I prefer to play a game before the championship because it gets you fired up. (Fowler) has been a huge asset to us this year. She works very hard and it is exciting to have a freshman that comes to play.

The girls come out and they are excited to play. They love to be here and it shows by the way they are playing right now.

I am very pleased with how they played. We were still trying to piece together what was going to work. We weren't expecting the team to be where it is this early in the season.

The third quarter was a rough quarter, but Troy is one of the best-coached teams that we play. They never quit. An 11-point lead at halftime is nothing to them.

Yeah, definitely, we needed someone to step up and make a play and I didn't get it done. Nobody got it done and that's what happened. We threatened at times, but we didn't come up with the big hit like they did the first time they scored.

Come Christmas Eve, we usually go to my mom and dad's. Everybody brings one gift and then we play that game when we all steal it from each other. Some are really cool, others are useful and some are a bit out there.