Indiana at Washington
December 08, 2001 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 8, 2001
Washington vs. Indiana
Friday, December 7, 2001
Player and Coach Quotes
Forward Andrea Lalum
"We need to get more aggressive on the boards and that's something we've been working hard on. Indiana was aggressive on the boards we just need to get better "war zone" and box out. Next time we know what we need to do and we will get more aggressive. We relied on each other big time tonight especially in our defense. Tonight was a great confidence builder for the starters because we were able to go out there and play hard together."
Guard Giuliana Mendiola
"What was positive about our rebounding was that we only gave up a couple of offensive boards in the second half. Obviously we are improving in that area but we still need more improvement. We took a step in the right direction tonight. We have confidence in each other and we worked a lot on being strong with the ball. We knew Indiana was going to come strong at us so we had confidence in one another and came hard to the ball."
Forward Sarah Keeler
"I had a bad weekend in California and I did some soul searching and came out with a new attitude tonight. It was a lot of fun to go out there tonight and play the way I know that I am capable of, the way I play in practice. I just haven't played that way in games. This is just the first episode, there is a lot more of Keeler to come."
Guard Kristen O'Neill
"I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit nervous. My main focus was to raise the intensity and do everything I could on defense. Our team did a great job of coming out fired up. I am going to refocus and come out strong on Sunday."
Coach June Daugherty
General Remarks: "Tonight was definitely a statement game for our program. Not only did the starters come out with fire and intensity but everybody that came in helped us in a big way. We started well, we built on the momentum and the bench was great. Tonight was something that the team had worked very hard for and it is exciting to see. The other thing is our defense definitely disrupted Indiana. To force 31 turnovers against team of that stature was exciting. It something we have been trying to build on with our intensity and tonight they were able to put it together."
On Jill Chapman's play: "She is a wide body post player and we were concerned about her size down low. They did a very good job of finding her in the second half and playing the high low game. She is a very talented post player, the WBNA was here tonight looking at her and their team."
On the comparison to last year's team: "The productivity from the bench and the great start from the starters was great to see. We can become very dangerous very quickly. I am pleased for the team because they have worked hard for several weeks especially the last couple of weeks. They are starting to put it together and its fun to see them rewarded."
Indiana Head Coach Kathi Bennett
On losing despite outrebounding Washington: "The beginning of the game really set the tone. They were so ready to start the game and we were not. We lacked the poise to stay together. We really got away from our game plan. We didn't keep believing in the game plan and in what we had to do to stop them and that really hurt us."
On what part of the game plan Indiana did not execute: "Defensively we didn't dictate anything. They just basically tore us apart. From an offensive standpoint they spread us out. We worked hard (in practice) at how we wanted to defend ball screens and we didn't do that. I think a lot of it was poise. We didn't stay together and have the poise we needed to in an environment like this and against a school like Washington. We kind of fell apart a little bit. On the positive side we did come back at the end and we rallied.
On the play of Jill Chapman: "She came out a little slow and missed some easy shots but she came back and kept believing and kept working hard and that is really a positive."
