March 21, 2008

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Albuquerque, NM- - The NCAA tournament is into full swing for the Fresno State women's basketball team. The Bulldogs and held an open practice to the public and met the media on Friday in preparation for Saturday afternoon's game. Tip off for Saturday's game is at 11 a.m. pacific time and it can be seen on ESPN 2 and heard live on 790 ESPN Radio, the Deuce.

Below are quotes from Jaleesa Ross, Tierre Wilson, Erica Henry and Adrian Wiggins at the press conference.

Friday Practice Quotes
Fresno State Head Coach: Adrian Wiggins
Opening Statement: "Thank you for having us here and for coming. We are very excited. There are a lot of new things going on for us in our program, it's something that we've been able to take in and enjoy. We've had a chance to get acclimated a little bit and just continue to work on things that we feel are going to be important. We are playing a great basketball team and a great conference and we are just looking forward to it.

Can you speak to playing in the altitude and how that might help a little bit?
"Well we felt like we might have an advantage having played here a lot of the last few weeks. But really it's a little higher and we are trying to catch our breath yesterday. I was trying to catch my breath. It's a challenge but I think it's something everyone has to go through. We are just trying to stay hydrated and be prepared."

Because they only go seven deep, does it change how you try to attack them and what you have to do?

"They have a good seven deep. Ideally you would like to get someone tired. But I don't know if you can get them tired. No it won't change our philosophy. I don't think we can take advantage of any depth situation like that. They are an extremely physical basketball team and that is the challenge is just to try to match that.

Everyone seems like they are taking everything in, is that kind of what you want is for everyone to enjoy the moment? We hear a lot of "we are happy to be here" but I know you want to win as well. Is there a point where you start going okay guys lets focus on the task at hand?

"Yeah, we are pretty much business as usual. You get used to the battle and the approach to the game. Obviously there are some extra things going on that make it very special. They are enjoying, we're enjoying, but we are going to play the best we possibly can. At the end of the day in basketball you need to get rebounds, you need to get good shots."

Coach, can you kind of assess what you've seen from Baylor, inside and outside, their balance?

"Yeah, you know, there are many times I've been watching the film this week where I stopped and asked my wife to come in and I go `look, look how good they are, how big she is, she's strong.' No, they are good, they are well coached and I knew that. I've been tracking them all year with the top 25 and I know they can play. Basically, out challenge, I don't think, I think it is pretty simple. You need to limit them on their second chance shots. They are very, very aggressive. They have a couple of players who can really create off the dribble. Their inside game is really long, a lot longer than we are. We are very short. So we have our hands cut out for us their. "

Can you talk about what happened since the 0-6 start, what changed for you guys?

"There was just a lot of things, you couldn't really pinpoint on just one thing. We stared off playing really great competition. If you look at Cal, Utah, Oklahoma State they are all doing really well this year. We had nine players who were new to division one, a lot of things they had to learn, including on staff. I had to learn what can we do and what we cannot do. We tried to be real aggressive at first and do a lot of pressing and tracking. That didn't fly so well either. But when you try to press the Mountain West player of the year you might not have much luck on that. I thought we had a lot of practice. The reality was that we just got better. I think in this game you get better or worse on a daily basis. We got better as the time went on and eventually it translated into wins."

Everybody is new to it, but with three freshman starters do you worry about them in particular having a wide eyed look?

"You know not really. They are kind of an odd group. If they are nervous that's fine. I expect that our seniors will be nervous. As far as their play, they will be ready to play. They are pretty laid back freshmen. They have a lot of game experience, this is another new experience for them. They don't get to high or low about anything and that's unique for freshmen. I don't think they know any better, they barely know what state we are in. They're learning."

Friday Practice Quotes
Fresno State Players:
Tierre Wilson
Jaleesa Ross
Erica Henry

Can you talk about the atmosphere or experience so far for you?

Tierre: "It has been fun so far. We are really excited to be here. We know we have to take care of business too, but at the same time I am sure we are nervous and it is going to take a lot to get those jitters out, but other than that we are excited. It feels good to be here. "

Erica: "Everyone is pretty excited, everyone is real nervous. That is common for most players to be nervous in the NCAA Tournament, especially if you have never been here before. We are just going to go out and give it our all, and hopefully it comes out for the best." Jaleesa: "I'm just excited and ready to play."

Is there a point where you say `Yeah, we're soaking up the atmosphere', but come game time this is our mission?

Tierre: "I think when we step on the court, a lot of people are still going to be in awe. I know I will, definitely. I think that once the game starts going, it could take five minutes, ten minutes before we finally say `Hey, we're here, let's play.' I think the seniors will definitely have to control the atmosphere, tell everybody to pull together, say `Hey let's get it done, let's have fun', and the coached will help that too."

Talk about Baylor's inside game, Danielle Wilson and Rachel Allison, what do you see from their post play from the film you have watched?

Erica: "Actually I haven't looked at film just yet, but looking at their stats, obviously great players. Big, strong players, which is something we are going to have to focus on and play really play defense hard against. I don't really know much yet, but I intend on watching film today."

Your teams started off 0-6, what changed for you guys to allow you to get on the run that you are on now?

Tierre: "Just having confidence, being able to have the heart to go out there and keep playing. During that stretch when we started winning, we had to sit down and deadly thank the coaches because it started with them still believing in us. They could have given up on us, but they didn't. We knew we had a good team, we just had to start get a rhythm going and we started doing that. After Christmas break, going 3-0, then after that going 5-0, then hitting conference and going on 9-0 down the stretch. Just finding the rhythm and having the coaches still have confidence in us."

Jaleesa: "It is definitely big for anybody to make some shots, just to get up and going, get the jitters out and everybody can start playing their games."

You haven't played a team like Baylor since about the beginning of the season (Arizona State) what is different about your team now that has led you to believe that you can play with this kind of team?

Erica: "Once we started getting our rhythm down, I believe that we had a chance to play with them a little better. We know exactly what we can and can't do on offense and on defense. We know our rhythm and we are pretty much just going out there and giving it our all and playing to the best of our ability."