Post-Game Quotes
February 15, 2008 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 15, 2008
Head Coach Tia Jackson<="" href="http://gohuskies.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/jackson_tia00.html?DB_OEM_ID=30200">
General Comments:
"I thought the kids did a great job. Their focus was there. They just seemed intense and hungry. We ended up coming back and winning that game which is huge. I don't think we've done that in a while. To now get over that edge in a close game is awesome and to do it in front of our fans is even more enjoyable. Now we just have to turn around. We have to like it tonight and then wake up tomorrow and get ready for the Beavers."On the crowd as a factor: "We needed it. Especially at the end of the game, your legs are tired, you've just exerted all of this energy and to see the crowd get on their feet and get excited. It was definitely necessary. We feed off of each other. I know the fans look for energy from us and we definitely look for it from them."
On playing in a close game: "In the last timeout we said that we'd practiced this already. We did some game situations where we were down one and the game was tied. So we'd lived it before we even played the game today. It was good prep and the kids felt ready. They felt hungry and they felt like they were going to get it done."
On getting a win after a tough road trip: "It's just good period. I told the players that it's nice to see your hard work payoff. To get that victory at the end, it doesn't matter if it's by one or by 20, it feels good. We'll definitely all sleep good tonight."
On Oregon's shooting: "Anytime [Taylor] Lilley gets hot early the basket gets bigger for their entire team. She hit their first two threes and that made the basket a lot bigger for them. But on the other end for us we were feeling good. We were getting layups and getting the ball inside, which generated opportunities on the perimeter for us. To have four players in double-figure is huge. That means we were sharing the ball a lot. Seventeen assists for us is awesome. [Ellie] Manou was sitting on the bench in the first half with three fouls. We were definitely going right at their post players and for the most part we did a fairly good job of doing that."
On finishing a comeback: "We know we can always come back. The UCLA game tells us we can come back from anything. To be down 22 there and bring it all the way back within three, I think if we had had a little more fuel in our tank we could've won that one. But we've been there, done that. And now to get that first close game win is a good feeling and I know they feel good about it."
On Katelan Redmon being limited: "They were getting very physical with her. They were chasing very tightly off screens so whenever she would square up they were standing right in front of her. She typically does a fairly good job of elevating over there, but now where there was a guard guarding you originally there is a bigger post standing there helping. That's a tough elevation. We had to go inside and get opportunities getting in a looking weakside or getting it and kicking it back out."
On Laura McLellan: "I know she can do it. She is instant offense down on the block. She is coming off that surgery earlier. Getting her back into game shape is just making it better and better for her. She has suction cups for hands and she finishes everything. She was going to be my first post sub regardless."
Husky Players
On the last minutes of the game:
"I usually don't like to have that many ups and downs. I don't think I've had back and forth like that before. Usually it's ups or downs. Not an up and then a down and then and up. It was very frustrating. But I knew that as much as I wanted to hit those free throws, my teammates behind me are going to play good defense."On her steal at the end of the game: "Everyone else played really good defense on their players and the only player who looked open was my person. I was trying to play behind her so she looked open and I knew last minute that they had to pass to her because no one else was open. I just snuck around her and got a hand on it."
On the last few minutes of the game: "We fed off of each other's energy and the crowd. And at that point, we just knew we could do it. We said, `Ok, we've got this. We just need to play some defense and get some stops.'"On her confidence level:
"I'm feeling good. I'm getting more confident about the game, I had a pretty good WSU game. I think I did pretty well over the LA stretch. I'm hoping to just build off of this. It's definitely getting my confidence up."On the energy in the last few minutes: "The last couple of minutes were crazy. I remember we were up one and they had the ball. I remember I got beat and Dre stepped up and took a huge charge. We come out, Sami gets fouled, gets two free throws, after she gets the charge, misses them - everyone misses. Then Nurse got the ball. She's athletic, we knew she was going to try to get to the basket. We just stepped up big time. Got a big time stop, didn't let her get a look at the basket at all. It was crazy. From the bench, we all linked arms, just watching, hoping she couldn't get a good look at the basket and she didn't."
On having all four post players healthy: "It's huge. In the beginning, we had to start Katelan. She was playing the 4 for us a lot. Now that our four posts are healthy there's a good rotation. If one of us gets in foul trouble we can replace her...Also it helps a lot with our high-low game. When you have two big posts, it's hard to defend. It helps a lot having all of us healthy.
