Gail Goestenkors' game preview media availability: Texas A&M
Feb. 19, 2010
On whether she thought the team would be ranked higher than A&M the second time around: I didn’t. They were playing so well at that point in time and we were a little shell shocked. Just coming out of the gates, they were on the offensive from the get go. We learned a lot from that game and obviously we’ve improved a great deal as well. On not having beaten A&M: I know I’m tired of it. I know my players are tired of it as well. We’re excited about this game because it’s just another opportunity to show where we’re at and how far we’ve come. Also I think A&M does a great job at exploiting any weaknesses are so we’ll find out what they think our weaknesses are and hopefully we’ll show them what our strengths are as well. On what A&M did last time against Texas: They did a great job on everybody. Brittainey [Raven] didn’t have one of her best nights, Kat [Nash] didn’t, Ashleigh Fontenette didn’t, Earnie [Williams] was 0-2. We didn’t really have a lot of production from anybody. If they want to stop Kat, that’s fine because I think that’s one of the great things about our team is that we don’t rely on just one person. So we’ve got some other players that will step up. On what Texas needs to do on Saturday: We need to start off very, very aggressive. Last time we played them we were starting Kat at the 4-position in the post, and they posted her up to begin with and [Adaora] Elonu, the post player that Kat was guarding, had eight of their first 10 points. So Kat is now out at the 3-position and Earnie’s in the 4 and I think it’s a little bit better match up for us. So we’re hoping that we start the game a little better on the defensive end and then with the attack mindset on the offensive end. We had 15 turnovers in the first half which mostly led to lay ups for them.
On whether the team wants to redeem themselves since loss to A&M: I do. I think they’ve done a great job, focusing on each and every game. But in the back of their minds, I think they’ve wanted another chance to redeem themselves and play against A&M and see where we’re at. On whether the team can get too ‘up’ for the game: It’s possible. When you’re 0-6 against a team and you’re seniors haven’t won, I mean they are really looking forward to this game. But it’s got to be a fine line because we want to be focused and want to have high energy but we also have to maintain the poise that it takes to be successful, especially on the road. On if it’s a mental thing when Texas plays Texas A&M: I look at tape of A&M and they played their best game against us last time. I’ve seen many of their tapes since and we’re going to show our team some of the tapes and say can you beat this team, do you believe you can beat this team. You know it’s mental and I think part of it has become mental. So we’ve got to get over that hurdle. I’m going to show them being very, very human and normal and say if we play our normal game and they play our normal game, we’ll be alright. |
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