No. 22 UW at USC
March 09, 2001 | Women's Basketball
March 9, 2001
Washington head coach June Daugherty
"USC is a team that has improved tremendously since the first time we played them. Their freshmen have really responded throughout the season and the rigors of the Pac-10. They certainly played well today.
"We had a little bit of a slow start. We should have been more physical. We should have come out of the gate a little quicker. They set us back on our heels. But I like the way we fought back and got back into the game, but it was an uphill battle. We just didn't have it at the end to finish it.
"They did a good job of being patient against our zone and working the ball inside. When they did that, they converted their shots in the paint. That's been very atypical of the teams we've played this year. Our player to player defense was pretty solid tonight but unfortunately, we were in some foul trouble and we were trying to mix it up. USC responded very well.
"We just have to collect ourselves and remind ourselves that we are a really good basketball team. The tremendous success we've had has been because we play hard and play physical, we're up all over the glass. We didn't do that the first five or six minutes of the game and we were back on our heels. Six minutes to go in the first half, we started playing harder and made the run to get back in it.
"It's so apropos to see the season come down to the last game in the wild and very wacky Pac-10 race. For us, it's important that we collect ourselves and remind ourselves that we are a good team. We need to go out and play Husky Basketball in our final game. We didn't do that tonight. We have to come out and play harder at UCLA. If we do that, we've got a great opportunity."
Freshman center Andrea Lalum
"I don't think we came out too pumped up. I think we came out thinking that we had the game already. We have to come out and know that we don't have the conference championship yet. We have to be more on fire, for us to win. They came out on fire, offensively and defensively. We just couldn't get on a roll. The last five minutes of the first half, we got on a roll. They came out in the second half and made that early jump shot and it brought us right back down. We have to come out and dominate like we usually do. We were not aggressive enough. We pride ourselves on our defense and rebounding and when we're not rebounding, it really hurts us."
Senior guard Megan Franza
"It's a good lesson tonight - knowing that we have to step into every game like it's our last one, like it's the biggest game of the season. Every game is the biggest one of the season, especially from here on out. That's something we can take away from tonight - forget about what's at stake, forget about all that stuff, just go out and play basketball.
"We need to learn from this and move on. USC played a great game. They are a great team. Their defense, their pressure had us rushing our shots. They deserved this win tonight. They played harder than we did.
"Nothing is lost for this team though. We need to come out with the heart and desire that we've had all season Saturday at UCLA.
