Post-Game Quotes
2/23/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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Post-Game Quotes
Michigan State 77, Michigan 34
East Lansing, Mich. - Feb. 23, 2005
Michigan Head Coach Cheryl Burnett
Opening Statement...
"One thing Michigan State does an incredible job of, offensively, is making the next easy pass. They understand where the help is coming from and they pass to the open player. Right now, I think that is the major difference in what their game is and what our game is. The Breslin Center is a great environment to play in, it's a great environment for women's basketball. They play hard and do all the right things. It's going to take us a while to get to their level."
On the future of Michigan basketball...
In more of a global sense, we certainly hope the recruiting class we are bringing will help us bridge that gap. We have six freshmen now and one is injured and out for the year. We have to have more experience in that freshman class than anyone in the country. It's really the first time we'll have a base of learning going into next season where the team will understand what to do against a match-up zone. I really believe that next year is when we will see where our program is going."
On Michigan as a young team...
"I've never been one to be patient. We, as a coaching staff, knew this year would be challenging, with such a young team and a young returning team. We knew that we had to be very patient. It's been hard, but at the same time, we have tried to be realistic. We have tried to keep our players' hearts in it and they have surprised us at times this year. Tomorrow at practice, they'll come out and try to do the best they can, like they always do."
MSU head coach Joanne P. McCallie
Opening Statement...
"Wow, 50 rebounds. That's a lot of rebounds. Obviously, that was a very strong game for our team. I'm thrilled at the opportunity to play hard and strong and bring a championship to Michigan State, which is something we've talked about a lot. For this team, it was really quite a challenge. Those three games on the road were really something. I felt very good after Iowa and we are very grateful to the fans for coming out. They definitely made a difference Sunday and they made a difference again tonight. I am just very proud of this team, particularly Kelli Roehrig. I thought her game today was absolutely tremendous. I thought Kristin (Haynie) was rock solid and did what she needed to do. And I really think everyone played hard and you always get excited when your seniors play well in their last game on the Breslin floor. We plan on taking this into March, building on it and definitely getting better because of it.
"I also want to say the people on the bench came in and played very well. Maggie Dwyer played well. Laura Hall played well. Myisha Bannister played well. People that build our depth did an excellent job. We get to celebrate tonight and that's great."
On what she told the team at halftime...
"I yelled at them, basically, because you have to play at a certain level. It was an aggressive halftime and they took it to a new level in the second half and that is where we needed to be."
On claiming at least a share of the Big Ten title...
"This is just a starting point for us. I think it is very important to practice cutting down the nets. I think the more times you do it, the more you are going to repeat it. So, this is an exercise for many other championships. We will have a wonderful opportunity at the Big Ten Championships, to see what we can do there. And, of course, there is March. So you want to create habits and you want those habits to be successful habits."
Senior guard Kristin Haynie
On the fan support...
"It means a lot. We had a great crowd Sunday. And, today, we get a great crowd again. We love them. They are loud and we can hear them. They are great support."
On if she thought winning the Big Ten was possible four years ago...
"Definitely. That has been our dream, to come here and win a championship and we finally did it. That takes a lot of toughness."
Sophomore guard Victoria Lucas-Perry
On the team's confidence level...
"If you would have talked to any person on this team before the game, there wasn't any doubt we were going to come in here and win."
On when she first thought they would defeat Michigan...
"When it started. We knew we were going to come out and dominate the game. We were focused. We knew we had to come out and play our `A' game and that is what we did."
On the fireworks and streamers after they won...
"That was so exciting. This is like the movies. It was awesome."
