Postgame Quotes

Nov. 13, 2011

Recap | Final Stats | Notes |

Postgame Quotes
Kansas 76, Western Michigan 64
November 13, 2011

Kansas head coach Bonnie Henrickson
Opening Statement:
“When we needed some toughness, some resolve and a sense of urgency, we got it, but we needed more minutes of it. Give (Western Michigan) credit. At about the five and a half minute mark, we grow it to 10 (points) in the first half, and we needed all of those. When it got tight, Natalie Knight picked a great time to make her first shot at Kansas. Aishah’s (Sutherland) tip-in was a big momentum play. A tip-in like that and a three gives everybody a lot more bounce, but we have to play with a sense of urgency. Give them a lot of credit. I thought they played at a pace and sense of urgency in much longer stretches than we did. When we did, we turned them over, we got layups and we looked pretty good. When we didn’t, we struggled.”

On the absence of Carolyn Davis due to injury:
“I’m not going to make an excuse, but we throw it into her so much and rely on her shooting 70 percent (that) everybody feels good, and we look good. I’m not going to use that as an excuse. Injuries happen, and you have to step up and play. I thought in big moments, Tania (Jackson) gave us some important finishes and found some rhythm at the free throw line. I think from a returners’ standpoint, depending on how long Carolyn’s out, we have to look at Aishah, Monica (Engelman) and Angel (Goodrich) and know we’re going to be okay. I thought in stretches those two did some good things, but not enough for as many minutes as those two played. As many minutes as those two have had in their career, I would expect more. I thought in flashes and spurts they were okay, but consistently I didn’t think they gave us what they should be able to. I thought Angel did. She probably pressed a little bit early, threw a couple that maybe Carolyn would catch and Bunny (Williams) can’t catch right now, but I thought for the most part, she still made good decisions, attacked and was aggressive.”

On how she assessed the team’s defensive performance:
“It’s always important, and I think it will be more important for us to create offense from our defense and turn people over. Our steal numbers are decent. Our turnover numbers were disappointing. There were certainly some defensive breakdowns. There is no doubt about that. When we were good, we turned them over and we had opportunities.”

On the Creighton Bluejays:
“What is very consistent about who they’ve always been is three-ball, three-ball, three-ball, penetrate, kick. Their style defensively is completely different. It is press. On a make, on a deadball, it’s going to be pressure the whole way because they’re not as big and dominating inside. They still can space you and knock down threes. That’s just who they’ve always been. Defensively, it feels and looks completely different. They’ll double (in the post). If Tania gets it, they’re going to send everybody. You have to be able to make a play out of it. Any post that catches it, they’re going to go double.”

On when Carolyn Davis might return:
“That’s not for sure (that she will miss the Creighton game). She’ll see the doctor tomorrow and re-evaluate. Like I said, it’s day by day. We knew right away she wouldn’t play today. Moving forward, it’s going to be just how she feels, see what the X-ray’s like and see what the doctor says.”

Sophomore forward Tania Jackson
On the physical play of the game:
“We just need to throw a punch back. All we have to do is be physical. I don’t think it affected us that much. I just think we need to be more physical and throw a punch back. We can’t just sit down when they get aggressive with us. That’s one thing we’re going to practice.”

On the effect of Carolyn Davis sitting out with a stress fracture in her right foot:
“I think Angel (Goodrich) is used to throwing those high passes (to Carolyn) and Carolyn is just so long that she just finishes around the rim. Her (usually) finishing those easy lay-ups and getting those easy points was a factor as to why we didn’t get (as many points) in transition today.”

On playing more minutes than usually:
“It feels good. Anyway that I can help my team out is a good feeling to have. I didn’t try to be Carolyn (Davis) or do what she does (as) the five. I just tried to play my game and contribute in any way that I could.”

On improving in transition:
“We just need to keep playing our game. They were a quick team just like us and they ran races with us. That’s one reason why we struggled. I haven’t really seen any clips of Creighton (Kansas’ next opponent). Last year I felt like we did a good job of getting transition points on Creighton so it’s nothing to worry about.”

Junior guard Angel Goodrich
On the game overall:
“It shouldn’t have been that close. There were spurts where we did really well and then there were spurts where we kind of laid off. We can’t do that with a good team. We just can’t allow that to happen. We have to put our foot down and continue to grow the lead as we go and we can’t let them come back. I think we did that today. We let up and they came back and they were just going and going.”

On Natalie Knight’s critical three-pointer late in second half:
“I think she kept her composure late. I saw her in the corner and I knew she was looking for the ball. She had her hands up, was ready for it and she knocked it down.”

On if she was surprised Knight made that critical three:
“I know she can hit it and she knows she can hit it. At that time, it was the right time, and she knocked it down. In practice, she does the same thing. She could be 0-for-4 or 5, but she still knocks it down. She knows she can make that shot.”

On upcoming game vs. Creighton:
“Creighton is a shooting team so we need to be able to contain and not let them shoot a three.”

Western Michigan head coach Tasha McDowell
On the key factors of the contest:
“I think the biggest difference was in the free throws. They had 37 opportunities and we had 13. And I think that is the biggest difference in the game because of the 13 we got we only made 50 percent and they shot well from the line. Give credit to Kansas, they attacked the basket well in the half-court and in transition and defensively we gave up too many free-throw opportunities.”

On her team’s performance:
“We did a nice job in spurts. With seven freshmen playing tonight we did a nice job getting our offense in tempo; and defensively we did a really nice job against different looks in spite of the score. I thought our freshmen were composed and poised and we got some solid leadership from our upperclassmen. Unfortunately, we didn’t shoot the ball very well from the free-throw line and we gave up too many turnovers. But our team battled, coming back from being down by 13 to trailing by only three. That says a lot about the character of our team.”

On playing in Allen Fieldhouse:
“It was a great environment and one of the better environments we will play in but I don’t think our kids we intimidated; I thought we played well but we just didn’t take care of all the details we need to in order to win a game on the road against a Big 12 opponent.”

On the absence of Carolyn Davis:
“They had players step up without Carolyn Davis in the lineup. They got a fairly even distribution in scoring. I thought they did a nice job in stepping up their guard play and even their post play with one of their best players being out.”