From the Northern Wyoming Daily News:
LARAMIE (AP) — The excitement was still evident, but the celebration was over.
It hadn’t been 24 hours since the University of Wyoming women’s basketball team found out it had been invited to the NCAA Tournament. But the Cowgirls showed up for practice Tuesday afternoon in the Arena-Auditorium much like they did two months ago before the start of Mountain West Conference games.
The Cowgirls casually walked down the tunnel one-by-one and in pairs for a short shoot around before the stretching exercises to prepare for what was to come.
Wyoming head coach Joe Legerski soon walked to center court, where the team stood in a circle and said, “All right ... are we ready to go today?” That was when all the similarities from past practices ended as the intensity level began to crank up to a feverish pitch. Before practice, Legerski and his staff spent the morning poring over film of the Pittsburgh Panthers. The 11th-seeded Cowgirls drew the 6th-seeded Panthers for a first-round opener on Saturday at about 2:30 p.m. in the Spokane sub-region in Albuquerque, N.M.
“While I was visiting with the media yesterday, my assistants were back in the office and immediately were trying to get film on Pittsburgh,” Legerski said. “With the power of the Internet now, film was sent across the wire, and we were able to start watching film first thing this morning. In the past, we would’ve had to wait until Wednesday, two days after selection day. It really gives us a head start on what we are trying to accomplish.”
What the coaching staff saw dictated how practice was going to unfold with an emphasis on always making shots, but with a very physical twist to the post play.
“We are just getting in the right mind-set and the right shape to play a team from the Big East,” senior forward Hanna Zavecz said. “Pittsburgh comes from a big, physical conference and we have to adapt to that. It’s not going to be the same as the Mountain West play that we are used to. In this practice, I think we adapted really well and are ready to play a more physical game in order to get the win.” During half-court scrimmages, Legerski also had assistant coach Katie Kern playing the five spot to increase the level of pushing, shoving and toughness forced onto the players.
“It was much more intense than how we played from a couple of months ago till now with more focus on the inside post,” senior forward Justyna Podziemska said.
“We know it is going to be really physical and since it is the tournament, a lot of the pushing around may not get the calls. We have to get adjusted to that in practice so it is not a surprise to us come Saturday.”
Legerski added: “What we saw with Pittsburgh is that they are very strong inside. (Marcedes) Walker (6-3 senior center) is a tremendous player that will definitely have our focus. We started with small steps with implementing what we want to get done. More importantly, we tried to make sure how we wanted to attack and to keep everyone sharp this time of year.
“Today was a very spirited, competitive practice, which we talked about what was needed at this time.
“All teams in the NCAA Tournament are used to winning, are talented and it will take all 40 minutes. We understand that being an 11th seed, we are not the favorite going in. We are really going to have to step up our level of play and execute on both ends at a high level.”
Another emphasis throughout the bruising session was making every shot.
During five-player weave drills up and down the court, Legerski was saying over and over, “make every shot, focus, make shots, make layins.” After a missed shot during a scrimmage, he stopped the action and said emphatically, “It is no longer just good enough to get the ball to the rim.
“You have to take it upon yourself to score.” After practice, Legerski explained the emphasis of making every shot in practice.
“Sometimes when we first start a game, we miss some easy shots, which has a great deal of where the focus is at. I think you can set the tone in practice that every shot is important,” he said. “We also just needed the effort and for it to continue throughout the practice.”
With about 10 minutes left on the practice clock, senior guard Jodi Bolerjack let a high-arching rainmaker from well beyond the 3-point arc drain through the net to the ooohhhs and aaahhhs of the rest of the players. Legerski, grinning from ear to ear and stretching his arms out, looked at Bolerjack as if to say, that’s what I’m talking about. Instead, he said contentedly, “I think we will end it right here.”
“There is a lot of emotion flying around in here and so much excitement,” Zavecz said.
“Everyone wants to get out and play. We have only one chance to do this. It has taken our seniors our whole college careers to get to this point and we want to make the most of it.”
