Second Round Matchup (Monday, March 21):
No. 3 seed Texas (22-8) vs. No. 6 seed Georgia (23-9), 6 p.m. (ESPN)
Texas Head Coach Jody Conradt
Opening Statement...
"Every coach looks at their match-up and thinks they have the toughest one, but I would be hard-pressed to see a tougher match-up in the second round than Georgia presents for us. They are a very balanced team and anyone who watched yesterday's game had to be impressed with how they played. I know they thought they could have played better early, but I don't know how they could have played much better late. They were very balanced, quick, and athletic, and their inside-out game was hitting on all cylinders. I know that people probably want to talk about our first game with them, but that was all the way back to the second game of the season. I don't remember much about it except that we had a lead and we lost it. As I reviewed that tape, I was really impressed with Georgia."
On playing Georgia...
"It is definitely a pressure match-up for us. I don't think we have ever played a second- round game any tougher than this. I have a great deal of respect for (Head Coach) Andy (Landers). He is one of the good guys in our profession and he has always kept his sense of humor. There is always a laugh or two, there is always reminiscing about what our sport has gone through, and it is always good to see him."
"I know that Georgia plays in a really tough conference, and I know that we struggled some in our non-conference schedule, and I think these things go into the mix as the pairings are conceived. In some ways it is good to have some knowledge about a team, and in other ways it is difficult to prepare. There is a familiarity and there is a bit of history, but then and now is so far removed that it is hard to make a comparison. I'm going to be interested to see how these teams match-up. Tasha Humphrey and Tiffany Jackson are two of the most exciting young players in our game. I look at our guards and I think they can stack up against anybody in the country. I look at the depth that Georgia has in their guard position and that is a pretty scary thought. There is so much they can do from the guard position to complement what they have going on inside. It's going to be a challenge for us."
Texas Junior Guard Nina Norman
On the adjustments she's had to make because of the injury to her left non-shooting hand (fracture of the fifth metacarpal)...
"I've really had to work on my ball handling. I usually dribble the ball with my left hand, but now I've had to get back into a routine of dribbling the ball with my right. There is still a little pain, but I can handle it. I feel pretty good and I practiced well today.
On what the team needs to do to win their second-round game against Georgia...
"I know that I'm going to be more aggressive than I was when we played Georgia earlier this year. The first time, I didn't really play hard, so I just need to come out, be aggressive and match their intensity. In order to win, the team is going to have to play better defense. In the first game, we lost the lead in the second half, so this time we're going to have to play the entire 40 minutes. Defense always wins the game for us, so we're just going to have to buckle down and be a two-half team, not a one-half team."
On whether or not Texas looked ahead to playing Georgia in the second round...
"I've been taking it one game at a time and not looking ahead, but now that we are playing Georgia, the game we played against them earlier in the season is going to be in the back of our minds. It will be a motivation factor, and we're going to come out and play a lot harder and a lot smarter than we did the first time."
On the status of senior guard Jamie Carey (bruised jaw after collision in first half of Oral Roberts first-round game on Saturday) ...
"Jamie is just going to be her regular self. Even when she's hurt, she's not going to show it. She's ready to play and I think the entire team ready to go out there and play hard."
Sophomore Forward Tiffany Jackson
On her relationship with Georgia freshman forward Tasha Humphrey...
"Tasha (Humphrey) is a very special player and I think she is going to do great things throughout her college career. The last time we played against each other we kept going back and forth; it was like we couldn't stop each other. The thing I learned from playing against her in the first game is that she's a great competitor who doesn't quit. It was a lot of fun playing against her and I really like the match-up. Tasha and I have been playing against each other since we were in high school, so we're familiar with our match-up. My father and her mother know each other very well, because both of them coached AAU. We're going to battle during the game, but afterwards we'll still be friends."
On how the teams have changed since their first match-up against each other at the beginning of the season...
