Kentucky Head Coach Mickie DeMoss
?We are coming off of a great win at Old Dominion. It is certainly not an easy place to play. I am very pleased about the performance. We got back on the winning track and out of that shooting slump we had against Indiana. Now we are moving forward and headed to San Francisco to play in a tournament out there. We face a very, very solid team in Delaware that has made it to the WNIT the last four years. They have all of their starters back from last year and have a transfer player from the University of Maryland that is putting up big numbers for them. It will be a challenge for us in that first game.?
On how the team responded after losing to Indiana?
?After the Indiana game, we had a very challenging week of practice just trying to work on pressure situations and game situations. We focused on knocking shots down, executing and just taking one possession at a time. I thought that they really stepped up at Old Dominion on Saturday.?
On the progress of sophomore forward Jenn?e Jackson?
?She [Jenne] is progressing. She and Lydia Watkins right now are the first post players off the bench with Eleia Roddy injured. I put them in and see who is ready to play that day. I thought that at Old Dominion, Lydia really stepped up as a freshman. She ended up with 11 rebounds and really did some key things for us on the defensive end. Lydia and Jenn?e right now are just fighting for those minutes and I have been pleased with the way both of them have been working in practice.?
On the difference between the ODU game and the Indiana game?
?I just felt like we handled game situations better. It was a close game and we just seemed to be much more poised down the stretch than we were against Indiana. Sometimes being on the road ? they [Old Dominion] are the ones with the pressure on them. They had about 4,000 people there and we were the ones knocking down key shots when we had to have shots. We were able to knock down shots in pressure situations and that was the difference.?
On the importance of long pre-conference trips?
?I think they are extremely important. When you go on the road ? particularly to the West coast ? we?ve just got each other. It gives the players some time to just be with each other and get to know one another on a personal level. It is just a good time, particularly for the young players, to grow up.?
On the importance of winning at Old Dominion?
?It did wonders for our confidence. I think we started the Old Dominion game offensively, just a tad gun-shy. But the encouraging thing is that we were playing hard on the defensive end and still pounding the boards. We are doing the things that we can control every night and that gives us a chance to win the game. In the second half, we shot 65 percent and to see us come back and knock shots down did wonders for our confidence.?
