Postgame Quotes
Dec. 10, 2008
HeadCoach Bonnie Henrickson
On Western Illinois coming out strong in the second half:
“You have to give them credit out of the locker room at the half; they went on a 9-2 run. And then you have to give our kids credit because we responded with a 9-2 run of our own.”
On the Jayhawks’ great defensive play:
“I knew that it would be important for us to get out and guard. This is a team that shoots 40 percent from the three-point line. Against a team like this you have got to force tough two point baskets and at times we did and at times we did not. We gambled at passes, stared at the ball a little bit and gave up some threes, especially in the first half. We have to embrace who we are and how we are going to win and it is always going to start on the defensive end.”
On the Kansas’ stellar 3-point shooting:
“I thought that we made good pass decisions. I thought that we had a couple of opportunities in the first half to kick it out when we ran over people. WIU brought help early, they have all year and they do a good job of not giving up lay-ups.
Junior forward Danielle McCray
On playing better in the second half:
“In the first half I got in foul trouble with fouls that I shouldn’t have had. In the second half I knew that we needed to pick it up. At first we were just kind of laid back on defense and we knew we needed to take it out on them. We needed to show how much we’ve improved and what we’ve learned from last weekend’s loss.”
On halftime:
“Coach was getting on us about last weekend’s loss. Halftime wasn’t fun at all, but that’s what we needed. It showed toward the middle of the second half when we had a spark of energy.”
Sophomore forward Nicollette Smith
On Coach (Bonnie) Henrickson counting turnovers:
“She let us know after every turnover. It’s good that she made us aware because on the offensive end we need to be more aware of taking care of the ball. She gives us more of a perspective, telling us we need to take care of the ball better so we don’t get another turnover.”
On Krysten Boogaard’s return:
“Every time we have Krysten on the floor she helps so much because we feel like we need to look for her and that opens it up for us. Whenever we’re getting shots from the outside it opens up the lane for her, creating a one-on-one opportunity. She’s a great one-on-one post player.”
Sophomore center Krysten Boogaard
On the last time her injury hurt:
“It hurt last Thursday when I tried to practice. It bothered me later that night and started throbbing.”
On trying to get back to playing regularly:
“It’s hard in practice because our trainer doesn’t want me to do all the stuff that all the other players do right away, but I want to get back in there and go. I just need to take my time in practice a little bit more.”
Western Illinois Head Coach Leslie Crane
Opening Statement:
“We knew coming in that this was going to be a difficult game for us. I think our kids did a very good job. At times we played very hard, but not as efficiently as we’d like. We had a lot more defensive intensity than what we have done previously. Our kids came out and attacked the bucket and did the things necessary to put us in a good position. At the twelve minute mark we were only down five. With as young a team as I have had and the new faces we have in there, there was some good things to come out of tonight.”
On the run Kansas made in the second half:
“We had nothing to lose in this situation. We wanted to play as hard we could. I haven’t been happy with how we’ve been playing, so we’ve had some difficult practices and some things taken away so that they could appreciate what they’ve been getting. We didn’t handle the pressure at all well. When she switched to that lineup they got more pressure on our guards and we didn’t do a very good job of handling that. I think that made a big difference. They started pressuring our post players who were coming up and our post players didn’t get wide and big enough to be able to receive the ball. I think that was probably a big part of that.”
On Danielle McCray:
“We wanted to do as much as we could. You can’t take away everything. We can’t take away all aspects of the game. We try and focus in on certain aspects and we want to take away the inside game. We knew that Danielle had a good night at Marquette. Your good players are going to get their points. We tried to limit as many of her good looks that we could. We wanted to take away more things inside and I thought we clogged up the inside. We did make them shoot it over the top of us which is what we like to do. She’s a good player. She’s definitely going to do well this year, as is their whole team.”
