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Regional Semifinal Game No. 1 Quotes
Saturday, March 27, 2010

****Baylor 77, Tennessee 62****

Baylor Head Coach Kim Mulkey

Did you talk to Brittney (Griner) about being more aggressive between today's game and the Georgetown game?
Let me address that. Today, you saw Pat Summitt play defense the way defense is supposed to be played. She didn't try to undercut a player and all of that. 6-6 and 6-8 athletes playing hard and it was a good basketball game, and when you have defense like that it allows (Brittney) Griner to be a good basketball player where she can move.

You look at the Georgetown game and teams that are smaller, they are underneath her laying a body on her. To me, the difference in Griner being back to the Griner of old was size on size down low. Not that the other teams are wrong in what they are doing, but if you clean that stuff early, you won't have all of that underneath her body and waste area.

I have talked to Brittney ever since the incident about going back to being Brittney. The incident is old news and it will always follow her. She can't help what you guy's write about her, but what you guys can write about is a watching a phenom out here playing above the rim. That is what needs to be written about from this day forward because she is a sweet child as you see.

You have seen a lot of great performances in big game, what did you think about the decision making of Brittney Griner?
She is what we all envisioned she would be for Baylor, but also women's basketball. She is a once in a lifetime player. As proud as I am of Brittney Griner, I can't tell you how proud I am of (Kimetria) Hayden, (Terran) Condrey and Jordan Madden. I thought we had a group of young ladies that played to each other's strengths today. With Hayden and Madden, when I put them on the floor we were able to push the ball up the floor and create off the dribble. When I had (Shanay) Washington and I had Melissa Jones and Terran Condrey on the floor, I was able to play kids that liked the half court game better and able to execute better. All of them on the defensive end of the floor, and then Morghan Medlock gives you a double-double in the biggest game of her career. I thought defense was a big key for us and when you can hold a Pat Summitt team that has that much talent to 30 something percent from the field, you are working extremely hard on the defensive end of the floor.

What was the major thing you took out of the first matchup with Tennessee into today's game?
There are too many to tell you. That was our first game, and we didn't know how to attack a zone defense. We didn't have freshmen that were confident enough to pull the trigger and make a perimeter shot. We didn't know how to execute anything offensively. If you know we are that bad on offense, that the only thing keeping us in the game in that point was our defense. If nothing else, you are going to give us effort on the defensive end, but we weren't very good in that game. You allow these young ladies to grow and gain experience because I have said all along the talent is here. It is just a matter of time before they are all on the same page.

Different players have to step up during the tournament. Talk about the play of Terran Condrey.
Terran Condrey did step up. (Jordan) Madden hadn't been on the floor much since her knee injury against Iowa State in Big 12 play and she was huge. (Kimetria) Hayden penetrated the zone when they were in the man and making the passes needed. Terran Condrey did what she does every day in practice. Terran is the best jump shot shooter. She can just nail it. What happens to her is that she just doesn't talk. What has kept her from progressing is communicating while on the floor. She has to open her mouth when she is on the floor and point your finger and guard people. I thought for her size in the second half she did as good of a job as anybody on guarding (Angie) Bjorklund. Every shot she took, Terran was right there in her face.

How did your team halt the momentum of the crowd?
Speaking of crowd, let me say that we need fans in the stands on Monday. I know all these people from Knoxville are going to leave and all the fans from Baylor would probably do the same thing. We need people in the Memphis area to come to the game on Monday. Come see Brittney Griner dunk in pregame warm-up, and we need fans in the stands. It is television game, and you can root for who you want to root for, but please come to the game.

Going back to your comment, I felt like I called the timeout because we needed to stop momentum right there. The crowd is not a factor because we play in a conference that draws more fans than any other conference in the country. The crowd was never even discussed in our film room. You are so attuned to what you are doing on the floor that you don't even hear the crowd. The thing that was most impressive was the color. You see that, but you don't hear it.

You had a nice conversation with an official. Can you pass on what you were saying?
It was the intensity of coaching; I was just fighting for my kid out there. It is like any coach, whether or not I am right or wrong, it was a moment to get up there and let those kids know I am in to it. Coaches don't ever think they are wrong and officials are certainly never wrong. It was intensity of the moment. I am coaching against Pat Summitt, so do you think anything I say matters?

