Quotes

Feb. 23, 2005

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Kansas Head Coach Bonnie Henrickson
On the game:
“I was happy with our ability to close the gap in the first half. We got off to such a poor start and struggled defensively. We tried to change some things in our half-court man defense. We were a little more passive than we normally are. In the post, we just didn’t come up and take away the high-post jumper. We gave them too many uncontested shots. We played Texas Tech that way, but the plan wasn’t to play Baylor that way. We were too hesitant guarding them tonight. We got some great minutes from Sharita (Smith) and Jamie Boyd to close the gap. Give them (Baylor) credit for coming out after halftime and getting some separation. We battled back in the second half and did a good job. Their uncontested shots and put-backs hurt us. We must have made six different defensive adjustments on how we were going to guard the post. I thought we executed and adjusted well, but they took advantage of our mistakes. They hit some tough shots too. I am proud of our team for answering. We didn’t have enough to finish the game, but I am proud of our effort on both ends of the court.”

On Aquanita Burras:
“If it wasn’t for her, the game would have been kind of ugly for us. I thought she was aggressive. The looks she was getting in the second half weren’t as clean as her looks in the first half. It was a tremendous effort by her. She created some offense from her defense. She did a great job in her last game at home. We are proud of her and excited for her.”

On the upcoming games:
“Even though we didn’t come out on the right end as far as the scoreboard goes, there are some things that we will be able to build on and gain some momentum from. We have done a good job mixing up our defenses and executing well. With what we have staring us in the face with Kansas State and Iowa State, we are going to have to be able to mix up our defenses. As a group, we have been able to identify that a loss isn’t what we want, but we can gain some confidence from what we did do well. We have been able to answer runs when we need to in games. We need that confidence going into Kansas State and Iowa State.”

On the crowd:
“We really appreciated the crowd tonight. We are happy they were here for the seniors and the program. We look forward to `bigger and better’ next year — bigger crowds and a better team.”

Senior Guard Blair Waltz
On the game:
“It still hasn’t hit me that this was my last game (in Allen Fieldhouse). I don’t think it will hit me for quite some time. It was a great game and we made a great comeback after we were down by 18. I was happy for Aquanita (Burras). She had an incredible game and played so well. She did great.”

Senior Guard Aquanita Burras
On the game:
“We know that we can keep up with good teams, but we have to make sure that we set the tone at the beginning of the game. We let them
(Baylor) score at will in transition, but then we buckled down defensively. Baylor had 13 points off our turnovers and we have to stop that.”

On Baylor’s run at the start of the second half:
“It was probably a little bit of a lack of focus on our part. We may have been a little bit tired, but that is no excuse for their run.”

Junior Guard Erica Hallman
On playing Kansas State:
“We played K-State pretty well the first time we played them this season. We are a much better team than we were the first time we played them. We are looking forward to it. We are going to go out and practicing and come in with a game plan and execute it. Hopefully we can come away with a win. We are going to go in feeling pretty confident.”

On Aquanita Burras:
“She brought her `A’ game tonight. She pretty much carried us on her shoulders in the first half. She was hot when she came out tonight. She played an excellent game on both ends of the floor.”

Baylor Head Coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson
On Kansas’ zone defense:
“The biggest surprise of the night was their (Kansas) zone defense. I don’t know if I have seen any film where they have played any zone this year. I haven’t seen all of the games they have played but when I think of Kansas and Bonnie (Henrickson), I don’t think of a zone defensive team. I thought the box and one in the zone was very effective for a little while. We didn’t get any post touches in spurts when they went to their zone.”

On Aquanita Burras:
“What a way for her to go out on Senior Night. Other than the loss, I am sure she will have fond memories of her senior night. She was very good. We put a lot of different players on her and she really lit us up. I am just glad we had a little bit more production offensively than they did because she was special tonight.”

On comparing this Kansas team to last season’s:
“Marian Washington is a legend here. What happens when you have a new staff is that you get a renewed sense of enthusiasm and energy from your players. I feel like, from an outsider looking in, that is what Bonnie is getting. She is getting effort, they are executing offenses and they are really exploiting each player’s individual strength. She’s to be commended for the job that she has done in a short period of time.”

On Baylor:
“I am very proud of my team. We understand that we are playing for a Big 12 Championship. We understand that when you go on the road in this league, you are going to go against players that know that Baylor is doing pretty well this year, so let’s knock them off.”

Senior Forward Steffanie Blackmon
On playing down low:
“I think it’s hard inside every night. When they went to zone we couldn’t get much movement going. They did a real good job making sure we didn’t get the ball (down low).”

Junior Forward Sophia Young
On guarding Crystal Kemp:
“I didn’t think we had any game plan, we just shut her down. Steffanie did a really good job on her, I thought. We just tried to play a basic defense. Crystal Kemp is a very good player and she has very good post moves but I guess Steffanie did a better job tonight.”

On Kansas’ comeback:
“I didn’t think we had them (Kansas) put away early because this is the Big 12 and everybody’s coming out. The minute you slack off is when the other team will make a run.”