March 22, 2009

 

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SEATTLE - Sophomore center Ta'Shia Phillips set new school NCAA Tournament records for points, rebounds and field goals with 24, 18 and 11 respectively but it was not enough as the No. 5 seeded Xavier University women's basketball team dropped a 74-59 decision to No. 12 Gonzaga on Saturday evening in first round action of the 2009 Division I Women's Basketball Championship at Bank of America Arena in Seattle, Wash. With the loss, the Musketeers conclude the season with a 25-7 record, while the Zags improve to 27-6.

Two other Musketeers tallied double-digit scoring as senior Tudy Reed and junior Dee Dee Jernigan both scored 10 points in the contest. Reed also collected nine rebounds and two assists on the night. As a team, the Musketeers out-rebounded the Zags, 47-37.

Xavier trailed by three points at the break but the Zags were able to build the lead to 11 points, 58-47, with 8:10 remaining. The Musketeers would not lie down though and cut the lead to three points, 60-57, on the strength of a 6-0 spurt over the next 3:50. Ta'Shia Phillips buried four free throws and April Phillips converted on a driving layup during the stretch.

However, the Zags scored the next six points to effectively put the game away.

The Musketeers stumbled out of the gate and trailed 9-2 after Courtney Vandersloot buried a pull up jumper at the 16-minute mark. XU started the game just 1-of-9 from the floor but quickly got things turned around and mounted a 7-0 run over the next 3:50 to knot the game up at nine.

Xavier would tie the score twice more in the first half but was unable to get over the hump. XU trailed by five points, 29-24, when Heather Bowman scored her fourth consecutive point with under a minute to go but Tudy Reed pulled XU to within three-points, 29-26, after she converted on a layup with 20-seconds left.

Ta'Shia Phillips led the way for XU with 12 points and 10 rebounds. She registered her 15th double-double of the season with 1:40 remaining in the first half.

2009 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship

Bank of America Arena; Seattle, Wash.; Mar. 21

First Round – Game 2 Gonzaga vs. Xavier

Post-Game Quotes

Xavier Interview Room

 

Head Coach Kevin McGuff

 

General Statement: “Give Gonzaga credit - they played an excellent game.  I am disappointed for our players.  I do not think that we played to our capability.  I am really disappointed for our seniors because they have done so much for our program and this is not the way we wanted them to go out. ”

 

On the difficulty of stopping Gonzaga’s offense: “They played at a great pace.  They were really aggressive and they moved the ball very well.  I will take some credit for what we did not do because our kids worked very hard in practice and I thought that I really let us down in terms of our preparation.  Much of that has to do with Gonzaga playing very well tonight and partly because we did not play as well defensively.”

 

On the decision behind not playing Amber Harris: “She has been doing a great job in rehab and I thought she was at 90 to 95 percent, but I didn’t think that she was quite there in terms of me putting her in a position to be successful.  I wanted to make sure that I did the right thing for her and I think that not playing her was the right decision.”

 

On attributing the poor shooting to Gonzaga’s defense or Xavier’s offense: “They did a great job mixing up their defenses and keeping us off balance.  I thought that we got enough good shots but we didn’t make them.  It was also problematic that those missed shots led to a lot of transition opportunities for Gonzaga.  We needed to make more shots to win, but our misses also put them in a good position to score in transition.”

 

On your feeling when you got the lead down to three: “I felt like we had great momentum and we were really moving the ball at that time and getting good shots.  As we moved the ball more we also seemed to get more offensive rebounds.  But Gonzaga hit some big shots to stop our momentum.  Again it was a combination of us breaking down and Gonzaga taking advantage and making big shots.”

 

On if this game will scar or be beneficial to players next year: “The fortunate thing about players is that they tend to have short memories.  It is the coaches who are usually scarred and we have a lot of great talented kids in our program and they really want to succeed at a high level.  I am very optimistic that we will have another great off-season and be an even better team as we approach next year. 

 

 

 

Senior Guard Tudy Reed

 

On how difficult it was to get momentum with Gonzaga’s offense clicking the way it was: “It was pretty difficult.  We had a slow start and we just never really buckled down on defense.”

 

On the factor of the large Gonzaga crowd: “The crowd didn’t cause us problems.  We played plenty of games on the road and won so it was not really a factor in this game.”

 

On when this will sink in: “On the five hour plane ride back to Cincinnati.”

 

Sophomore Center Ta’Shia Phillips

 

On if she could have brought Xavier back in the second half: “It really doesn’t matter what I do as an individual because this is a team.  It really doesn’t matter how I rebound or score because this is a team effort.”

 

On what she told her teammates to try to rally everyone together late:  “The key at the end of the game was to keep the momentum going.  We kept getting great shots all night, they just were not falling.  We just had to keep taking those shots and getting stops at the end of the game.”

 

On how this game will serve as motivation for next year: “It will be the exact same thing that happened last year.  It will serve as motivation to do better and be a better team next year.  As you can see we are a much better team this year than we were last year.  Next year we are almost the same team we were this year except for our two special seniors, Tudy [Reed] and Jerri [Taylor], so we will come out and do our best, again.”

 

Junior Guard Dee Dee Jernigan

 

On the loss: “Disappointed.  We practiced hard, we played hard. We didn’t have enough fire power.  They came out and executed.  They played well—their post played well, their point guard played well, as we scouted.  I’m just disappointed.  We were prepared, we were more than prepared.”

 

On factors that decided the game: “They made more shots.”

 

On Gonzaga: “They’re a good team—a very good team.  I see why they won the [WCC].  They play hard, they play together, they executed well, they know who to go to, they know the scorers, they know the playmakers.  Number twenty-one [Courtney Vandersloot] made a lot of plays tonight.”

 

On where to look from here: “For the seniors, it’s their last game, but we just need to get back in the gym and keep working hard, working out, staying in shape, and getting ready for next year.”

 

 

Sophomore Guard Special Jennings

 

On the loss: “Upsetting.  Very upsetting.  We worked very hard and we just couldn’t pull it off.”

 

On the play of Gonzaga’s Courtney Vandersloot: “She’s a very good runner of their team.  I have to give credit to her, she’s a good player and her team does a good job of playing off of her.  They’re going to be hard to beat, they’re a good team.”

 

On the play of Ta’Shia Phillips: “Ta’Shia just plays hard, no matter what.  She comes out and gives 100 percent effort like she did today.  Things didn’t always go our way, but she kept her head in, to play hard, continued to work for rebounds, worked for space to get the ball in the post.  She did a great job.”