Your team hit 18 of 19 free throws down the stretch. Is this a sign that your team has grown up?
Absolutely, we were rattled as was Tennessee. It was a game of runs and rattles I guess you could say. There were moments that we got rattled, but we just made enough plays at the right time of the game on both the offensive and defensive ends. As I told Pat (Summitt) after the game, Pat is a legend in the game, and we want our program where Pat's program has been and will continue to be. She is just class. I go back a ways with Pat. I can name many people who go back to many battles with her. I watched how she handled defeats to Louisiana Tech when I was a player. I watched how she handled victories when I was a player. I have watched her from a distance, and she is one of the classiest people in how she treats me or any other people she goes way back with. I just like how she treats me and the program. While she is as competitive and as hard noised as they get, you have to take satisfaction from winning today for these kids up here. I don't take any satisfaction in beating Pat Summitt today. Pat is our John Wooden.

Baylor Freshman Center Brittney Griner
You seemed to be a lot more aggressive in today's game as opposed to Georgetown. Did you make the conscious effort to be more active?
I knew I had to come out and play my game and go back to the old Brittney. Watching film helped me a lot. I could see my mistakes from when first played them (Tennessee).

Last time out, early in the second half you got four fouls and weren't as effective. This game, you had three fouls and 10 blocks. How important was it to stay out of foul trouble?
I can't help my team sitting on the bench, so I knew I had to be smart on my fouls. I had to play straight up and stay on the floor to help my team.

There was a time in the second half when (Tennessee's) Taber Spani took a three-pointer from about 25 feet away. You were all the way out there contesting it, and she shot an air ball. Is it customary for you to go that far out to contest a shot?
If it means me having to go out to contest a shot or alter it to help my team, I'll go all the way to half court to do it. I just tried to make her think, 'There's a 6-8 coming at me, I need to adjust my shot,' and it pretty much worked.

How excited are you to go to the Elite Eight?
I'm really excited. I'm just taking in every moment, trying to stay focused on the game and at the same time take in everything that's happening. This is just really special.

Baylor Senior Forward Morghan Medlock

Since you're the senior, I'm going to ask you this: Elite Eight, how does it feel?
I can't believe it. I'm just really excited that to get to the Elite Eight, we had to go through the best team in this region. I'm really excited. I'm going to enjoy the moment for the rest of the night and get back to work tomorrow.

How big were (sophomore) Terran Condrey's three-pointers in the first half?
They were huge. I was actually surprised T shot it, we tell her every game, 'T, you have to shoot the ball, they're never going to come out of that zone if we don't start hitting perimeter shots', and she just got a little excited today and shot it and she came up huge for us.

Tennessee had gone up five and you went on a 21-1 run late. Did you feel like that started on the defensive end, or what was the difference?
It definitely started on defense. Melissa Jones and Terran Condrey really played the Baylor lock-down defense on Angie Bjorklund and Shekinna Stricklen. Granted, they're great players and they hit some shits, but I think our defense was smothering on the perimeter, which allowed Brittney and I to be more aggressive on the inside.

Baylor Junior Guard Melissa Jones

Do you agree that Brittney (Griner) was more aggressive and assertive tonight, and is that something you guys talked about before the game?
Definitely. Brittney's been getting back in her rhythm that she used to be in. When it came down to it, in a big game against Tennessee, she's going to come out and play to the best of her ability, and that's what she did tonight.

You missed your first four or five shots. How big was that three-pointer down the stretch that gave Baylor the lead?
I had my entire team and coaching staff behind me saying, 'Keep shooting it, keep shooting, it's going to fall', so I was just doing what they said. It's good to have the comfort from everyone around you.

When they're collapsing on Brittney (Griner), how nice is it to take advantage of those situations and score?
Brittney's obviously a huge presence inside, so when she gets the ball, it's going to open things up for the rest of our team. When she's getting double or triple-teamed, that allows us to get open or attack the gaps and Brittney did a good job distributing the ball.

How excited are you guys, not only for what you're doing, but what the Baylor men's team is doing?
I don't think any of us could be happier, for the entire Baylor program. We're so happy for what the guys are doing down in Houston, and we're handling our business here. We're excited for whatever match-up we come up against.