March 23, 2008

Recap |  Final Stats |  Notes

TCU Head Coach Jeff Mittie
Opening statement
"I thought it was important for us to get into the tournament. I thought it was an advantage for Boise State to already be in the tournament and have a game under its belt. However, it was tough for them to have a quick turnaround and have to come in here, so it balances out."

On expectations coming into the game
"We struggled the first three or four minutes, just getting going, but after that I felt we played extremely well. We were aggressive, Lorie (Butler-Rayford) hit some shots. Our defense was rotating very well. I thought we'd have our legs, because we haven't gone real hard in practice. We focused individually and did some scrimmaging, so I thought we'd struggle a little bit with some of the timing aspects, particularly early. But we fought through that and played pretty well."

On Boise State's offense
"They have a nice point guard. We saw on the tape that she's very aggressive with the ball, and I thought our team did a better job of establishing our defense, especially at the 3-point line. It wasn't just one player. I thought we bunched her up better as the game went on."

On pace of the game
"I told (the team) before the game, we needed to push for 90 points. My message in that was we needed to be aggressive and push it up the floor. I felt in watching tape, we needed this game to be athletic and have speed be a real factor. We looked for ways to turn up the tempo, and we were able to create some turnovers with our trapping and rotations."

TCU forward Lorie Butler-Rayford
On scoring her 1,000th career point
"I didn't go out thinking I was going to get it this game. I just wanted to make sure we got the win, and it just happened that way. I was on the line shooting free throws, and after I hit the first one to score my 1,000th point, I heard everyone cheer. I tried not to smile because I knew I had one more (free throw) left. It felt good to know everyone was behind me."

On scoring 17 points in the first half
"I think my team did a good job of getting me the ball. There were some good passes and they knew what angle the defense was playing, which set me up for making the shots. I really think my teammates did a great job."

TCU guard Adrianne Ross
On the mental approach to the game
"We have to take the disappointment (of not making the NCAA Tournament) and turn it into excitement for this tournament. There are still games to play and some really good teams in here. We know if we want to be successful we have to take it one game at a time, so we really focused on Boise State and the WNIT."