Natasha had been wavering the past few weeks. It didn't come as a surprise. |
Nothing was broken. Her arm got twisted a little bit when a player fell on her hand. |
Our bench made the difference, especially in the end. |
Our team defense has gotten a lot better. We've got to keep our aggression up a little longer and play a little smarter and a little more disciplined. |
Purdue plays the same style as Michigan State. They pressure the ball all over. We'll have to be ready for that. |
Right now, Washington is the best team in the country to us. |
She plays at post for them but she has the speed of a guard and she's playing with a lot of confidence. I think Danielle gets better and better every game and I think her best days are ahead of her. |
She?s a kid that wants to learn and a kid that wants to be coached. She is a coach?s dream as far as she is a sponge and wants to learn and always get better. |
Some of our better options on the floor are with the younger players. |
That was Shannon's best game of the season so far. |
That's not why we lost the game. We lost because the other team was more aggressive than us and we didn't take care of the boards. You can't win in the NCAA tournament when you don't rebound and give up points like we did. |
The difference in the game was the four and a half, five minutes going into halftime. |
The difference was how we started the second half. We came out like gangbusters, showed a lot of passion and a lot of energy out on the floor. We definitely did a better job defensively just by pressuring the basketball. |
The only thing I want to say about this game is I was extremely excited for our seniors. It's been a pleasure to coach them, and it's been a pleasure to learn from them, too. |
There was no doubt in my mind that we were going to win this basketball game. There was no doubt in my mind before the game, after yesterday's practice, after shoot-around today. We wanted this game, it didn't matter who we played, it was all about us. |