Baylor Coach Tara Kim Mulkey: 2010 NCAA Final Four Media Teleconference

March 31, 2010

COACH MULKEY: I’m doing my best to sell tickets. Being in the state of Texas, we certainly want the people from Texas to show up. And San Antonio is a great city of entertainment, and we’re excited to be there. We’re young, and we are a team that has had ups and downs throughout the course of the year, with injury and suspensions. But we have everybody back and healthy. And we’re just excited.

Q. There’s been so much press, particularly lately, on Brittney and what people think she will be, and people sort of placing already some sort of historical comparisons on her. Can you give me a sense of how the coaching staff has managed expectations, in particular expectations that sort of are being thrown around externally, outside of your program?
COACH MULKEY: Well, I’m not sure, unless you give me specifics of what expectations you’re referring to. If you’re talking about the great player and playing above the rim and all that, I can comment on that.

Q. I think people are just in terms of people sort of saying that she’s a chance to be the best player of all time, people comparing her to sort of like having Bill Russell like impact. There’s sort of the building of her reputation,… Read more

Oklahoma Coach Sherri Coale: 2010 NCAA Final Four Media Teleconference

March 31, 2010

Thank you, Rick.  I appreciate it.  Our basketball team is incredibly honored to have earned the right to participate in the Final Four in San Antonio, and we are very much looking forward to it after the hospitality that we experienced in San Antonio in 2002.  We know what a fantastic job the city does in welcoming the NCAA championship and we can’t wait to get there and compete. And just really, really proud of this bunch of kids and looking forward to the opportunity.

Q.  I wanted to ask you kind of big picture, obviously first time the Big 12 has managed to get two teams to the Final Four, and I know all the time you coaches are always talking about how great the conference is, and obviously it is.  But from a national standpoint, does this really kind of help underline the fact that particularly this year the Big 12 is really tough considering that Nebraska won the regular season and A&M won the tournament but two other teams are in the Final Four?
COACH COALE:  I think if there were any doubters out there as to the difficulty of our league, they’ve been made believers by just what’s happened.  I don’t know how you can look at that and not realize… Read more

Memphis is oh so sweet….Baylor prevails amidst a sea of orange and Thomas turns it on for Duke

Tennessee vs. Baylor, Box Score

As I walked into the arena all I saw was a sea of orange. I thought for a minute I was in Knoxville, not Memphis. As the teams were announced all you could hear were roars from the Lady Vols faithful. There was a long embrace between Coach Summit and Coach Mulkey (who sported her gold jacket).

As expected, this game was going to be an intense battle. No one wanted to lose. There were many lead changes and much to cheer about for both teams. Brittney Griner looked like a veteran player on both ends. She ended the game with 27 points and 10 blocks. She made it very difficult for any Tennessee player to get into the paint.

An always passionate Coach Mulkey was at half-court at one point disagreeing with one of many no calls when Griner was getting hit.

Taber Spani tried to give Tennessee a spark in the first half with a three and steal. Shekinna Stricklen tried to use her athleticism to knock down shots (18 points). Morghan Medlock made all of the hard-nosed plays for Baylor. And Melissa Jones had two defensive plays down the stretch that sealed the deal. Her leadership definitely showed in the second half.

It was a rough shooting night for Tennessee sharp… Read more

Memphis update: Lindsay Werntz reports on the atmosphere of open practices

NCAA Sweet 16, Memphis Region

Baylor
The Baylor women’s basketball team had a rather relaxed atmosphere this afternoon at their open practice. Coach Mulkey did not say a whole lot to her team . She ran a couple of half court drills along with some 5-0 transition stuff. The most excitement came off of a Britney Griner one-handed dunk. As I walked across the gym to get closer to the action I looked up and saw my first Griner 360° dunk. There was no YouTube this time. It was pretty impressive. The team ended with a circle formation and Melissa Jones slammed the ball down…the whole team fell to the floor. It was as a fun way to end a light and relaxed shoot around.

Tennessee
The Tennessee faithful are in Memphis in full form. A handful of them showed up to the open practice. I was surprised atthe lack of shirts that were tucked in and the amount of diamond earrings in the player’s ears as they walked onto the court. I quickly understood why those small details did not matter today. Tennessee is a No. 1 seed for a reason. Coach Summit does not have to coach effort with these girls. They got more shots up and shots with a purpose in a small amount of… Read more

Nebraska football coach Bo Pelini on Connie Yori’s team

Nebraska football coach Bo Pelini on how the Nebraska women’s basketball team’s winning ways has made it a target for other squads.

“That’s why it was pretty special what the women’s basketball team was able to accomplish,” he said. “That’s a pretty significant accomplishment, their regular season … I think everybody’s proud of what they’ve accomplished.”

