Postgame Quotes
Dec. 1, 2010
Recap | Final Stats | Notes |
Postgame Quotes
Kansas 126, Maine 63
December 1, 2010
Head Coach Bonnie Henrickson
Opening Statement:
“We talked a little bit about it before the game and during shoot-around today, about the opportunity to be a part of history and how much respect we have for the coaches in the past that have racked up a bunch of these wins and the players in the history of the program that have won a lot of games here, and how special it is to be a part of something historic – then at the end, to break a scoring record and tying an assist record. I thought the kids played unselfishly. I thought they played hard. We may have two bad shots in all those possessions, and I am really excited for the kids to be a part of it. They are really proud of it.”
On offensive ease:
“We just got high percentage shots. We shared the ball, we got them in transition, and we got good looks in the zone and made the most of those. I thought our kids did a nice job throughout the whole game to stay focused. We got shots in rhythm and finished shots we should make.”
On playing with a big lead:
“We talked about it when we came out of the locker room at halftime. Typically we just talk about playing zeros out of the locker room. It is zero-zero, and they got us. They might have scored as much in the first seven minutes as they did in the first half because of the three-point line. I thought we stayed aggressive. We didn’t get sloppy. We only had two turnovers in the first half, out of all those possessions, and that’s important.”
On reaching 700 wins:
“You look up in the banners, and you are a part of that. You are representing all of those. That’s what we talked about in shoot-around today. This is for everybody that has come before us, staff included, players included.”
On the play of senior center Krysten Boogaard:
“It’s great for her. She does a great job of pinning and a great job finishing in front of the rim. She gets high percentage shots. That kid works hard and takes a lot of pride in being a good low post player.”
On getting 700 at home:
“It’s good to share it with the people here. We have played a lot of games in a short period of time, and I was excited that on a Wednesday night people would come out and want to share that with us. That meant a lot to us.”
On team chemistry:
“We have talked about that as a staff and as a group. We have a group that cares about each other. They take care of each other. They have each other’s backs. That’s obvious when you watch us play with how unselfish we are, but there is even more to it than that. The bench is really good. We have a game goal to make the officials yell at us to sit down twice a game, and we get that in the first five or six minutes. They are genuinely excited about one another’s success, and that’s really unselfish.”
Freshman Guard Brooke Jelniker
On the momentum of the game:
“The (college) game is a lot faster pace coming out of high school, but I like it. Coach Henrickson had me playing the four today which helped me become comfortable giving it down low to Carolyn and Krysten. I think that we work very well together as a team, and it can only get better.”
On everyone on the team playing 20 minutes:
“I think that everyone playing 20 minutes or over will help us a lot. It will help give us some experience going into Big 12 play, and everyone knows their roles on the team, and can come into the game and contribute.”
On playing at KU:
“The tradition here is amazing – and to be part of the tradition and to be on the floor is really cool. I think our team and coaching staff as a whole deserved that.”
Senior Center Krysten Boogaard
On the game against Maine:
“It was fun, but you still have to take the game and Maine serious. You have to stay focused throughout the game, because if you lose focus that is when your opponents can make a comeback.”
On the team chemistry:
“We have great team chemistry. We all get along really well and I think that is because of our coaching staff and the great players they bring in.”
Head Coach Cindy Blodgett
On Kansas’ dominance at the start:
“Obviously we knew they were a good team coming in. They had more size than us, which was a clear advantage. With their 74 points in the paint, that is pretty tough to overcome. We didn’t help ourselves, a couple of times we didn’t box out on free throws and they scored baskets as a result. We didn’t help ourselves at all I the first half, I thought it took us 20 minutes to feel comfortable. I thought the second half, the pace was quicker which was better for them. We have to play a quicker tempo than we did in the first half. Even from a foul standpoint, that slowed the first half down. We went to the line five times, they went to the line 40 times. That’s a pretty big discrepancy.”
On Kansas’ Defense
“I would say this year, it’s the best we’ve seen. We played at West Virginia last year and at Duke the year before, certainly not our entire roster has been to each of those games, but we have been in these types of situations before. Obviously we want to play better and show more discipline in our defense and anything we did and did not do on offense.”
Guard Sheay Longstaff
On coming back to Kansas:
“It was just a good experience to be back home and watch everything. I can’t really say much about the game. I had a good fan base, I had good support from the family and friends. It felt pretty good to get on the floor, back from the knee injury and to be back in front of my family for the first time at a D-1 school is pretty nice. It shows I’ve accomplished a lot for my family, myself, and the team.
