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Tulsa Women Ready for First NCAA Tournament Game
3/17/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 17, 2006
Chicago, Illinois - The Tulsa women's basketball team completed its one-hour workout on the Allstate Arena floor on Friday night at 7 pm, nearly 26 hours before the Golden Hurricane will take the court for the school's first-ever NCAA Tournament Game.
Tulsa squares off against ACC power North Carolina State (19-11, 7-7 ACC) 30-minutes following the DePaul-Liberty game which starts at 7 pm on Saturday.
"I just want our players to put their best foot forward. That's what I continue to preach to our team -- to show that they left their best game on the floor between the lines tomorrow night," said Tulsa first-year Head Coach Charlene Thomas-Swinson.
As for the opponent, "We need to try to slow down North Carolina State's athleticism and slow down their ability to push the ball in transition and try to pack it in as much as possible. North Carolina State's post players do very well in the paint, which concerns me. If they do very well in the paint, it will open up opportunities in the paint," added Thomas-Swinson.
"I've been very impressed with Tulsa and (head coach) Charlene (Thomas-Swinson) has done a great job with his team," North Carolina State head coach Kay Yow said. "They seem to be very well-rounded and have good shooters and good quickness. They do a good job playing in their zone, matching up and I think that have a good blend and balance. They've won a lot of games this year of course with (Jillian) Robbins averaging a double-double, that speaks a lot for her play. I know she's had a lot of steals and she's been to the line. All of those are a good indication of what she has done."
Prior to Saturday nights practice, Tulsa players had lunch at Phil Stefani's Italian Steakhouse in downtown Chicago, then took a bus tour of some of the scenic Chicago sites on St. Patrick's Day.
Saturday's game can be seen on ESPN2, and heard locally in Tulsa on KRSC 91.3 FM Radio and online at tulsahurricane.com.
