Romeo	Jeffery	Laudermill
----------------------------- 1 2 total Minnesota (NR) 28 22 50 NEBRASKA (23) 32 42 74 -----------------------------

Connie Yori

Opening Statement "Obviously a really good win for us beating an upper tier team. We played really well on both ends. We played our defensive game plan to a "T" and offensively our shot-making was as good as its been since we lost Rachel (Theriot). We looked like a team that on offense we could finally play without Rachel. Our ball movement was really, really good and it always helps when you make a couple shots, especially from the three-point line. Our seniors across the board were locked in and committed to playing a great game. I'm just really happy for them. Does this put us in the NCAA tournament? I'm sure that question will be asked. I'm not on the selection committee but I can't imagine a team with 20 wins and 10 wins in this league that that win didn't put us in. There are a lot of reasons this was a really good win for us."

On what was important defending against Amanda Zahui B. "Don't let her catch the ball. I've never seen anyone score a basket that doesn't have the ball in their hands. If you don't let her catch it, you don't have to worry about it. I thought we played smart. You're going to give up some shots when you do that, Shae Kelley hit some shots. We provided help off of her and some other kids, but you're going to give something up. We held a team a team to 50 points who was averaging 70 to 75 points in conference. You play percentages and we did a good job on her and it was a collective effort on her. We don't have the size to play her in a one on one setting. Allie (Havers) primarily guarded her with a lot of help coming. Their job is to make it hard to catch it and so was everyone elses.

On the player's focus on defense "We've done this before. This wasn't the first time we have played a really good post player before. We have seen over the years, this senior class, has seen a lot of good post players over the years they have been here and we haven't had a post who could guard them alone. There were times where we singled the post out of necessity and we have grown into a team that has to help on the post because we have had to. Are seniors get it and they know how far they can go and sometimes they make mistakes. Sometimes they get a little too far and sometimes they don't get far enough to help but overall they have a good idea of what their athletic ability allows them to do. This is something we have done for a long time and its nothing new. There are certain teams where you have to do it and certain teams we can single on the post, but there's just not that many. I wish we had a five that could just guard somebody on the post but we just don't, so you have to take your chances at times.

On preparing for Senior Day "I think they're mature enough to handle that. I think they know that there's a lot more to play for. I'm just glad that it's senior day and hopefully they'll never have to play at PBA again. Had we not won one of our last three games we might have had to play at PBA again and that's not necessarily a good thing. I think our seniors will be great. They are a mature group and they'll handle it well. They have a lot if fun, but know when to settle down and focus on the task at hand."

On the crowd "Our crowd was great. It was an 8 o'clock game and had it been a 7 o'clock game we probably would have had 2,000 more fans there. When you get 5,300 people for an 8 p.m. game that's on TV that's a great crowd. The great thing about our crowd is I really feel like they make a difference. They sense when we need a defensive stop, or to keep the heat on."

On urgency at this point in the season "It's winding down and it becomes more urgent when you haven't put yourself into the NCAA Tournament. You look ahead and say "OK, we only have one more regular-season game," so you become that much more urgent. I think our players sense that too."

On freshman Natalie Romeo "Natalie was in the gym today after class and you know, she hasn't shot it that well recently. She's a kid that puts the work in though. She was in there working on her shot. She's the kid that works, so she deserves to make those shots. She was shooting really well in warm-ups."

Minnesota Coach Marlene Stollings

On why Nebraska had success against the zone defense "The biggest thing for us is we did not play with high enough energy and intensity. We weren't there on some of the shots and not there with a purpose of being disruptive and bothering them. I thought we gave them some really good looks, and they did a really nice job of knocking down those shots. Then at the three-point line, we were playing them way too loose--especially Natalie (Romeo). She did a very good job of knocking down those shots."

On playing NU with and without Rachel Theriot "We went through a similar situation with our Rachel, it takes a few games to really feel your way through that. I can tell tonight from watching the previous games on film, versus tonight, they were a lot more comfortable out there. They have had a couple games to feel their way through that-- I think they are playing a lot better now."

On how she felt Amanda Zahui B. played "It wasn't her best night, give credit to Nebraska, they did a good job on her defensively being physical around the basket. It by far was not her best night, I thought that they pushed her off the block too easily. She finally got going late but at that point the score had gotten out of hand."

On crowd atmosphere "Great crowd here. Things were not going well and I thought it affected us mentally--not just her. I thought that we did not do a good job of staying poised and composed in this environment. For our young ladies in particular, our newcomers, this is the first time they have played in an environment like this. So we will learn from that, but we just need to stay more composed and poised."

On if the crowd had an effect on the game "Oh absolutely. For our young ladies I did not think we handled it very well."

Emily Cady, Sr., Forward

On breaking down Minnesota's defense "We just need to work the ball. We call the inside the pulley so we just need to move the ball in and out to get our shots. I think we did a really good job moving the ball through the pulley, and I think that's how we got open shots."

On preparing to face Minnesota "We worked really hard on getting the middle of the lane open so that's how we got a lot of our shots."

On Minnesota's effort in the second half "I was just playing basketball. But I thought they fought hard and gave pretty good effort. We were just hitting shots and had the momentum."

On using this win as momentum "It felt really good. We definitely needed this one after a couple losses under our belt. We needed a win. We were not shooting so well in the last couple of games so it was nice to have that rhythm back."

On mentally preparing for senior night "I try to play every game with the same mentality. I try to not think about whether this is my last game or not. I just go out and play."

On building team chemistry without Rachel Theriot "It's definitely hard playing without her (Theriot) but we just get on the court every day for practice and learn how each other plays without her. I think our chemistry's pretty good right now."

Natalie Romeo, Fr., Guard

On stepping up as a leader "It's definitely hard but I'm trying. I usually get help from my teammates. They help me out a lot. I try to repeat what they say, just louder."