USF vs FGCU
2009 WNIT- Second Round
March 22, 2009
USF Sun Dome

Head Coach Jose Fernandez

“You can tell why Coach Smesko enjoys coaching at Florida Gulf Coast ? he gets the most out of his kids. I think he does a phenomenal job. We knew what we were going to get today ? they beat Florida who is an NCAA Tournament team, they gave Florida State everything they could handle and FSU has been in the top 15 in the country all year. They beat a GW team on their home floor that is in the Atlantic-10, they're going to have a phenomenal year next year. I don't know how Karl is schedule is in the non-conference but what he runs offensively is so hard to guard, there is nobody really that we can compare to, the only team you can really compare them to might be Villanova in our league just because they can create so many matchup problems for us. This has been a tough week for our team, I tried to challenge them as much as possible, especially with some of the things I've said in the media last week. On them how is this team going to be remembered. We have 23 wins right now that is the most of any men's or women's basketball team in the history of USF basketball (Record was 22 wins prior to tonight). We found a way to win and get it done, especially in overtime.”

On Jasmine Wynne
“She is our future, to be honest with you. When you return five kids ? (Melissa) Dalembert, (Porche) Grant, (Janae) Stokes, (Allyson) Speed and her, we wanted to finish this year off with her on the floor. She is going to be the future of our basketball program in the backcourt, she is going to be a kid you hand the ball off to. She was having such a good game and down the stretch we put the ball in her hands just because she was doing such a good job of getting to the rim. I thought the key was Brittany Denson and Jessica Lawson ? they finished inside and they rebounded. We gave up 48 points in a half of basketball, we didn't give up 48 points to anyone in the BIG EAST in a half ? close to it with UConn but they've been putting up points on everybody. For them to shoot as well as they did ? they shot 62% in the first half. In that first half we switched on every screen and in the second half we played some matchup zone and then we just told our players to stay with their man and they did a better job of that but I think we definitely saw the future in Wynne and how good she is going to be. I wish we could have gotten more from some of our other players that we've gotten more from during the year but we didn't.”

On how effective the FGCU offense can be without size
“The thing is with them, you try and speed up the game with full court pressure and running and doubling but all five of their kids can handle the basketball so it is really tough to create a lot of havoc for them in the full court. Then in the half court we really don't want to change and lose our strength in our post play by sitting our two big kids just to defend them ? that is one of our strength. The only team I can really compare them to is Villanova but they're really different in what they run. With Karl's team he has five kids that can all shoot the three ? Villanova isn't like that you can run and double off a couple kids ? but he has got it going and he recruits kids to his system.”

On what he told the team at halftime
“Same thing I've been telling them all week ? we had an awful shoot around today to be honest with you. We just went back to talking about how do you want to be remembered. It would be a shame ? especially for the seniors ? to lose the last game of their collegiate basketball career at home. We just told them before the game that there are only two teams that finish with a win at the end of the year ? the national champion and the WNIT champion ? those are the only two. The kids rose to the challenge, we're not going to talk about the NCAA Tournament anymore, that is long gone, it's over with and we can't deal with that anymore, we have to move forward, let's go ahead and win this thing, move on and get ready for next year.”

On winning the WNIT
“I want it more for our players, more for them. I'm going to coach for the rest of my life, I'm going to get back to the NCAA Tournament, they're not so I want them to finish on a good note. This game I thought if we got through this game, now we're playing basketball again, everyone is in good spirits and we'll get ready for Ole Miss and Murray State. The good thing is we're at home again.”

Freshman guard Jasmine Wynne

On her career-high 26 points
“My teammates had a lot of confidence in me so that helped build mine, and it was just really how the flow of the game was going.”

“I think it means a lot to the team because the postseason is the most important part of the season ? it isn't the postseason tournament that we wanted but we want to go out there and give it our all, that is what I tried to do.”

Senior forward Jessica Lawson

On her motivation as a senior
“It is definitely a motivation ? like Jasmine said we pictured ourselves in the NCAA Tournament but as coach said at the end of the day there is only going to be two teams that win at the end of the season so we're just trying to leave with something. As a senior you never want it to be your last night so that is definitely a motivation for us seniors, we feel like this is our last chance to prove to everyone that USF has come a long way.”

On the size advantage
“I think we had a great game plan. I thought we broke down a little sometimes on defense but I definitely think we came in very focused and ready with a great game plan and it worked to our advantage.”

Senior guard Shantia Grace

On what USF did different defensively
“We just worked hard on defense ? the beginning of the game we were switching everything, the posts and guards switched but we didn't talk well enough for it to work so that is why they had wide open threes and wide open layups. In the second half we switched and stayed with our man ? we played good, hard-nosed defense which allowed us to get back in the game and win.”

FGCU Head Coach Karl Smesko

On USF taking away outside shots
“They made some adjustments through the game, they were fighting through some more screens. We weren't quite as active, they picked up the intensity so we had to screen and cut more. I thought we just got a little bit stagnant in our offense where we were standing around a little bit more. They got tougher and we needed to match it ? I just think they out toughed us in the second half.”

On the size disadvantage
“Coach Fernandez did a good job of knowing where he had his advantages and he kept going to them and kept attacking us inside. Whether they do it all the time or just in this game they really emphasized getting on the offensive glass ? they were really going in there hard and going after the ball either grabbing it and putting it in or knocking it loose and chasing it down. I thought Coach Fernandez did a really good job of taking advantage of their advantages.”

On FGCU's focus on outside shots
“That is our style of play ? we use the arc a lot, we try to spread you out and we try and drive and get to the foul line. We didn't get to the foul line very much tonight ? typically we would like to get the ball to the rim more and get to the foul line more than we got to tonight.”

On building into next year
“It is disappointing because I really believed we had a team that could win the whole thing. We knew South Florida was probably the best team in the tournament and we had to face them real early ? we knew if we could get by this one, I normally wouldn't tell a team something like that but I told our team this was the game and if we got by this one we're going to be in really good shape. Coach Fernandez did a great job especially in the second half working his advantages and making all the right adjustments. We just needed to make one more play in regulation to move on but we've been on the other side of this plenty of times where we made the right play right at the end. This team has come through so many times like they did at the end to put the game into overtime ? I'm really proud of them. There had to be 10 games this year we found a way to pull out just through mental toughness and execution ? I'm not going to worry too much about the fact that in one overtime we didn't play quite as well as we could have or should have. As for the future we don't have any seniors ? I'm hoping that this team wants to come back and is motivated to try and win this thing, I think this would be a very special banner to hang up someday if we could ever win this WNIT. We love playing South Florida but hopefully next year when they deserve to make the NCAA Tournament they're in the NCAA Tournament so we can play people who belong in the WNIT.

Forward Adrienne McNally

On building into next year
“To be honest right now it stinks ? losing stinks but at the same time you have to look at the fact we're returning everyone. If we work hard throughout the summer and come ready to play in August we can do a lot of good things next year.”

On South Florida's size and speed
“We've played big teams like Florida and George Washington ? they also had big girls so it is really not an excuse to lose.”

Forward Chelsea Lyles

On building into next year
“Losing is losing with or without seniors. I think we do have something special here ? nobody expected us to do as well as we did this year so we really just have to put this behind us in the next couple weeks and get after it again.”

On South Florida's size and speed
“This team has been up against UConn, Notre Dame ? they are one of the better teams we've played but that is no excuse, we've played Florida and George Washington who also had size and speed, so that is really no excuse.”