Postgame Quotes
March 4, 2009
Kansas Postgame Quotes
Kansas 69, Baylor 45
March 4, 2009
Kansas head coach Bonnie Henrickson
On senior day:
“It was a great day for our four seniors. They deserve this win.”
On the team’s overall performance:
“We had great emotion and great energy. I felt that the difference was defensively to start the game. We felt that it would be important for us to be solid and make them uncomfortable, make them rush and try to set the tempo defensively. I thought that our half court offensive execution was as good as we have done all year. Danielle (McCray) got great looks and knocked them down and we as a staff felt like it would be important for Krysten to step up, and she was very productive which we needed from her.”
On whether or not this is the best win of her career:
“It is a great win. I just thought that the kids were ready to play. We had great offensive and defensive execution. We said when we went into the locker room at halftime that is the number six team in the country and they have two or three punches in them and we have to be able to answer a run. I thought that we played a little soft at times. This is great momentum at the end of the year and it just feels good to be playing well.”
Junior guard Danielle McCray
On tonight’s performance:
“It felt great. I don’t have any words for it. It’s a great feeling right now and I’m so happy.”
On the first half:
“I think I just came out prepared tonight and I think I haven’t been prepared for how teams are going to guard me in the past. I had the hot hand tonight and everything was going in. I wasn’t going to stop shooting it. My teammates did a good job of finding me and I credit them for that. I kept my focus and didn’t let myself get too antsy.”
Sophomore center Krysten Boogaard
On the team’s confidence:
“The win gives us great confidence going to Iowa State. We just have to keep our heads down and keep going.”
On playing Baylor tonight:
“Even without Danielle Wilson they are still a good team. We knew we needed more emphasis on the post.”
On how the game would be different with Danielle Wilson:
“I think it would have changed the game a lot. She’s a good post player.”
Senior guard Katie Smith
On Coach Katie O’Connor:
“I just have so much respect for her as a coach. She’s one of the most amazing people I know. Just looking at her and seeing how far we’ve come the past four years with each other made me choke up a little.”
On a favorite memory from her career:
“Every year there seems to be one or two games that I’ll never forget. I’ll never forget beating Texas. Beating Kansas State at home is always a fun one. We’ve never played this well against Baylor in my four years here, and the fact that we just beat them as much as we did just goes to show how far this program has come. We have the best coaches in America. They are the hardest working coaches and we have good players too. They’re playing really well in March which is what we need.”
Senior guard Ivana Catic
On tonight’s game:
“I could not expect anything more. The way our team came out today it felt like everyone was playing for the seniors. It was a big deal to come out and beat number five Baylor and still have a chance to make the NCAA tournament. It was great to beat the fifth-ranked team in the country and play as well as we did.”
On teammate Danielle McCray:
“I knew she had it in her. She does it in practice every day. She’s the one who is in the gym every day. She deserves every little bit of credit that she gets. I’m really blessed to have her as a teammate because she does great things.”
Baylor Head Coach Kim Mulkey
On playing without forward Danielle Wilson:
“We couldn’t get to loose balls and rebound and do that kind of stuff. I think that was a big factor. But look, (Danielle) McCray is not a post player. She’s a perimeter player and she almost scored as many points as our whole team did. I’m disappointed that a couple of our players did not put forth the energy when the game started. It takes energy and effort to win on the road and I didn’t think we got it from some of our players when the game started. And consequently, we got behind and we played catch-up.”
On Danielle McCray:
“I haven’t seen her a whole lot. I thought she was very good. Sometimes a kid gets the hot-hand and even if you guard her well, you have to live with that. I just don’t want to take anything away from Kansas. Those kids played hard, they played well and they’re playing well. I want to make sure that all the credit goes to them. I think Bonnie uses her (McCray) well. She comes off of a lot screens and that’s difficult to guard. She’s playing very confident. She can shoot the perimeter shot and she can take you off the dribble. She’s got good size for a perimeter player.”
On Kansas:
“I think everything (Kansas did) disrupted us tonight. I think they’re playing very well.”
On the message to her team after the loss:
“(I’m saying) nothing. I’m getting on the bus and getting on the plane and going home. Sometimes less is more. The less I say, the more effective I will be.”
*Baylor elected to not have any student-athletes field questions from the media following the game.
