Postgame Notes

Jan. 13, 2007

Recap | Final Stats | Notes |

Postgame Quotes
Nebraska 63, Kansas 54
January 13, 2007

Head Coach Bonnie Henrickson
On the second half momentum and defense:
“Our inability to make shots in the paint and post were offensive putbacks. If we shot 50 percent in the paint and made some free throws, then we have a chance. I thought Sharita (Smith) did a great job on Kiera Hardy and she had a couple of good looks, she was aggressive and stepped up and hit a couple of shots there. I thought we defended her (Hardy) really well for 30 minutes. She’s a great player and she got loose, got some good looks and knocked those down. Our deflection numbers, 23 in the second half and 36 for the game, give us a chance. These kids have to keep believing that if we battle and compete and fight hard, our shots are going to fall and we’ll get on the right end of one of these games.”

On Kansas’ shooting:
“I’m convinced that we go up trying to avoid a foul. We have too many people double clutching things. This is the best vertical jump team I’ve ever had. We have six kids that have over 25 inch verticals, but we jump away from people, we jump back from people, we try to jump around people. We need to just jump up, get on balance and score. We’re better than that to not be able to make a shot around the rim.”

On Danielle McCray and Taylor McIntosh:
“I thought Danielle (McCray) played well and she rebounded. She’s a big athletic kid who’s got some length to her. I thought her pursuit to the ball was good and her intensity and passing were much better. I thought she played well tonight, but she’s capable of a whole lot more. The sky is the limit for her. Taylor (McIntosh) does so many little things that impact the game and unless you watch closely, it’s hard to appreciate her impact on the game offensively and defensively, but I thought those two were solid.”

On Kelly Kohn:
“We’ve got to get her (Kelly Kohn) to calm down on her shot. She rushes things and they did a nice job switching some things. They switched a lot of screens, a lot of four and five player switches. We didn’t execute. It’s not like they switched and we couldn’t run our offense; I just thought our perimeter just wasn’t very aggressive when the big kids were guarding us on the outside and on the three. Kelly (Kohn) is aggressive and she gets some good penetration opportunities in the lane and that’s important for us. We need some other kids to be that aggressive and play with that kind of confidence.”

Freshman guard Kelly Kohn
On the game:
“There was a lot of momentum-changing plays in the game today that they (Nebraska) took advantage of and we did not. They come out and got a stop and turn around and get a three-point play and that really hurt our momentum. Game-to-game that is something that we have been struggling with and we cannot seem to come up big in the last minutes. It’s frustrating — you’re in there fighting and you can taste the win, you’re only down by a couple of points and every game we keep coming up short. It’s not like we are not fighting hard and competing, it’s just one or two game-changing plays that we do not take advantage of. We have to get a win and somehow take that and convert them into victories later on.”

On Kansas’ shooting:
“We have a lot of young players and this is a different pace for us. Sometimes I feel that we are rushing our shots and ignoring that pace that we practice.”

Freshman forward Danielle McCray
On Sharita Smith:
“She is our best defender by far. She knows her role, gets in the game and does not complain. She is the most unselfish person I know. She is a senior, and although she has not had a lot of minutes in the beginning of the season she knows what her role is; she stepped in tonight and stopped Kiera Hardy.”

On the game:
“We need to work on getting over the hump. Right now, I think our defense is there. We did a great job on (Kelsey) Griffin. We just need to be more aggressive and execute our offense.”

Nebraska Head Coach Connie Yori
On the game:
“It was a typical Big 12 game in that it was hard fought and low-scoring in this case. We expected this game to be low-scoring when you consider how well Kansas has played defense throughout the year. They don’t give up a lot of points and we knew it would be a physical, hard fought game. Bonnie and her coaching staff are doing a great job with the young players that they have in their program. I thought Sharita Smith did a good job guarding Kiera Hardy. She is the best defender they have both on and off the ball. She is an experienced player that works very hard on the defensive end. She bothered Kiera offensively, but thankfully Kiera hung in there and made some big plays in the last 10 minutes of the game.”

On Sophomore Forward Kelsey Griffin:
“Kelsey played some terrific basketball for us in the second half. We couldn’t seem to get a rebound in the first half, but in the second half Kelsey decided she wanted to get all of them for us. She did a great job in that area.

Senior Guard Kiera Hardy
On the game:
“I don’t think we like to keep it close, but those are just the situations that have been occurring lately. In the Big 12 it is tough to build big leads. We just try to stick together and make plays at the end of the game. Kansas was very aggressive defensively. They play good defense. They did a good job of scouting us and knowing what our strengths were. They play solid defense. That is just who they (Kansas) are. A win on the road is a great win. Any win in the Big 12 is good.”

On how Kansas guarded her:
“They face guarded me, but I will see that all season. You just have to keep playing. I have a great team and my teammates can make plays for us.”

Freshman Guard Yvonne Turner
On her key three-point play:
“I saw the opening and it was a close score. Anytime I see the lane open I am told by coach to take advantage of it and I did just that.”

On playing in close games:
“Both teams made runs throughout the game, but we just tried to stay focused throughout the game. One of the key attributes is that we are mentally tough.”