Quotes
Dec. 30, 2005
Recap | Final Stats | Notes | Photo Gallery
Postgame Quotes
Kansas 75, La Salle 72
December 30, 2005
Head Coach Bonnie Henrickson
On history making 11-0 Record:
“It sounded a little bit too good to be true about twenty minutes ago, but great energy from the crowd helped our kids come back. I’m just excited to be a part of history here and try to share it with these kids.”
On Erica Hallman’s game-winning shot:
“Erica Hallman owed us a game-winner tonight! She is a kid who isn’t afraid to take it or not afraid to cross and get set for her look. Her patience and intensity on both shots she made at the end isn’t the same as the first 25 to 30 minutes. That’s a kid who has confidence, should have confidence and knows that her teammates and coaches do.”
On first Big 12 Conference game vs. Texas:
“We will start with the same team that we started with last year and know that we have a chance to play them at home this year. They’ve got speed, size and athleticism, and we’ve got some time to get ready and prepare and we’ll need that.”
Senior Guard Erica Hallman
On her three point shot to tie the game:
“I just let it go. It was the same play that we ran against Wisconsin. I got open on a screen and I took it (the shot), no hesitation.”
On struggling to make her shots early in the game:
“It (struggling to make her shots) didn’t get to me mentally. Early in the game, I was frustrated when I missed two or three in a row, but I didn’t play much in the first half. (In the second half,) I came in and was aggressive and got to the rim a few times. Then it was time to shoot that shot and I just shot it.”
On what Coach Henrickson said to the team to win the game:
“She (Coach Henrickson) told me to be aggressive, try to get to the rim, get something different and let the shot go through my legs and I did. Fortunately, it went in when I went to the hole.”
On the last minutes of the game:
“We were all right. We had a minute left in the game, anything can happen. We got a few stops, came down and made a few buckets. Crystal (Kemp) knocked her free throws down, and fortunately we came out with a win. It (coming from behind) says we have a lot of poise and a lot of experience coming back from last year. That is the difference between last year and this year.”
On the crowd:
“It (the crowd) is one of the better ones. It is always good when you get a crowd in there like that. Hopefully we can get more out there for the Texas game, because that is going to be a big one. It is always fun to play in front of a lot of people.”
Senior Forward Crystal Kemp
On La Salle’s shooting early in the game:
“There weren’t many opportunities for us to get defensive rebounds and for them to get offensive rebounds because they were hitting everything there for a time. A couple times we forced them into some tough shots and they still made them. That’s very hard but we had to keep fighting and we did that.”
On how the team came from behind to win the game:
“Real poised and really focusing on defense, because we weren’t able to stop them there for a while. Then we weren’t able to execute on the offensive end. We were able to knock down some shots and execute the way we wanted to.”
On being 11-0:
“I feel good, but we still have a lot of games to play. We could still lose 16. We don’t plan to do that, but right now it just means that we have won 11 games.”
La Salle Head Coach Tom Lochner
On the game:
“I was happy that we fought back. We were down 30-20 early in the first half and they (Kansas) were on track to put up some big numbers; then they went into a little slump. We made it competitive the rest of the way and we got a little lead in the second half. I thought (Erica) Hallman really took over late in the game. She took the team on her back and made some tough shots, including that three late in the game. I thought she was the difference. I thought it was a very good basketball game. They were able to make one more shot than we were at the end.”
On La Salle’s offensive execution:
“I thought we executed pretty well. We were able to take advantage of our lack of size with quickness and take the bigger kids off the dribble. It worked most of the game.”
