Huskies Set Their Sights on Stanford
Montgomery and Moore Honored
as State Farm All-Americans
TAMPA, Fla.
(April 5, 2008)
- The University of Connecticut
women's basketball team began its preparation for the 2008 Division
I NCAA Women's Final Four as the Huskies participated in a number of
events on Saturday around the city of Tampa.
The entire team was present at the State Farm/WBCA press conference
to announce both
junior
Renee Montgomery
(St. Albans, W. Va.) and freshman
Maya Moore's (Lawrenceville,
Ga.) selection to the 2008 National Collegiate Athletic
Association (NCAA) Division I State Farm Coaches' All-America
Basketball team.
Montgomery and Moore joined an elite group of athletes in women's Division I college basketball, including
Stanford's Candice Wiggins, LSU's Syliva Fowles, Maryland's Crystal
Langhorne and Kristi Toliver, North Carolina's Erlana Larkins,
Louisville's Angel McCoughtry, Tennessee's Candace Parker, and
Oklahoma's Courtney Paris.
The Huskies also took part in an autograph session outside the St.
Pete Times Forum before an open practice, new conferences and
interviews.
Head Coach Geno Auriemma was also honored in today's events as he
was named the Associated Press Coach of the year in a press
conference on Saturday afternoon.
The Huskies will open play on Sunday, April 6 against Stanford in the
NCAA National Semifinals beginning at 7:00 p.m. (ET) at the St. Pete
Times Forum in Tampa Bay, Fla.
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The Huskies signed autographs for the faithful fans
that traveled to Tampa to see the Huskies play in
their ninth Final Four. |
UConn fans gather outside of the St. Pete Times Forum
and greet the Huskies during UConn's autograph session on Saturday. |
Head Coach Geno Auriemma was honored as the
2008 Associated Press Coach of the Year during a
press conference on Saturday afternoon at the
Hyatt Regency in Tampa Fla.
News Conference
Quotes
Opening Statement:
If you're not careful when you get out to this place, it's easy to get
caught up in all the things that you have to do and all the obligations that you
have and it becomes about everything except basketball. And we're all anxious to
get through today and finish this part of it and start worrying about actually
playing the game tomorrow. And it's been a long time for us to get back here,
and for these players it's been something that they've wanted to do. Ketia,
since she was a freshman and obviously Renee for the last three years. I think
tomorrow night can't come soon enough for all of us.
On Maya Moore:
"She's just so different that it's hard to pinpoint what it is that you have
to do on a regular basis to keep the motor running. And I don't ever let kids
drive their own car, you know what I mean. I feel like I have to be there to
kind of kick the tires once in a while most every day and fool around with the
car. And with people like Diana and Svetlana and some of those guys, I knew what
I had to do to get them because I knew that they would want to punch me and it
was really cool. It was a lot of fun. It was a great way to get through the
season.
But with Maya, she just kind of looks at you and just gives
you that smile and nods her head a little bit and I just keep going. I'm
waiting for a reaction. I'm trying to get something. Because once I get a
little bit of a reaction it will give me something to go on.
Just smile and nod her head. And it bothers me because I'm
thinking: This kid is so smart. In the back of her head she's thinking: This
idiot actually thinks he has anything to do with what I'm going to do. I'm just
going to do what I'm going to do and I'm going to let him think that he does.
And she just (smiling) goes (smiling) uh‑huh, uh‑huh. And today I even tried ‑‑
what's this world coming to that a kid has to stand out there, become First Team
All‑American as a freshman WBCA and she can't put two dribbles together with her
head up. She has to constantly look down at the ball and she turned around and
looked at me and said, That's not true, and just like walked away. What are you
supposed to say to that? You're supposed to get an argument. She won't argue
with you. I can't stand her. (Laughter).
On Renee Montgomery's play:
"I've never been in a Final Four situation or had a team that was capable of
winning the national championship where you didn't have the best guard in the
country. I think that's almost impossible to do, unless you get lucky. But at
some point if you want a legitimate chance to win this thing, in my mind, the
way we play anyway, when you're getting great, great guard play and great
leadership from that position, I think everything and anything is possible.
And the last three years, 2005, 2006, 2007 after Diana
left, we didn't have that. It's no coincidence we're here and I think Renee is
as good if not better than any guard in America in every area. And maybe what
she needed to prove herself was one more player that could take some of the
pressure off of her.