Slideshow: San Diego St. vs. Texas, March 21, 2010

Photos: © Cheryl Vorhis/cvorhisphotography.com, All Rights Reserved

Hot-shooting Aztecs beat Longhorns, Goestenkors “stunned”

• Tonight on TV
• NCAA Tournament: First round thoughts

AUSTIN, Texas —In a Memphis region upset, No. 11 seed San Diego State (22-10) shut down No. 6 seed Texas (22-11) with a barrage of three point shots and speed, 74-63. The Aztecs silenced the Longhorn faithful who came to support their team Sunday night at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin. Fueled by the hot shooting of senior Jené Morris, SDSU shocked not only the audience but Texas head coach Gail Goestenkors as well. When asked about her feelings as Morris’ treys continued to mount, she said “I was stunned.”

Goestenkors said she could not recall a team making that many three points shots (8 of 10 in the first half alone) and hoped that the streak would subside.

“They were just on fire, and it became contagious for them,” she said “We couldn’t hit it, and I think it became contagious for us as well. I kept thinking, they have to cool off. Obviously, they cooled off in the second half from the three. But usually, at some point the percentages will start to work the way they have all season long.”

Texas seniors sang the school’s alma mater with tears in their eyes after the loss while the Aztecs were jubilant but not surprised at their upset… Read more

Gameday: NCAA women’s tournament in Austin, Texas optimistic

After a 77-64  loss to Texas A&M in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament, Texas coach Gail Goestenkors put her team on notice. The spring break in the days following the defeat would not be a vacation. Instead, the team had a fundamentals boot camp to focus on the weaknesses that led to their conference tournament exit. Texas committed 26 turnovers in the game against the Aggies.

Now, as the Longhorns face San Diego State in their NCAA opener, they are optimistic.

“We’re just excited to once again be in the tournament,” said Goestenkors during Saturday’s press conference. “Really excited to be hosting. So we’re ready to play.”

Texas senior Brittainy Raven wants to make the best of her last college postseason.

“With this being my last NCAA Tournament, I’m hoping that we can make it out of the first two rounds,” said Raven. “First two years I made last year, my sophomore year, we made the tournament. Won one game, made it to the second game, and didn’t go anywhere after that. Like coach said, we prepared all year to get to the tournament, and now we’re ready to make our run. ”

The first day in Austin:

• Texas vs. San Diego State, 6:11 p.m. Central, ESPN2 Preview
• West Virginia vs. Lamar 8:30

… Read more

Texas vs. San Diego State preview

vs.

No. 6 seed TEXAS (22-10, 10-6 Big 12) vs. No. 11 seed San Diego State (21-10, 10-6 Mountain West)
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Location: Frank Erwin Center (16,734), Austin, Texas

TV/Stream: ESPN2/ESPN360.com
Radio: KVET-AM 1300 “The Zone” will broadcast Sunday’s game between Texas and San Diego State. Craig Way (pxp) and Carol Ross (analyst) will handle the call.
Chris Ello will do the radio broadcast from Austin on Xtra Sports 1360 AM.
Live Stats: texassports.com and goaztecs.com
Series: The series is tied at 1-1 with each team winning on its home court. Last meeting: San Diego State, 60-55 (Dec. 30, 2008; San Diego, Calif.)
Coaches: SDSU head coach: Beth Burns, 5th year of 2nd stint at SDSU, 18th overall || Gail Goestenkors, 3rd year at Texas, 18th overall
Seeding: No.6 Texas, No. 11 San Diego State
Region: Memphis, 1st Round

Sunday’s contest marks the third meeting between No. 17 Texas and San Diego State. The series is tied at 1-1 with both teams winning on their home floors. Texas won the first meeting 69-58 on Nov. 25, 1995 in Austin. San Diego State won the team’s most recent contest… Read more

Seeding set for Big 12 women’s basketball championship

Bracket || Schedule

After a weekend of six games marking the end the regular season for Big 12 teams, the seeding for this week’s tournament in Kansas City, Missouri is set. Unbeaten Nebraska leads the pack at No. 1 followed by No. 2 seed Iowa State, No. 3 Oklahoma and No. 4 Texas A&M

The entire list:

1. Nebraska
2. Iowa State
3. Oklahoma
4. Texas A&M
5. Texas
6. Baylor
7. Oklahoma State
8. Texas Tech
9. Kansas State
10. Kansas
11. Colorado
12. Missouri

First round games will be televised by Metro Sports in Kansas City, while the quarterfinals through the final will be aired on FSN.

The Phillips 66 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Championship returns to Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo., for the ninth time in Conference history. Kansas City hosted the first six women’s postseason events from 1997-2002, in addition to the 2005 and 2008 championships.

… Read more