MARCH 16, 2012
FIRST ROUND NEWS CONFERENCE QUOTES
DAYTON – HEAD COACH JIM JABIR, ELLEEN QUEEN, CASEY NANCE, JUSTINE RATERMAN
HEAD COACH JIM JABIR
Talk about being an 11 seed incoming to Texas, probably should have been higher seed?
I’m not smart enough to know where we should be, I’m just really happy to be here. Whether we’re an 11 seed or a 6
seed, it doesn’t matter. What matters is the matchups and how you play that day. Our focus is to play as well on both
ends of the floor as we can, optimize our strengths and minimize weaknesses. Hopefully take something from Arkansas.
We’re just really happy to be here and we think we can play with Arkansas on this floor. And I say that very respectfully,
because we have a lot of respect for what they do.
Your thoughts on this senior class, they’re definitely class of firsts. What has it meant to see their growth?
When you recruit a large class like this, we recruit character integrity, effort, hard work and they have those things. But
the way they have meshed and they way they’ve adopted our philosophy of teaching has been wonderful and really
rewarding for me personally. Very time we achieved something, I’m glad to have that. When you listen to them talk,
they’re very intelligent articulate young ladies. And they have left a legacy we can build on and go forward with and I’m
very proud of them.
Talk about your relationship with Tom Collen and what role it will play?
I don’t think it will play any role. He’s a great friend, he’s influenced my coach, a lot of the high ball offense we run is
from him. Over the years it’s changed, and I think he created some of that stuff. And not only Tom, but all the coaches in
this tournament, they’re all friends and I’ve known them for a long time. It’s nice to be amongst friend, but when the
ball goes up, we’re not friends any more, and we’re just competing in a very respectful way. And actually, I coached
Nicki, his wife at Marquette, and Kelly Bond at Texas A&M, I gave her first job at Providence. So there’s a lot of
connections here.
Can you talk about being here before and playing against teams who have not?
I think sometimes that can be overblown. I think if you’re well-coached, well-prepared and you have an edge or attitude,
you can overcome. But by the same token, when we played in the conference tournament against St. Bonaventure, you
could tell we were in that game the year before. I think the experience helped us, they struggled early in that game and I
think at that stage and the magnitude of it. I think it had a direct correlation to that game at that instance. The most
nervous I am is during warm ups. Sometimes the experience factor, you’d rather have it than not, but it’s hard to tell
that it really does play a role.
Talk about the difference between last year’s NCAA Tournament and this years. Last year with Justine tearing her ACL,
this year is much different.
Last year, as she played a monster game in the championships game after blowing out her ACL in the semifinals. But as
the week went on, she was losing mobility in her knee and her knee was shutting down. I knew we weren’t going to
have her for a long period and I knew she wasn’t going to be as effective. I think with a healthy Justine, we probably beat
Penn State last year. She’s playing well, the team is playing well. I think they’re different. I like how we’re playing at the
end of the year right now, the kids are invested, they’re buying in. Practices have been amazing, I’m not having to try to
get them to work hard. They’re very locked in right now. I just think we’re eager to take the court right now and show
what we can do.
Talk about Arkansas, were there any players that concern you?
They all do. They’re very athletic. I mean, they’re going to switch screens on us and try to clog up middle, they’re going
to press us. Their athleticism and length, I think their guards are all about 5’9’’ or bigger, and we have some mighty mice
that are about 5’5’’. That will create some challenges that we’ll have to overcome. Their athleticism and their length and
their mobility is a concern that we’ll have to address.
SENIOR CENTER CASEY NANCE
Talk about the A10 Championship game and what it meant to get that win for you.
I would have to agree. Just to add onto what these girls said. Coach Jabir tells us we’re a team of firsts. Our freshman,
year first postseason win in the NIT. Our sophomore year, first team to get to the NCAA and get a win there. But that
A10 was something we’ve never been able to bring back to Dayton. So we were super focused on that going in. Just
trying to add another first.
Talk about the benefit of being to tourney before and playing against a team that hasn’t been in a while.
The lights are brighter, shots seem a little bit harder to make being on such a national level. Being here on our third
time, we definitely have an edge because we know the level of intensity it will take in order succeed. I think it’s definitely
going to help us.
Talk about the defense that you bring to your games, how are you able to keep that defensive pressure for the 40
minutes you play?
Defense is just a matter of effort. Getting that extra close out, rotating, help defense and boxing out. All that is a matter
of effort. I think when we bring effort and intensity we can either spur our offense or if our offense isn’t going we can
focus on a lot of other areas. Just if we really focus on what we’ve done well this year, our defensive intensity hopefully
can take us really far.