LARAMIE (AP) — The excitement was still evident, but the celebration was over.
It hadn’t been 24 hours since the University of Wyoming women’s basketball team found out it had been invited to the NCAA Tournament. But the Cowgirls showed up for practice Tuesday afternoon in the Arena-Auditorium much like they did two months ago before the start of Mountain West Conference games.
The Cowgirls casually walked down the tunnel one-by-one and in pairs for a short shoot around before the stretching exercises to prepare for what was to come.
Wyoming head coach Joe Legerski soon walked to center court, where the team stood in a circle and said, “All right ... are we ready to go today?” That was when all the similarities from past practices ended as the intensity level began to crank up to a feverish pitch. Before practice, Legerski and his staff spent the morning poring over film of the Pittsburgh Panthers. The 11th-seeded Cowgirls drew the 6th-seeded Panthers for a first-round opener on Saturday at about 2:30 p.m. in the Spokane sub-region in Albuquerque, N.M.
“While I was visiting with the media yesterday, my assistants were back in the office and immediately were trying to get film on Pittsburgh,” Legerski said. “With the power of the Internet now, film was sent across the wire, and we were able to start watching film first thing this morning. In the past, we would’ve had to wait until Wednesday, two days after selection day. It really gives us a head start on what we are trying to accomplish.”
What the coaching staff saw dictated how practice was going to unfold with an emphasis on always making shots, but with a very physical twist to the post play.
“We are just getting in the right mind-set and the right shape to play a team from the Big East,” senior forward Hanna Zavecz said. “Pittsburgh comes from a big, physical conference and we have to adapt to that. It’s not going to be the same as the Mountain West play that we are used to. In this practice, I think we adapted really well and are ready to play a more physical game in order to get the win.” During half-court scrimmages, Legerski also had assistant coach Katie Kern playing the five spot to increase the level of pushing, shoving and toughness forced onto the players.
“It was much more intense than how we played from a couple of months ago till now with more focus on the inside post,” senior forward Justyna Podziemska said.
“We know it is going to be really physical and since it is the tournament, a lot of the pushing around may not get the calls. We have to get adjusted to that in practice so it is not a surprise to us come Saturday.”
Legerski added: “What we saw with Pittsburgh is that they are very strong inside. (Marcedes) Walker (6-3 senior center) is a tremendous player that will definitely have our focus. We started with small steps with implementing what we want to get done. More importantly, we tried to make sure how we wanted to attack and to keep everyone sharp this time of year.
“Today was a very spirited, competitive practice, which we talked about what was needed at this time.
“All teams in the NCAA Tournament are used to winning, are talented and it will take all 40 minutes. We understand that being an 11th seed, we are not the favorite going in. We are really going to have to step up our level of play and execute on both ends at a high level.”
Another emphasis throughout the bruising session was making every shot.
During five-player weave drills up and down the court, Legerski was saying over and over, “make every shot, focus, make shots, make layins.” After a missed shot during a scrimmage, he stopped the action and said emphatically, “It is no longer just good enough to get the ball to the rim.
“You have to take it upon yourself to score.” After practice, Legerski explained the emphasis of making every shot in practice.
“Sometimes when we first start a game, we miss some easy shots, which has a great deal of where the focus is at. I think you can set the tone in practice that every shot is important,” he said. “We also just needed the effort and for it to continue throughout the practice.”
With about 10 minutes left on the practice clock, senior guard Jodi Bolerjack let a high-arching rainmaker from well beyond the 3-point arc drain through the net to the ooohhhs and aaahhhs of the rest of the players. Legerski, grinning from ear to ear and stretching his arms out, looked at Bolerjack as if to say, that’s what I’m talking about. Instead, he said contentedly, “I think we will end it right here.”
“There is a lot of emotion flying around in here and so much excitement,” Zavecz said.
“Everyone wants to get out and play. We have only one chance to do this. It has taken our seniors our whole college careers to get to this point and we want to make the most of it.”
