It's been key for us all year to score early and get our kids going. Last year you could tell in the locker room we were kind of looking around, not sure what to do. This year we're more confident.

The kids that came off the bench gave us a spark. Lauren Hare defensively, she got us a few big tips. Right when they were starting to make a run, she'd get a hand on the ball, a steal, and I think that was pretty big.

It's tough facing a run-and-jump (press) from so many kids. Their depth smoked us.

The show's put us over the top. And the biggest thing is educating them on what we do and who we are as athletes. That's huge. It breaks down a lot of misconceptions people have about us mixed martial artists that fight in a cage.

This is only going to give us potentially a really, really good run.

For a lot of these guys, that light doesn't go on until they leave college. For some kids' cases, it's too late. For other kids' cases, it happens in the nick of time. As a coach, you have to able to adapt, trust these guys even though sometimes they don't trust you. I know it sounds crazy having said that, but I love my job.