For the seven seniors on this team, it has been quite a journey. Talk about this program when you were recruited and
what it has evolved into.
I think that our four years have been years of progress. I think we’re really leaving a strong mark of excellence on this
program and on this school. Our freshman year to make the NIT and win there, we were so excited to be able to do that.
Our sophomore year to make the NCAA, we were so excited to do something that had never been done before. But now
getting here is great, but we’re no longer satisfied with just getting here. I think that’s truly a sign our of growth. I think
that was set up by the girls who came before us and our coaches have brought us to where we are. And we’re really just
grown a lot.
Talk about your familiarity with Arkansas
Just as far as we know about Arkansas, they’re a very well coached defensive team. They run a lot of our sets actually, so
that can help us. Just as this year our theme has been defense and defensive communication. I think that when our team
really buckles down and focuses on that, we can defend a lot of good teams. Arkansas is a great team, so I think we’re
excited to get out there and show the nation what we can do and give them a great game.
SENIOR FORWARD JUSTINE RATERMAN
On A-10 championship game and what meant to get win to get automatic bid.
It was a very emotional game going into it. That has been our goal since we got here. I think everyone came into that
game with a greater sense of urgency and sense of purpose as to why we were playing those 40 minutes. Just to be able
to get that win in such an emotional game was so great for not only our team, but our program. And then to be able to
sit that entire week knowing we were going to be in the NCAA Tournament was a great feeling.
On the benefit of having been to NCAA Tournament before.
Another thing is we’re not just happy to be here anymore. Our first couple years, getting to the NCAA Tournament was
our goal and so when we got there it was very exciting. This year is a little bit different. We have been here in the past
and we’re not done yet.
On Dayton’s defense and how the team keeps defensive intensity for 40 minutes
Our focus on defense has really been our strength this season. I know that emotionally offense can sometimes be hard if
you’re not hitting shots and things aren’t going your way. But defense is a constant that we can always control.
Therefore if we’re not scoring, but the other team’s not scoring we’re still in a good situation. So we really like to focus
mentally on getting stops especially early in the game.
Talk about program evolving to the point it is now and what seniors hope to leave
One thing that our program has always been based on before we even got here was hard work. That has really been the
cornerstone of everything that we do. The girls before us were the ones who really started that. As we came in as a
class, we took that full steam and said “that’s what we are”. As we got more talent in each of the classes following, we
were able to achieve a lot of firsts for this program. As we look back on our four years, we’re definitely really proud of
everything that we’ve accomplished as a class. We know that we’re kind of leaving a legacy to classes under us to keep
going.
SENIOR FORWARD ELLE QUEEN
A-10 championship game and what meant to get win to get automatic bid
Another part of it too was throughout the whole season our goal was to win an A-10 Championship, so this week has
kind of been about readjusting and reevaluating our goals from there because we’re happy we achieved our main goal,
but now it’s about refocusing and getting a first-round win here.
On the benefit of having been to NCAA Tournament before
The lights are always a little bit brighter when you’re at the NCAA Tournament, there’s all this security and all these nice
facilities and stuff, so there’s a little added pressure that way. Being in the tournament before helps knowing what that
feels like and what to expect. It’s always new and exciting each year, but it gives you a little bit of an edge because
you’re able to focus more on the game.
On Dayton’s defense and how the team keeps defensive intensity for 40 minutes
One thing that helps is we’re a pretty deep team, so we play a lot of people, so it’s easier to maintain that level of
intensity. And then, like you said, we like to run and the only way you can run really well is if you can get stops. We try to
keep that in mind. If we’re able to get a rebound and we’re able to push the ball faster that helps offense and when your
offense is flowing that much easier to play really good defense.
Talk about program evolving to the point it is now and what seniors hope to leave
One of the things I’m most proud of is that before I got here our school didn’t have a big identity. Now I think we can
leave here saying that in our conference we’re taken seriously. People look at us as a formidable opponent. I think that’s
something I’m really proud of. Not that they didn’t before, but I think we formed an identity for this school and for the
program as somebody that’s going to compete at the highest level. Part of that is always working hard and maintaining
that level of intensity. That’s what I’m most proud of.
Thoughts on coming to College Station
We were kind of surprised to be honest. We were talking about we could go here, we could go here…Chicago or Bowling
Green, but I didn’t even see Texas on the map. Surprises are always good, but we’re happy that it’s warm.