And I miss her. Those who didn't get a chance to meet her missed their chance to meet a one-of-a-kind. They don't make them like that anymore.

We had to try to get every defensive rebound. We wanted to limit their second-chance points. At the end of the game, we wanted to stay disciplined and not run with the lead.

No one really gave us much of a chance. But it's been a magical season thus far. I told my kids that they had nothing to lose.

This 16-team tournament gave us a chance. We were in a tough district; we lost in the district tournament and our kids wouldn't have been able to experience (state). But because of this, we have a second life. Hey, we're thrilled. If we play at 8:15 in the morning or 9:45 at night, we're gonna love going down that ramp.

I also thought it was important (for students) to see a black young lady achieving her goals.

That was kind of tough because my father (Raymond) taught in the schools here. She was always talking to young people about education, always counseling young people to go to school, get an education. 'Education is your ticket to anything you want to do.' That's why she paid for so many kids to go to school.