March 21, 2009
Head Coach Gary Blair
On being in the tournament...
"This is our sixth NCAA tournament, four with me. It's good to be back, I haven't been here [Notre Dame] since 1982-83 when I was at Louisiana Tech. We're happy to be here, we're excited to be the second seed. I think we've earned our way because of our strength of schedule, because of our two wins against Oklahoma, and how we challenge the country playing coast to coast. Our team is playing well right now."
On the necessity for leadership...
"In the NCAA tournament, talent does not win for you. Basketball players and senior leadership will win for you. This is something we implore to our older kids everyday, to lead by example, to lead by your words, even though you're not a verbal person, but find a way to lead."
On playing Evansville...
"We need to give respect to our opponent, particularly with the run they've made in the Missouri Valley Tournament. This is not just some up and coming team, they've won 21 ballgames last year. I do know the coach very well and for a first year coach to get here to the NCAA tournament, she's done a great job."
On the logic behind the lunchbox mentality...
"This season is long, it's become a long season for women's college basketball. Coaches don't have another life, this is what we do 24/7, 12 months a year. How many games do we need to play to get a champion? The lunch pale mentality started from the idea that we have everything now, the per diem, the scholarship, everything you could want. It's so much easier to be an athlete that we forget about those who are losing their jobs that carry a lunch pale to work everyday. Because now, you don't appreciate what hard work is all about, yes it's a game that we're playing, but it's what we love to do. I wanted to get that back into our team. And I wanted to get our kids, whether it was a little hokey or not, it worked. And it's continued to work because we practice very well, and the games are a lot easier than practice. I wanted the kids to understand that life is precious, jobs are precious and the scholarships at this level are very precious. And to live each day like you never know if it's going to be your last. It's work, W-O-R-K. We're going to try out work the other teams."
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On the seniors style...
"This is a very quiet group of seniors. They lead through example and through their play."
On what it would mean for the program to advance past the first round...
"I never like to get past one more game. There are a lot of great teams. We have to overcome some of things that happened to us at the Big 12 tournament on how we didn't finish Baylor off. We have to figure out those things before we even think about the Connecticuts and the Tennessees and the Dukes of the world. There's a pretty good field here [at Notre Dame] and this field is so much harder than what we had last year."
On the Notre Dame home court advantage...
"This will be harder for us here. We are not the favorite here. When you're on somebody else's field, throw the seeds out. Notre Dame is the favorite because they have the home site and we have the seed. Would I rather be in College Station right now as the seventh seed? You're right. "
On the team preparing for the game tomorrow...
"I like what I've seen, but you have to forget about the Big 12 and you have to think about the competition that's here. Evansville knows how to win and they have an excellent coach. We will play them like we would play Minnesota or Notre Dame. We will give them the respect that they've earned and we will go out after them and hopefully we can get off to a good start."
Danielle Gant, Sr., G/F
On being the favorite at the site...
"Everyone is after us, but even though we are the two seed, we can't take anything for granted. It is March Madness, and everyone is hungry. We can't just go out and think that just because we are the number two seed, we are going to win the game."
On winning more games in the tournament then last season...
"Everyone's goal is to win the championship, but our goal is to go a step further. If we go a step further, it means we have done our jobs in practice and have come to work extra hard. We won't be satisfied going just one more round, but I think it will give the coaches a lot of respect knowing that we did advance to another level."
Takia Starks, Sr., G
On not looking past Evansville...
"I've been watching a lot of men's NCAA games, and I'm seeing a lot of games where the two seed is playing the fifteen seed, and the fifteen seed is playing them really close. That alone tells you that every team is coming to play, and anybody can win on any given night. You always have to be ready to play."
On Evansville's strengths...
"Just watching film on them, we saw that they have a couple of great shooters. They can get out on a break if you let them and get easy baskets. They have height inside as well, so we are going to have to play aggressive, not passive and timid, and definitely battle inside. They are a solid team, and we just have to go out tomorrow and carry out our game plan."
La Toya Micheaux, Sr., C
On preparing for the matchup against Evansville...
"We're just doing the same thing that we always do, watching film and taking games one by one. We haven't changed anything other than just trying to play hard. As seniors we are trying to lead and have the rest of the team follow. Of course we want to get back to where we did last year (Elite Eight), but that year is over and we are trying to make our own statement this year."
On coach Gary Blair motivating the team by bringing in lunch boxes...
"When we first came in and saw the lunch boxes, the team didn't understand what that meant. Now I believe the team realizes what coach (Blair) was trying to say, and that's that we go to work every day, just like everyone else does. We have the 'lunch pail' mentality now, and every day we take them to practice and back to the locker room. We're going to work, and that's what we're here to do, to be student-athletes and win championships."
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