Postgame Quotes
Nov. 22, 2009
Kansas Postgame Quotes
Kansas 77, Michigan 66
November 22, 2009
Kansas Head Coach Bonnie Henrickson
On the game:
“It was a great response from us. At about the 10:00 minute mark when Sade takes over, makes it to the free throw line, takes it from 3 to 7, and then hits tough jumpers. We refer to Sade and Danielle as batman and robin. Robin was pretty good today. We’re just happy for her and happy for us that she could step up with some poise. Danielle didn’t make shots but she played her tail off. She played hard, just kind of got herself a little rushed and shot faking. One time there was no one around her and I told her, ‘You’re shot faking air. If there’s nobody around you just go ahead and shoot it.’ To give her credit she tried to go get a different shot. A couple times they brought help early and to give them credit defensively, I thought Hollins and Hicks were fantastic. For how hard those kids played for that long, I thought that was pretty impressive and will really help them along the course of the year. I thought Caroline’s minutes in the first half were big, and Monica Engleman’s minutes were big. LaChelda let us get Angel settled down a little bit because she got herself rattled, and then Nicolette was solid. You have to have that. Aisha struggled, athough it looks like she had a double-double, she wasn’t herself and she wasn’t as productive as she normally is and can be. But, that’s what it takes to win, our kids buckled down and finished.”
On Michigan slowing the game down:
“We didn’t get much in transition, we executed at times, but we got real sloppy and all the hand off stuff between Angel and Danielle was just sloppy. We started throwing bounce passes and they were over the top of us. We didn’t read. They played our plays really well and tried to screen different angles, and we didn’t recognize pressure on the cut where the pass should go and we threw it a couple times, gave up some lay ups in transition. I thought defensively they played good scouting report defense and obviously I though they were aggressive in passing defense as well.”
On the team when Danielle is not playing well:
“It speaks to Sade’s confidence to step up and play. I think where we’ve grown is we don’t panic when she struggle’s. We just used to panic so much when she would have a game like today, and we don’t anymore. Everybody still plays, and that’s what I thought Sade did at the end of last year. There was such a spotlight on Danielle, and rightfully so, but I still have said I think a lot of people have lost how good she was at the end of that run. She was good, if Danielle struggled, not that she did much, but Sade was solid at the end of last year and I think that’s what she looked like today. “
Kansas senior Danielle McCray
On her first half struggles:
“Everyone stepped up tonight and did something different. Sade (Morris) did a good job leading the way in scoring. On the defensive end, I think we all got defensive stops. Certain shots weren’t falling, but we just needed to get the stops on the other end and keep going at it. We did a good job of that. Everyone is going to struggle at some point, but a good team finds another way. Someone else will step up.”
Senior Sade Morris
On improving as a team:
“I think this year we are growing as a team. If someone struggles, different people can step up and make big plays. Nicollete (Smith) played great minutes for us. Carolyn (Davis) played great minutes and LaChelda (Jacobs) and Monica (Engelman) also played great minutes for us. That’s what needs to happen when someone struggles, especially someone who scores most of the points.”
On having over 1,000 career points:
“I knew I had to step up and play as a senior. This wasn’t a game we were willing to lose. In order to keep that from happening, we had to get stops and somebody had to score. I just care about winning and doing the best we can as a team, so if I don’t score that doesn’t bother me. As long as we’re winning, I’m happy.”
Freshman Carolyn Davis
On the transition from high school to college:
“It’s a big transition as far as competition goes. Most of us were stars at our high school, so we worked hard but it wasn’t as difficult for us to score. Here, it’s a faster pace and the competition is bigger and stronger.”
On her overall performance:
“When she (Head Coach Bonnie Henrickson) first told me I was going in, she told me to stay focused and not to be nervous. Of course, I was nervous, but when I got out there, I was focused to help my team stay in the game. I just cleared my head and went out there and played.”
Michigan head coach Kevin Borseth
On Kansas as a team:
“They are very polished and well organized. They are a good team. They are like a Big Ten opponent. They are similar to what we’ll face in our conference. They are a very good team.”
On forcing Kansas into playing a half court offense:
“We’re able to run, but we were trying to get it into a half court offense. Four (Danielle McCray) is really a separator. You have to spend a lot of time concentrating on her. She only scored 11 points, but had six offensive rebounds. We spent a lot of effort on her. 20 (Sade Morris) stepped up and hit a lot of shots. We struggled with that ball screen up top all game. We watched the Iowa State game from last year and the game against Kansas State and saw how they covered it and shame on me; I should have paid more attention to it. That balls screen on top just killed us.”
