Marquette University Athletics
Postgame Quotes
3/21/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 21, 2011
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -
Final Score: No. 1 Tennessee 79, No. 8 Marquette 70
NO. 8 SEED MARQUETTE GOLDEN EAGLES POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Terri Mitchell
(Opening Statement): "We left nothing for chance. We fought with all our hearts. It hurts so much. I told our players that you want it to hurt because the day that it doesn't hurt means you haven't given it your all. And when it does hurt, that means you're laying a foundation in your life that you will know that no matter what you face, you will be a fighter and you will overcome. It's emotional because I am so blessed to coach this team and to coach this group of women and these seniors. They brought the program back to where it belongs. What I told the underclassmen is that the biggest gift they can give to seniors is to make sure we're right back in the NCAA Tournament where this program belongs every year.
"It was a great game. Tennessee's every bit the number one seed that they are. I think that we showed that we were more than capable and that we belonged. We're fighters."
(On Tennessee's start and calling an early timeout): "What happened was that they scored on quick, open looks, and then we took quick shots. (I told them) `No, we're not going to do that any more because that's what gets us in trouble.' I told them you get into the game on defense. That has to be your focus. Get your stops and your offense will come. If you think the opposite way and you're focused on your offense and you miss shots, you'll be jogging back on defense. That whole timeout was about defense. The only thing I said about offense was to make them work because we weren't. We were taking quick shots and missing. They were going the other way and we started 0-for-5. It was a settle-down-I-believe-in-you-we're-fine timeout. I'm glad I called it quick, and I thought it was good just to get them used to the crowd noise and everything else. After that, I think we were fine."
(On Tennessee's points off turnovers): "I felt like us having 11 turnovers was really good for us, if you've seen some of our stats. I think that's a good day. You're right. We gave those opportunities. We possessed the ball. They took it out and scored right back at us. In a game when you're playing a number one seed on their home court, any number of those things can add up. When you look at a nine-point game, you can look at turnovers, their offensive boards -- the second chances were pretty even. I guess you can say that made a difference. I don't know. That didn't jump out at me as much. I thought we had some open looks that we missed. I wasn't even looking at that stat."
(On the comeback in the second half): "That stretch was about making stops. We threw in some random traps. We started switching, doing a little more doubling inside, we got some stops and we pushed it. We were better when we were pushing it and attacking. In that stretch, we were much more attacking. We weren't tentative. We got the stops that we needed to and went right back at them. When someone has a 12-point lead, you can tell them get back on your heels, but I preached that our defense had to go up a whole other level, and we did. We've been in this situation so many times. Unfortunately this year we're used to being down. It's not same old, same old, but it kind of is. I talked to them, they got better and they came back. We made it very entertaining for the crowd."
(On team's performance Monday): "We 100 percent respect what Tennessee has done this year. We also come from a league that has very much trained us up to play in these kinds of games and made us tougher emotionally, physically and mentally. We're ready for it. This isn't the first good team we've played. You can talk statistics and all that and look at how we're outmatched, but what they don't know is the hearts of our players. That's why I can go into that game and believe. The desire they have to do whatever it takes to win a game, that's why I can walk on that court confident because I know who they are as women and where they've brought this program back to. They believe with all their hearts to believe that. We came up short, but you know what? We left nothing for chance. We can leave here with our heads held high, knowing we did everything we could to win."
(On the difference between Marquette now and in December in loss against Connecticut): "That was in December. That was early on when you're still finding yourself. You're still figuring out what you're made of. I don't think any Tennessee fans will be scared. That was in December and we were a whole lot different. You want to be different. We started that game very poorly. They grew that lead and then we played them even, but that doesn't mean a whole lot when you start poorly. The biggest growth that we made is to stop those things quicker. It's going to be a wonderful tournament. Whoever is in that Final Four and that national championship game, that's women's basketball. It's March. It's the best thing going on right now. I'm a big fan of the game and I'm going to be watching and cheering for it all."
Senior guard Tatiyiana McMorris
(On what Tennessee did to adjust to her 3-point shooting): "Tennessee is a great defensive team. I got hot, and they started guarding me closer. I couldn't get those other looks that I had before. I give all the credit to them. They played great defense."
Senior guard Angel Robinson
(On the discussion during the early timeout after a slow start to begin the game): "Our main focus going into this game was to not let them get open looks because the teams we watched them play against in the past, a lot of their points were from miscommunication on defense and they were shooting wide-open shots. That's exactly what they did at the start of the game. That's why coach called timeout to just refocus us and get back to the game plan for us to make our run.
(On feeling like momentum was going the team's way in the second half): "Of course. There were two good teams out there on the floor, and good teams make runs. We were back and forth with making our runs. We stopped them and they stopped us. The outcome is who scores the most points. Everybody up here said we left everything out there. We played until the buzzer buzzed. It is what it is."
Senior forward Paige Fiedorowicz
(On the performance of the seniors in their last game): "Our team, we come ready every game. We pour our hearts out there. We put everything we have into it. It's just another game. Every game, we approach the same. We come into every game focused with hard work, and it was no different tonight."