It's not unlike when we had Jen Rizzotti, who I thought was
the best guard in America. But once we added ‑‑ once we surrounded her with
Rebecca and Jamelle and Kara Woelters and Carla Berube and Nykesha Sales, once
we put these people around her, it came together.
But without that person there, it's not going to happen.
And not for us, anyway. It might happen for other people. So we're here
because Renee Montgomery got us here with a lot of help.
On how she played in the last six minutes against Rutgers
on Tuesday night:
"I think it's realizing how the game is on the line, think back how hard you've
worked in the past and everything you've been through and you look at the clock
and you realize you've got this much time to get it right and win the game. I
think that's what clicks in my head. I don't think anyone wants to lose. I
think as a clique as a whole, we realize now is the time."
On being selected as an All-American:
"It's a tremendous honor. You grow up working hard to try to be all these
things, and when you actually get chosen for something of that ‑‑ something that
prestigious, it's overwhelming. It's hard to realize ‑‑ it's surreal. It's a
blessing. I'm very honored to be put in that category."
On Candice Wiggins:
"Somebody of her caliber you're not really going to stop them. You want to
try to contain them. I think as long as we can limit her open looks and make
her have to work for everything she's going to get, that would be the best we
could do. She's a tremendous player and she goes hard all the time. And I
think there's no stopping Candice Wiggins, but we want to try to contain her and
limit her touches."
On what she thinks about her first Final Four
experience:
"It's great. It took all my years in college to get here and just to know what
this team has been through, the adversity we've came through and the ups and
downs and how hard we've worked. It's exciting to be here and I can't wait to
play tomorrow."
On how the Final Four affects the team’s
mindset:
“We don’t have as much room for error now, and I think that’s made us a better
team. Hopefully staying out of foul trouble and taking care of the ball will
carry over to tomorrow. I think its making us more focused. You’ve got to
value each possession even more because you know. You’ve got to take care of
the ball because you don’t want to waste energy playing defense the whole game.
You want to take care of the ball when you’re on offense. I think it’s just
made us more focused in general.
On whether
anyone can beat UConn at their own game:
“I think that at this point, the chances of teams being able to beat you
increases. I just think that if we play UConn basketball, the things we’ve been
working on since October 15, no one should be able to. It’s who we are, it’s
something we’ve been working on so long. You have to go into the game with the
mindset that no matter what the other team does, we’re going to be able to
handle it. But Stanford has gotten a lot better, and it will be interesting
because they have improved their game a lot.
On how its feels to finally be at the
Final Four:
“It feels great. I think you have to be careful though not to be satisfied with
that though. Today is the day before the game, so we’re going to get refocused
on what our ultimate goal is. We made one of our goals, but the ultimate goal
is still out there to be achieved.”
Senior Forward Brittany Hunter
On UConn’s
team confidence heading into the Final Four:
“Definitely, I think the energy from winning games is still there. We are
moving with a lot of momentum right now. We have dealt well with the changes of
different players being out and it’s real hard to replace those players, but we
have done well with others step up.”
On keeping
focused with the charged atmosphere of the Final Four:
“I treat this like a two game series and winning both games. He [Coach Auriemma]
said just to treat it like the San Diego trip or a Virgin Island trip, you got
games to win and we’re having a lot of fun in a nice place, but at the same time
you got a game to play.”
Sophomore Forward Kaili McLaren
On her
experience of the Final Four:
“It’s been a lot of fun, but when Sunday comes its going to be a lot of fun but
its going to be a lot harder and more serious. We know we need to separate fun
and games from cracking down and being serious and I feel that our practices
have been serious. We know that we came here to play basketball and hopefully
tomorrow we will come out strong.”
On playing
Stanford a second time this season:
“We are a completely different team from the Virgin Islands, because we lost two
players. A lot of people have gone through so much through the season and have
changed and their roles have changed, but we know that if we go out and we
execute our game plan we will succeed.”
Stanford Quotes
Head Coach Tara
VanDerveer
Opening Statement:
"Our team is very excited to be here. It's been a great season, and we just
really want to keep it going for two more games. We're working very hard and we
just, I feel like we're playing well and we played great opponents to get here.
And I'm really proud of our team to this point, and we just want to continue
enjoying this wonderful opportunity."
