Post-Game Quotes
January 31, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 31, 2009
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
Washington Head Coach Tia Jackson
Opening Statement: "How about that effort? I think that's the way I'll look at it, that's the way this team's looking at it. We competed our tails off and for the first time since Florida State I can say that we played 40 minutes of Husky basketball. It was exciting to watch, especially after the knockdown we took on Thursday, for this team to come out and compete like they did against a very, very good Arizona State team. I don't think Arizona State knew what hit them. A credit to these young ladies on it being a tremendous team effort today.
On Late First Half ASU Run: "I think even more important was the way we started the second half. We didn't come out guns a blazing and then let that lead build. That was the more noticeable change in us instead of going into the half. We could make those adjustments going into the half based on their run but coming out we wanted to send a message and it took us about two or three minutes to get going there."
On Junior Sami Whitcomb: "She's on fire. Part of our philosophy here is when you're a hot hand we're going to ride you until we can't ride you anymore. We did that. She got tired and we had to sit her down, give her a breather here and there. I wish there were a few more timeouts that I could've expended just to save her a little bit but she was on fire. Defensively and offensively, she was getting her hands on everything and 29 points is not to be frowned upon."
On Feelings After UA loss: "I'm never nervous, I feel like we do a pretty decent job of preparing, making sure the kids are ready knowing what they're going into. I think if anyone has the jitters right now it's probably more the players than me. I feel a little better about where we're headed now after we bounced back the way that we did."
Freshman Guard Kristi Kingma
On the effects of her ankle injury last Wednesday: "On Thursday I injured my ankle again and I did not think that I would be able to play today, but I sat out of practice yesterday and did hours and hours of treatment; our trainers are magic I guess that is all I can say. It has been sore and I do not think it is not going to be sore until I sit out three or four weeks. I will just have to play through the pain for the rest of the season. I have a really high tolerance for pain which sometimes gets me in trouble with coach, because I will say I am ready to go and the trainers say that there is no way I can play, so I guess I just have to be careful and be smart about it."
On if this loss feels better than Thursday: "It is still a loss people are still upset, but after the effort we gave today we have to keep our heads up. I do not think that I have seen this much energy in the building since I have been here. We want our fans to be excited and today I felt like our fans were really excited; people were jumping up and down and screaming. You have to be excited about that energy and the direction our program is heading."
On the frustration behind being able to get the lead under 10 but not finishing: "I feel like this has happened to us a lot especially when we went down to California we would get the game within five or six or ten, but we would not be able to pull it out, but we are a young team and we are working everyday to get better. I don't think that anyone can come away from this game saying that we did not give effort. I think that we gave everything we had"
On the extra energy tonight that has not been around for a while: "The Arizona game was the low point of our season people were down and frustrated, but we stayed in the locker room all night after the game watched film and prepared for Arizona State. We decided that we were only going to play for each other and that nothing else really mattered. We had a great practice yesterday, and we knew that no matter what team we are playing they are going to bring their A-game and we need to know that win or loss we can't feel like we did at the end of the Arizona game."
Junior Forward Sami Whitcomb
On what really got the team going in the second half: "I think that the defensive energy we started to create really got us going. I think that we came out a little lackluster in the beginning of the second half, but we huddled together and told each other that we needed to step up the energy, and when we did that the crowd began to get into it and all of that energy really helped us on the offensive end. We really played basketball; we looked for each other, set good screens, and executed the plays. I feel like we just got good looks, and shots finally started to drop."
On the late first half and early second half run by ASU: "They made a little run before and right after halftime, but I think that a major reason was us getting a little tired. We were not really worried about it because we knew Arizona State wasn't expecting the game we were going to bring in the second half and we felt good about ourselves. If we come out a little but more energetic in the second half then I think that it is a different game because then we are not stuck digging ourselves out of an 18 point hole."
