Marquette University Athletics
Post-game Quotes
2/5/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 5, 2008
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Head Coach Terri Mitchell
Opening Statement:
"Well in sports you talk all the time how it's never over till it's over, and tonight, certainly, was a great example of that. First, I mean they were on fire, and we really talked about what we need to do as a team. What they did to us in the first half, we could turn around and do to them. So, there was no quit. It was a matter of that there was nothing I could say. It was a matter of the team deciding that they weren't going to back down. Twice they took a 19-point lead and starting the second half. I gave them the goal of cutting the lead. You can look at the lead and it can be overwhelming, or you can break it down into small parts. So, obviously the defense got us back into it, which we're always going to preach in this program. Defense is first, and if the offense isn't there, if the defense is steady, it shouldn't matter. But I'm really proud of them. No game's a "gimme" in this league. Tonight, as we heard the scores, Rutgers beat UConn, and who would have expected that with the way UConn has been playing, you just have to be ready. And we have total respect for Cincinnati. We never looked at their record, we just started off not playing well, and they took huge advantage and jumped all over us. But obviously in the second half, we regrouped and played the way Marquette knows how to play."
About attacking inside right away:
"We had this plan in the first half. When we looked at the 27 points, we had 21 in the paint. Even though they were going between their inside match up and a sagging man, they were basically just saying we're going to give you jumpers. And you still have to attack the paint in those situations. You could still have your way if you're determined by diving, filling, and getting the ball in. Even if you're not going to score on the block, the next person's going to score by the dive and the fill. So, I told the guards to penetrate. I told the post players to take their time. But definitely every timeout, Angel, I think we said about getting the ball inside. And we wanted to challenge, and go up.
About Cincinnati's first-half shooting:
We gave them the shooting chart and said that everything's come from the outside. We were totally out of position. We were doubling inside. We were in the paint on the weak side, so we readjusted them. We split the court in half, we talked about ball line. Where we are. We adjusted and took them a few more steps out. We needed to get our hands up and contest. We were dragging. I thought our pressure was outstanding in the second half with all of the turnovers we caused.
About the play of Angel Robinson:
Angel is a lead and Angel has so many abilities. We are really just letting her take over the team when she needs to and take some of the pressure off Krystal. Krystal is under an amazing amount of pressure right now and Krystal is playing her best when it is shared. Angel came ready and understood the urgency of it. She knows that things get started on defense. I just loved her effort. She is going to keep building and continue to get better. We have a lot of basketball left and she is going to do great things for us.
