USC at Washington
March 17, 2002 | Women's Basketball
March 17, 2002
Head Coach June Daugherty
General Comments: "I thought that we shot the ball well. We did a good job rebounding and played very physically. You have to give our defense a lot of credit. No lead is safe and USC did a good job of staying with it. Hollans and Hoffman were amazing but we are excited to be moving on."
On the guards passing: "It was kind of fun to watch. It is all about teamwork. Talent is part of it but there is a lot of chemistry on the team and I think the fans enjoyed watching it."
On the bench: "We have always gone eight to ten deep. Over the last few years we have had the talent to be able to use our bench and I think it is paying off, we are able to wear people down over the course of a game. When Giuliana Mendiola is tired we can bring in Kayla Burt, and Sarah Keeler and Kellie O'Neill have really stepped up. The bench has been getting better and better especially in the post season."
On her 100th win at Washington: " I am very fortunate to have the players that I do. We have great people in this program that play hard and want to get better. People sharing the love of the game is what this is all about and I am fortunate to have great people and a great staff to share it with."
Loree Payne
On the team's performance: " I thought we shot well. We came out firing and we had an overall great game shooting. I was a great game we knew they would be tough they fought hard and never died."
Giuliana Mendiola
On how well the team played: "I thought we passed the ball very well. We were able to show good defensive pressure. We set good screens and played very well together."
Sarah Keeler
On the bench: "In practice we play purple against gold and there are always tough battles. We know that the bench is capable of playing well and we know that it is our job to come into the game and keep things moving."
On her shooting: "My shot is falling right now. People were passing the ball well and hitting me when I was open."
USC Head Coach Chris Gobrecht
On the game: "Well, I thought they shot the lights out, and we were tired. That's a tough combination. I mean, when they shoot like that it's going to be tough for anyone to beat them. I thought we were just a step slow on everything and it just caught up with us. Typically, [tournaments] like this are won by teams that get to stay at home four or five games."
On the WNIT: "The NIT is not our priority, the progress of our team and our opportunity in the NCAA's is our priority. I'll give them credit, if they can go to the Elite 8 and then be this excited for the NIT, they're a lot better salespeople than I am. I think it's a terrific learning tool and I think you use it for that. And I think it's always beneficial when you have a young team and you're working your way up the progression scale, but they've done a great job getting themselves fired up about it, so good for them.
On WNIT format: "You can't look at something like this and give it a whole lot of validity. You've got teams like ourselves going back and forth in airplanes doing craziness like that. Then you have other teams just parked at home playing over and over again. I'm not passing judgement on [the WNIT], it's just not my preference."
On the 3-point shots: "We are not particularly good at 3-point shooting. We're last in the Pac-10. So it's not something we're going to come out and do on a consistent basis. We just started shooting it because we were down and they weren't guarding us. (Aisha Hollans) and Ebony (Hoffman) got hot and that was great, but I'm not going to tell you that happens all the time. It was just a shooter's night, I guess, in the gym. If you like shooting contests this was a great game."
Guard Aisha Hollans
On Game: "They were just really, really good. They're always good every time we play them, but I think they were just a little more focused and they wanted this game really bad. We wanted it bad, but they just wanted it a little more. Plus, they had the crowd and they play really well at home. They were awesome."
