> So when the HR person was pushing me, of course I instinctively wanted to just answer and move it along.

When she said "she couldn't move forward with the interview until she had realistic answers to those questions" I would have responded with "realistic answers to those questions are" and then made up the numbers I wanted them to be. So if for example you would have been happy with $80K, name $80-$100K your expected salary range (since they WILL offer you the floor of your expected range). Basically they are asking you to pick a number that's in their salary band range, and if it's in the upper end of that range you need to qualify it in some way with your skills and experience justifying being above average.

If their salary range is $50-$70K for example, then by naming such a high price you are pricing yourself out of that job and that's probably a good thing.