March 1, 2007

WEST COAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT Game #4 - #5 Pepperdine 71, #4 St. Mary's 67 (OT)

PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY QUOTES
Head Coach Julie Rousseau
Opening remarks: "It was a well-fought game. Our kids seemed to struggle all year in terms of fighting back from a deficit. In the second half, we just told them to stay positive and I thought they really responded. We're very proud of our players and proud of our effort. Saint Mary's is an incredible team. Paul Thomas is doing a wonderful job with that program."

On the difference in the game: "I think our kids just decided that they didn't want to go home and that's what it came down to. Teena (Wicket) doesn't say much, she just does it, and we're happy she's on our team. Our post players just really decided that they were going to come to play, they were very active. I think we established ourselves inside. We were from the outside and we just knew that it was going to be a post-dominant game."

"Our goal was to make sure we kept them off the boards. They (Saint Mary's) did outrebound us, but I thought we did a great job of getting second and third shot opportunities."

"It was a physical game. We just told out kids that they had to respond and match their (Saint Mary's) intensity and just how physical they were. Our kids responded with hustle."

Teena Wickett:
Thoughts on her performance and the game: "I just wanted to help my teammates out and come through for them so we could get this win and keep playing."

SAINT MARY'S COLLEGE QUOTES
Head Coach Paul Thomas
Opening Comments: "We played a pretty solid game overall. There was a stretch in there in the second half that I'm sure everyone in the gym was aware of where we didn't execute offensively or defensively, and that caused us to lose some momentum and lose some timing and rhythm of what we had and Pepperdine took advantage. I give them a lot of credit - I think their players were a little more experience than our team was."

On the Final Play in Regulation: "If I were an official, I probably wouldn't have called a foul. The players have to decide the game, don't they?"

On the First Half: "I don't think we played very well the first six minutes of the game, but then we found our rhythm and were getting some good looks and I felt we found a good pace for the game. But we just couldn't maintain it. "

On Overtime: "The most important statistic is field goal percentage. We took four more shots than them in overtime, but we only made two of twelve. They were four for eight. There's your ball game right there. When the game counted in the last five minutes we did not shoot the ball well. I thought we had some good looks, but they didn't roll in for us."

Serena Benavente
On How Physical the Game Was: "It's the conference tournament. It has to be physical. It's a whole new season and a whole new level, and as players we have to step up to that next level. But it should be physical. That's the way it's supposed to be."