"From the beginning of the year up until now I think every team is different. No team has the same offenses and all of their defenses are better. They've had a year to prepare for anything and everything. I think our team has changed al lot since the beginning of the season. We have changed our offense a little bit and we're more aggressive on defense."
Georgia Head Coach Andy Landers
Opening Statement...
"I'm excited and I think our basketball team is excited by the idea of playing Texas again. As most of you know we played very early in the season this year and we met them at their place last year so this is the third time in two seasons that we will have played and it's just always a great game when Georgia and Texas has played. It's always been a great game and a great challenge for our basketball team and certainly that will be the case tomorrow night when we play them here. We have a lot of respect for them in so many ways. They are very athletic, shoot the ball very well, their great in transition, rebound the ball well, and aggressive defensively. They are what they are which is an excellent basketball team. They are one that challenges you and if you're a competitor that's what you want. You want to prove yourself against an excellent Texas basketball team so we're excited."
On (Texas junior G) Nina Norman...
"Nina is someone you have to respect for multiple reasons. She has a lot of quickness. She will perhaps be the quickest guard on the floor tomorrow night. Granted her left hand is injured which freed her to drive right, pick up right, and shoot against Oral Roberts in the first game. Oral Roberts allowed Norman to drive and pull jump shots from the free throw line. You have to respect her quickness; you have to respect her jump shot. You have to respect for a lot of things that she can do regardless of the injury to her hand."
On Jody Conradt...
"She epitomizes the good things for women's basketball. She is a model for the game, and a really good friend."
On how his team is different now and from when Georgia played Texas earlier in the season...
"I think now we are a more confident team and I think we are a better defensive basketball team maybe by habit now we are more aggressive. Earlier in the season we were in the beginning stages of learning to be aggressive and at that point in the season we didn't know how our freshman were going to perform. That game helped us a lot to find out how they are going to help us later in the season. With all that knowledge comes some confidence."
Georgia Freshman Center Tasha Humphrey
On the battle with Tiffany Jackson in the first game earlier in the season...
"It was just two post players going at each other. It was a war and fortunately our team came out on top and I expect the same thing if not more tomorrow."
On her history with Tiffany Jackson...
"We played together in Nike basketball camps and various tournaments. We are pretty good friends and that's the best match up because you can talk to each other after the game about who got the upper hand on who."
On the problems Tiffany Jackson presents for her inside...
"Obviously she's one, if not the top, post player in the nation. She's very athletic and has a wide array of moves that she could do down in the post. I think the biggest thing that I have to watch for is her athleticism and her ability to get open."
On the similarities between her game and Tiffany Jackson's game...
"She's more of an athletic player and I'm more of a power player. We both have that finesse about our game and we are both considered to be the go to players and we both have great surrounding teammates."
Georgia sophomore Guard Janese Hardrick
On her ankle injury (which happened in last two minutes of first-round game vs. Rice)...
"I think it's feeling pretty well considering the amount that I did on it today in practice. It's feeling as well as expected. Coach is resting me well and I think I should be good to go tomorrow."
On taking advantage of Nina Norman's injury...
"We are going to play her on her weakness. Everybody knows that her fingers are hurting her and we are going to try to play her towards that."
Sophomore Guard Cori Chambers
On the guard play from Georgia...
"I think we are pretty deep in the guard play. We have a lot of versatility. A lot of people can do a lot of different things. Sherill (Baker) is good at going to the basket, Janese (Hardrick) is good at penetrating and dishing, and I'm a shooter I guess. I think we have it all and I'm confident in everybody's abilities. Big games allow people to step up and I think everyone else steps up and plays a lot harder in big games."
On matching up earlier in the season against Texas, and then again so early in the tournament...
"You never know what you're going to get in the NCAA. There are so many different things that can happen and what happens in the regular season helps figure out the bracket and I think it's exciting that it's not in the final four. Somebody has to go and its up to us tomorrow to see who moves on."
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