Kansas 71 - Creighton 68: Postgame Quotes
March 21, 2010
Recap | Final Stats | Notes |
Postgame Quotes
Kansas 71, Creighton 68
March 21, 2010
Kansas Head Coach Bonnie Henrickson
On the game:
“We got some separation in the second half by playing really well. Our first shot defense was good early. They made a run, we started to foul and they got in the bonus early.”
On freshman Carolyn Davis dealing with concussion injuries:
“I have a little bike helmet I was going to bring in for (Davis) as a joke. I don’t know what we’ll do with her. I think we will just have her bike and do shooting drills. We might ruin her if we have her practice because she’s only practiced twice in the last two weeks. We will probably keep her away from any contact except on game day.”
On Kansas’ overall play:
“Overall, I thought we were okay. I certainly didn’t think we were great. There are days where you don’t play well and you have to find a way to win. There have been games where we have not been able to do that. We’ll take credit for being able to do it, but we have to look at some situations where we’ve got to get better on the defensive end. At this time of the year, it’s the Sweet Sixteen and it’s an opportunity to play again.”
On Illinois State:
“We said last year when we went to New Mexico that if you’re going to win a championship, you should have to win one on the road. That will be our same mentality here. We recognize that they return everyone but their point guard. I have not seen them on film yet, but it’s a team that executes and plays hard. Their staff does a great job. It’s a team that we thought would be in the NCAA tournament, even after getting upset in the Missouri Valley Tournament. Also, we took them out of the semifinals of this tournament last year, so there’s a lot of drama involved before we even step on the court. We have to focus on being better on both ends of the floor.”
Senior Guard Sade Morris
On the final possession of the game:
“Yeah, I got scared. It was just scary to have turned the ball over and then you’ve got to play out. You are scrambling when she shoots it and you are hoping it does not go in, then you have to figure out how to get that rebound. I was a little late on it, but luckily, I got it.”
On what the referees were discussing at the end of the game:
“They were trying to figure out if there was any time left on the clock when they called the foul. I was hoping there wasn’t, but it was just a little time, which was good for us.”
On why KU was able to win today’s game:
“We were just able to pull this one out and finish. We messed up a little bit down the stretch, by not knowing who we were guarding or not making put-downs. We knew coming in that they could shoot the threes and that is what got them back within two with 19 seconds left. We just have to do a better job next time of making them put it down and not giving them an easy two.”
On the impact of having Carolyn Davis back on the floor today:
“It feels good to have her back. When (Krysten) Boogaard was in, she did a great job so it didn’t really feel any different because Boogaard had played well the last game and then Carolyn came in and did the same. So, you really couldn’t tell a difference with that.”
On how big the two shots were that Kelly Kohn hit:
“Those were big. For a player that doesn’t play that much, she was ready, came in and knocked them down when we needed them. That gave us great momentum and just helped cushion that lead a little bit more and that’s exactly what we needed.”
Freshman Forward Carolyn Davis
On how she will prepare physically for the next game:
“Just the same things I’ve been doing; taking care of myself, staying hydrated, staying out of the light, dark noise only. I don’t want to reinjure myself in practice or anything, so I’m trying to take it easy.”
On how the team was able to come away victorious today:
“We had to keep fighting. We couldn’t let it go. They hit a lot of big threes at the end. We could have just crumbled at that point, but we had to stay together and keep fighting. That’s what we did, and make a lot of free throws at the end.”
On how she’s feeling after suffering two concussions in the past week:
“I have a slight headache, but it’s not as bad as it’s been. I’ve just got to keep resting.”
On what the Jayhawks need to do to win against Illinois State on Thursday:
“We’ve just got to stick together. It’s a road game and road games are hard, no matter who you’re playing, so we have to come together as a team and just play hard.”
Creighton Head Coach Jim Flanery
On the play of toughness of his team:
“That’s typical of these guys. They didn’t quit. We really made Kansas earn it. There were a lot of times that we could have folded. We got off to our traditional poor start here, but not as bad as we had previously. During that one stretch if we would have hit a couple more free throws, of course they are saying that if they hit a couple they might have been able to end it a little bit quicker. We had our chances and I thought our kids competed and understood where we needed to get help from. We were definitely undersized in the post and once we got behind I think we had to commit to making ourselves harder to guard so that’s why we went small. We could have won the game. When you think about that, when for 39 minutes they kind of controlled the game to the point where it was pretty gratifying that we had an opportunity to win it.”
On the play of Kansas’ Carolyn Davis:
“They went taller and we decided to go smaller—not that Kellie (Nelson) hadn’t done what we needed her to do, but we decided that we were going to be harder to guard by going small. She’s (Davis) tough to cover. If (Krysten) Boogaard can score 37 (against Prairie View A&M) and still not get the minutes a few days later, it tells you how good that kid (Davis) is. I credit (Kansas head coach) Bonnie (Henrickson), with the injuries they’ve had, to keep the ship afloat and have those kids step up. Davis and (Monica) Engelman have done a lot for them.”
On the play of Creighton seniors Chevelle Herring and Megan Neuvirth:
“Those two showed a lot of character and heart and really competed like they have for five years. Megan (Neuvirth) didn’t play as well in the first half as we have come to expect, but she didn’t drop her head and really made a lot of plays in the second half. Chevelle (Herring) did the same thing. We kind of spread them out and she did her thing. That was fun to see. We’re disappointed that we didn’t win, but I’m happy for those two that they can hold on to the way that they competed today.”
