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March 18, 2011

NO. 9 SEED TEXAS LONGHORNS PRACTICE DAY QUOTES

Head Coach Gail Goestenkors
(Opening Statement): “We are really excited. This is what you play for and fight for all year long, so we are happy to be here. We know Marquette is a tremendous opponent. I have great respect and admiration for Terri (Mitchell). She’s been a good friend of mine for a long time and she does a fantastic job. It’s going to be a great game, and I’m sure it’s going to be a tremendous atmosphere because the Tennessee fans always come out strong. We are really looking forward to it.”

(on how her friendship with Marquette’s Terri Mitchell began): “Probably through recruiting, I guess – sitting on the sidelines watching a million high school games and just talking with one another. And we’ve been at the same NCAA tournament sites before, as well. They came to Duke several years ago. We just developed a friendship through talking and mutual respect.”

(on her reaction to Mitchell being hit in the head with a basketball): “I didn’t see the game but I saw clips. Terri’s got a great sense of humor. I might have texted her after it happen.”

(on the relief of making this year’s NCAA tournament): “I don’t think I’ve ever been in that position before where I didn’t know. My first two years at Duke, we were so bad that we didn’t have a chance. And then my third year we were pretty good; we knew we were in. This is really the first time when I wasn’t – I felt good about it and I thought our strength of schedule would help us tremendously but I didn’t know. I knew I was a little nervous about it. I didn’t actually see our name pop up; I heard the screams from the team – of joy as they were jumping on each other, and some tears of relief. That’s when I knew they were feeling the pressure and stress as well.”

(on if the team has relaxed any since earning its NCAA bid): “Not particularly. There was that joy, but once you are in you want to make a statement. You want to prove you deserve to be here. So every team feels some pressure to perform and we’re no different from anybody else. It’s how you handle those pressures.”

(on how Texas has evolved since playing Tennessee in December): “When we played them in December, we were very limited in the post. We only had Ashley Gayle. She actually did not have a sub for that game because Kristen Nash wasn’t back on the team yet – she was in grad school – and Anne Marie Hartung had the flu. And Tiffany Moore wasn’t playing yet; she had a broken wrist. So I would say the difference for us is we have a little more depth in the post than we had at that point and time.”

(on Chassidy Fussell returning to her home state): “She’s got a lot of family coming. She’s excited and she loves big games. Even when we were recruiting her, she wanted to know was Tennessee on our schedule. She wanted to be able to come back home. To me, it’s a bonus for her that she gets to come back. Her family has come to several games at Texas but it is a long haul for them. It’s nice they get to see her play as well.”

Senior Guard Kathleen Nash
(on facing Marquette): “They have great guard play and good scorers from that position. Their post players work really hard, so it will be a battle all game.”

(on making the NCAA Tournament and playing at Tennessee): “It was a huge sigh of relief when we saw our name come up. About playing at Tennessee, we know this gym well. It’s nice to play somewhere where it’s familiar.”

Junior Guard Yvonne Anderson
(on facing Marquette): “We know they push in transition and they look for their bigs pretty well in each of their offenses. Their defense is going to be aggressive and we’re going to have to look for open spots against their zone. We’ve just always got to be aware with them, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

(on making the NCAA Tournament and playing at Tennessee): “When we saw our names come up on the board, our minds didn’t go to, ‘Oh, we’re playing at Tennessee.’ I think it was just more, ‘Oh, we’re going to play in the NCAA Tournament.’ I think anywhere we would have played, we would have been fine. This is an amazing place to play though, if you are going to play in the NCAA. We’re very grateful to be able to play here.”

Junior Post Ashley Gayle
(on facing Marquette): “We watched the film and saw that they had pretty good shooters outside, and they’re a good penetrating team so we’re looking for good guard play. Our guards need to step up and play good defense. We’re going over their plays and figuring out ways to attack them.”

(on making the NCAA Tournament and playing at Tennessee): “I think at Tennessee, there’s a lot of history here, and I think it could be intimidating if you’re playing here for the first time. I’ve been here twice, and I think Kat (Nash) has been here more than that, so there is some familiarity when we step out on that court in the gym. It’s not quite as intimidating as if it was the first time.”