got to be on alert for that, and right off the bat, from the beginning of the game, we've got to send the message that we're going to fight and be physical.
Talk a little more about Eastern Kentucky and how you played them earlier this season.
We played well in both games, and Joi had big games against them. But it's like I said in the teleconference: The slate is clean now. People talking about beating somebody three times -- we're not thinking about that. As far as we're concerned, we're 0-0 against Eastern Kentucky. I don't think our kids have the mindset of "We beat them twice; it's going to be easy."
Everybody knows that every team has new life. I really think that any team, 1 through 8, can win this tournament. Eastern Kentucky is going to come in -- they've won their last two games on the road. Previously, they haven't been playing well on the road, so they're going to come in with some confidence.
We're just excited to be playing at home. We match up fairly well on the perimeter, and we're going to take advantage of our strengths and go from there, see what happens.
Of course, we want to get the ball inside -- and we've still got to do that, get the ball inside and go out -- but now, I think we'll be able to be in attack mode a little more from the perimeter and make people have to guard our penetration. We've got some kids who are hard to guard: Alaina Lee, Shaleea Petty. Those kids can really get to the rim. So, it puts pressure on the opponent's defense. Now, we look at some people sagging back on Joi Scott, and us being tentative about whether to shoot when we're open. Now, I think you'll see our team play a lot more wide-open on the perimeter, because that's our strength, and we've got to play to it.
It looks like, as you said, Shaleea Petty is really stepping up as far as scoring goes.
She looks like the Shaleea Petty from her freshman year. Last year, she and Alaina Lee both were not 100 percent because of injuries. Shaleea works hard. She's shooting the ball every day after practice. We know she can do it; it's just a matter of her confidence. As a coaching staff, we have all the confidence in the world in her. I told her, "You might shoot an air ball every now and then. That doesn't matter. Get rid of it, shoot it again." In the last couple of games, she has found that confidence, and she does a great job of getting to the rim on a dribble. She penetrates; she's quick and can leap. She can do some things that can really hurt people. I just want her to have a lot more aggressive mindset, and I think if she and Alaina will lead that charge, then the others will follow.
I know you've used Pam Bell some. Will you also use some of the younger, taller players?
We will. We will use some players and give them a look. I said that, when we come back on Tuesday, we don't want to have any regrets. I don't want to wish that I had put Jasmyne Thornton in the game or Shanice McElrath or whoever it may be. We're going to let some people play some minutes and see what happens.
Does Jenny Petrie play the 5-spot?
No. The post for us is just the post. There's not a lot of difference between the 4 and the 5 for us because we interchange a lot. We play a lot of 4-on-1 motions. She plays the post, and she can play the post, but as far as being stuck down on the low block, where people think of the traditional 5 player, that's not a strength. That's not a strengthof Erica Gordian, of Jenny or Ashley Nichole Hayes. They'll go down there, but their strength is facing the basket. Our opponents know that, and we know that, so we're going to place them in a position where they can be successful.
Can Jenny play post defense? Yes, she can, and block out. She's just got to give an effort to do that every possession.
