Kansas Postgame Quotes vs. Missouri
Feb. 25, 2006
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February 25, 2006
Head Coach Bonnie Henrickson
On the game:
“I am just so excited and proud of our kids. We told them in the huddle before overtime that we needed to take their fight away from the start. We did that by scoring on the first three possessions. Crystal (Kemp) and Erica (Hallman) both played really well. Erica started off a little slow but once she got things going did a great job. We love overtime. We are now 3-0 on the year in overtime. Kaylee (Brown) played well. We have been telling her to stay forward in her shot and she did a nice job on that today. At times she likes to fall back, but today she did a good job. We don’t win without Sharita Smith no matter what the box score says. Her defensive pressure was great today. Tiffany Brooks really hit some tough shots for them. We thought she might have a big day today because she has been playing really well of late particularly in her last three games. I felt we did a good job of defending LaToya Bond. At times this year we have really struggled defensively, but I still feel as if we can be a decent defensive team. It was an awesome atmosphere today and I have great respect for the Missouri fans who made the trip over because of their love for women’s college basketball.” <?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>
On the fouling of Missouri Forward Carlynn Savant’s that forced overtime:
“In that situation we need to play good defense without fouling. We were in the middle of switches and we had three people in the area. She (Carlynn Savant) is a smart kid and drew the contact to get to the foul line.”
Senior Forward Crystal Kemp
On the win:
“It definitely gives us a lot of momentum going in to our last home game of the season.”
On the team’s goals the rest of the season:
“We are just trying to finish as strong as we can. We are determining our own destiny right now so if we continue to work hard defensively and do well offensively we should be alright.”
On the possibility of playing in the postseason:
“Yes we do (think it’s a possibility). We have to take it a game at a time so hopefully when we play Thursday we will possibly make it to the WNIT.”
On the game:
“We were poised at the end and when it went into overtime. We knew we wanted to go out there and start off strong because we had a little momentum from fighting back strong in regulation.”
On playing Kansas State:
“It’s senior night so hopefully Erica (Hallman), Kaylee (Brown), and I can go out there and really leave it on the floor for our last home game. It would be nice to go out with a win. But being able to play at this level and be this successful as I have been is enough for me. (I think I will remember most) how the season started and just being a part of history and hopefully finishing off as strong as we started.”
On playing Missouri:
“It’s the Border Showdown and being able to be at home and have a nice crowd behind us and, just knowing we have positive momentum is good for us. We really needed this today.”
On KU’s response after Missouri’s runs:
“Usually in those situations teams get frustrated, but we’ve been in the situation plenty of times before. I think that makes us 3-0 in overtime this season. That’s something we are used to, so our poise helped us in the end.”
Senior Guard Erica Hallman
On the play of LaToya Bond:
“Sharita (Smith) played excellent defense on her. She (Sharita) made it hard for her (Bond) to catch and when she did Sharita played aggressive and challenged her shots; she just out worked her I think. When we were at Missouri she (Bond) pretty much had her way and tonight she really had to work. I think she may have gotten tired and frustrated, but that’s credit to Sharita and then the help by the rest of us if she got beat.”
On the play of Tiffany Brooks:
“She was hot tonight. She was pretty much unconscious the whole game and they pretty much went away from her in the second half, and I think that may have hurt them. She did an excellent job pretty much the whole game.”
On the play of Crystal Kemp:
“She is always our number one option, when we can get the ball in her hand. That is what we like to do. She was able to finish some shots and get some easy looks and pretty much put us up for good.”
On the crowd:
“It was a pretty good crowd. I don’t know if it was the biggest crowd. The Texas game was pretty good. Hopefully we can get more people out for the Kansas State game.”
On playing Kansas State:
“They are a good team. They really haven’t struggled that much in the conference season. I think they are top 5 (in the conference). I think it’s a winnable game if we go out there and play hard and execute Bonnie’s (Coach Henrickson’s) game plan. We just need to play to our strengths and take away their guard play and the post play inside.”
On the significance of Senior Night:
“It’s definitely a big game because we have not beaten K-State since I have been here. It would be a huge win for us on senior night. We just have to work hard and get better this week, and find a way to pull one out against Kansas State.”
On the possibility of postseason play:
“We are definitely not counting ourselves out. Anything can happen at the Big 12 Tournament. Who knows, we may be able to creep up on some people and win some games and make it to the final. So we are not going to count ourselves out. We just need to continue to work hard and be aggressive and have confidence.”
Missouri Quotes
Missouri Head Coach Cindy Stein
On the game:
“I think that this was a tough game to lose just for the fact that our kids were really battling out there. We weren’t playing extremely well, but at the same time I thought it was a hard fought ballgame on both team’s parts. You have to give Kansas a lot of credit, they put a lot of pressure on our point guards. They (Kansas) caused 18 turnovers defensively, and hats off to them for doing that. Looking back I feel like this is a game that we are going to be able to use to learn a lot of lessons. There are a lot of things that we can take from this game and get better, and right now that is what we need to do. We can’t focus on the loss, we have to focus on how this is going to make us better going into Wednesday and obviously the Big 12 Tournament.”
On LaToya Bond:
“Obviously LaToya is very instrumental in our sets because she attracts so much attention. At the same time, her not being in there in overtime, I don’t know if that was a key as much as we had some miscues on defense that can’t happen. A lot of that is that we were very tired by the time we got to overtime and we were a little down. That is when we have to be a little more energized. I thought we had some great plays on the offensive end and the defensive end throughout the game, unfortunately they weren’t enough.”
Junior Guard Tiffany Brooks
On trying to get other players involved:
“I know we have a lot of great scorers on this team other than me and my other focus was trying to get LaToya open and get others open. That was a responsibility that I looked at as an opportunity and I tried to make the best of it.”
Junior Forward EeTisha Riddle
On Crystal Kemp:
“She is a great player. We can’t really stop her, you just try to make things tough for her and try to contain everybody else. She moves her feet well, she has a soft touch and she played a great game today.”