On Sunday's match-up with Connecticut and what the keys
of the game will be:
"Well, I mean, Connecticut has a great team and a great program, and they
have ‑‑ as Candice and Kayla and Jayne talked about, they have terrific players
and they really play with a purpose.
I think they're fun to watch because they run. They really
play up tempo. They shoot the ball really well. They have an inside and
outside game. They rebound. There's really not anything they don't do.
I think, unfortunately for them, and unfortunately for us,
with the two ACLs, that affects their depth and I think it affects our depth,
too, although our injuries were earlier than theirs. But there are certain
things I think that you have to do and you have to really try. You have to
rebound well. They get a lot of second and third shots. I think you have to do
kind of what Rutgers did and get out on key players.
You can't let whether it's Renee Montgomery or Swanier or
obviously Maya Moore knock down open shots. For our team, when we played them
for the first time, we did not make open shots. And Connecticut, in November,
to me was a November machine. They played like an incredible pace and they were
way ahead of us.
And I'm really thankful for that game and our team is, too,
that by playing them I think we've really improved. We actually made some
significant changes in our offense since then and I think that our team, we
could always look at that game and just say, you know, this is how we have to
practice in order to ever play them again."
Senior Candice Wiggins
On winning the 2008 Wade Trophy this season:
"Yes, the Wade Trophy. This morning, I was very shocked and elated and so
honored to receive this award. I've been, you know, at this presentation for
three past years and great phenomenal players have received it. I think Simone
got it twice and Candace last year. And I was not expecting to ‑‑ I was just
going to sit back and just ‑‑ but to get the award it's so amazing.
I think just to have it this year, my last year with this
team, that I just so desperately love, and a coach that I just absolutely love
playing for. I think that's what makes it the most special, is because I can
share it with the team and with that experience and I'll never forget this
season."
Jayne Appel
On playing UConn in the beginning of the year and now in
the Final Four:
"I think we're playing a lot different, different pace than the beginning of
the year. I think our game against them at the beginning of the year helped us
to really realize how much work we needed to do. And it should be a good game."
On her at experience at the Final Four:
“I was just talking with one of the people on staff about how you come to the
Final Four and you get to be a celebrity for a weekend. It’s been pretty
overwhelming and it’s the first Final Four anyone on our team has been to and
probably a lot of members on the staff. It’s been exciting but I keep reminding
myself what I’m here for. We have a game tomorrow.”
On how the team has stayed focused:
“Tara (VanDerveer) is doing a really good job of keeping our bus separate from
everyone else. Our dinner times are just with the team and staff.”
On her experience at the Final Four:
“It has been like a dream come true almost. I think every person here has wanted
to get to the Final Four since they were a kid. The fact that we are here is
pretty surreal. From the beginning of the season, I knew and my team knew that
we could get here, but the fact that we are here, it’s like all of our hard work
paid off. We are not done yet.”
On what to expect from UConn in the
semifinals:
“I am going to take what the defense gives me, that’s kind of how our team
approaches things. For example, in the Cleveland State game in the first round,
they didn’t have a girl over 6-0 so we just got the ball inside to Jayne [Appel]
the whole time. Obviously, Candice [Wiggins] is Candice and she is amazing. But
if they are going to sag in on Jayne, then we need outside people to hit shots.
We’ll wait to see what UConn’s gameplan is.”
On facing UConn for the second time this
season:
“I feel like at the beginning of the season they were a lot further ahead than
we were; they were like a machine. We kind of saw what we needed to be. We knew
we had to be going at that pace. They always work really hard in games and even
with the injuries that they’ve had I feel like they’ve done a good job of
adjusting. We’ll try to take advantage of that though. We are a completely
different team as well, we’ve obviously improved. I feel like watching the game
film from earlier helps, but I feel like we’re both two completely different
teams.”
On preparing for the game and the
schedule at the Final Four:
“I feel like our schedule is constantly full with being here at the arena
preparing or soaking in the fact that we made it to the Final Four so it’s been
exciting.”
On being the first west coast team since
1997 to play at the Final Four:
“It’s cool that it’s us that’s here. I definitely think there a lot of good
teams on the west coast though. Last year, Arizona State was in the Elite Eight
and they had a good chance of making it here. I feel like teams have been on the
cusp, the west coast has been on the cusp, and we’re finally getting in. I hope
other west coast teams can do the same in the future and I know we have enough
talent to do so.”
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