(Raap) is an extremely hard person to guard. She's so athletic and strong that she makes it so you can't guard her with one person. You have to guard her with two or three people, so someone is always open and that opens you up to offensive rebounds as well. |
(The Falcons have) done a good job of really being physical and limiting us offensively. Every shot Cassidy was taking she had two people on her making sure it was a tough shot. We needed other people to step up. |
Cass did a nice job being patient and getting the ball to the right people in the right spots. Early on her shot wasn't falling, but she found other ways to contribute and by the end they couldn't stop her. |
I don't think we came out 100 percent ready to play the second half. With our lead, we probably relaxed just a bit. But after they got it down to five, we got a couple of defensive stops and we got a couple of key baskets. You consider our youth (four seniors, five freshmen), and this was definitely a learning experience. |
It was a long week (in Arizona) but the girls didn't have any trouble getting excited about this game. We knew it would be a tough game, and the kids got back to playing better defense. |
It's been a grind. We're trying to work on things, and it's especially important for us because we've got kids who haven't played much together. But we're definitely getting some things accomplished. |
Kayla is an incredible athlete. I can't say enough about her talent. There are times when we just can't defend her, but at least she made tough shots. She worked for it. |
We knew this would be a big challenge, probably the big challenge of the season. That's why I'm so proud of their effort. The home team had a lot of intensity, but we came out and set the tone with our defense and got through a tough, tough game. |
You need to make sure you're sending the right messages to the kids. No. 1, the season is not over. No. 2, we're a good team. No. 3, our most important basketball is ahead of us. |