Washington State at Washington
December 21, 2001 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 21, 2001
Game Quotes
UW vs. WSU
Friday, December 21, 2001
UW Players
"The coaches were upset during the first half and called the time out. I think they felt we were letting WSU back into the game. Defensively we were not as intense as we wanted to be. We knew we had to come out strong during the second half. Washington State is a good opponent, you can tell by the way they played against Michigan. We knew coming into the game that on any given day in the Pac-10 any team can win. We knew Washington State we come out as hungry as we would."
Loree Payne:
"This gives us a lot of confidence going into the break. It was quite a long break before this game and then we have four days off after Christmas, and we know that when we come back we will be playing two tough Oregon teams. We are excited about this win but we can't celebrate for too long. We know we have a long road ahead of us. It was an all around great win and game for us. Good things happen when we get a lot of movement on offense."
Andrea Lalum:
"We know we had a pretty shaky pre-season but we know the Pac-10's are what matter. That is where it counts so we know we had too put it together and focus on the Pac-10's. We had to come out hard and we started the Pac-10's really hard. I am glad that we started off the Pac-10's as strong as we did with this win. We are ready for some more competition."
Coach June Daugherty
General Remarks:
"We are excited about this win tonight. They practiced very hard and I am proud of this team. It was a big concern to take 12 days off with finals but during practice every player came eager to improve and that showed tonight. Two areas we put a high importance on were communication and rebounding. A lot things we do in our match ups rely on communication and it's important that the girls talk to one another. And if we don't talk then the team effort is not going to happen. I am really proud of the way the girls came out and showed that they are ready to play."
On Rebounding and Defense:
"Offensively we did a much better job of getting second shots. That certainly has been a concern of ours and an area we have been working on. Defensively we could have done a better job because we gave up 16 offensive boards. Overall I am pleased with our defense in forcing 29 turnovers. I felt at times we were able to take them out of their rhythm."
On young team:
"We expect that the young players and even returning players come out and play harder everyday. I don't get caught up in what year they are, it is too easy to make the excuse that we have lost six seniors so we are not jelling. What's done is done. What's important too us is that theses kids come out and prove each day and make each other better."
Washington State Head Coach Jenny Przekwas
On turnovers: "They had 18 steals so I would say 18 or 20 points were converted off our turnovers. That's a lot of points to give up. The transition game obviously was a big problem but it was a problem because of the turnovers and not because of anything else."
On unbalanced scoring: "More kids are capable of scoring. I was happy with Francine McCurtain. She did so many different things tonight. She had a nice couple penetrations and a couple nice move. Seven boards are also more than she usually has. Brittney Hawks had another good night too, obviously with the double double. I think more people are capable of scoring but we are also capable of taking better care of the basketball. Although their defense causes us problems and they have a size advantage and probably a strength advantage and we don't penetrate that zone very well."
On the Cougars' youth: "The importance of being aggressive is something that needs to be stressed and it is something we lacked in spurts today. We lacked the aggressiveness to stay competitive. Then we got it back again, but we've got to get that for 40 minutes. We have to be a little more consistent with our game for 40 minutes. It was pretty good the first half. There was really only one real problem period in the first half and it didn't last for more than a couple minutes. I was pretty pleased with the first half."
