Post-Game Quotes
2/17/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 17, 2008
Opening Statement:
Overall, I feel pretty good about the win here. We knew it was going to be quite a battle. We knew we'd face some challenges since they had a team that could really put the ball in the basket if you let them. I thought they were clearly the dominating team in-transition, offensively, and defensively at our place. We really needed to elevate our game at both ends in order to win on the road.
On this game compared to the first meeting:
I think we moved the ball a lot better than we did the first time offensively. I think we've grown into it as well as we started, for the most part, three freshmen and had a lot of injuries. I think we're starting to gel a little bit and play better together. The other thing is I thought we defended with a lot more passion. I thought we worked really hard to get into gaps against these guys because they're such good dribble-drive penetrators. We knew that if they got in there, they could cause us some problems. I thought we did a good job in the first half. In the second half, we clearly put them to the foul line too much were in position defense like we should be.
On Allyssa DeHaan:
Al does a nice job. She certainly makes teams focus on her because of her height. She does a very good job that way of changing the game at both ends. I think she posted very hard. You have to make a decision; do you double her or not double her? They were going one-on-one, so we felt like we could keep exploiting that. At the same time, you really want your other kids to move the ball. Early in the year, I felt like we would pass the ball to Allyssa and we would stand there and watch. Now we're getting it to her off a couple reversals so she has a better opportunity to make the basket.
On Penn State this game compared to the first game:
I thought they had a lot of momentum coming into our place. They had some quality non-conference wins and it was early in the year. I thought their transition offense was top-notch and one of the best we've seen on the season. I don't think their pace has slowed when they go, but they're not doing it for 40 minutes like they did.
On the role turnovers played:
It was a role reversal (from the first game). They did a good job of getting over into passing lanes the first time. We weren't really gelling at that time, Brittney Thomas was a freshman point guard, and it was early in the Big Ten season. We had a lot of `turnovers for touchdowns' in the first game. I think they scored 16 points off of lay ups. Our goal as we've grown is to take better care of the ball. One, I think you're seeing the discrepancy go away as we're taking care of the ball. Two, we're starting to defend a heck of a lot better together, which is causing some turnovers, and we're doing a better job of converting those.
On Brittney Thomas:
Brittney plays extremely hard. She has no matter the situation. She loves the defensive end and she's got everyone playing with that same kind of enthusiasm and toughness at that end. She's just really athletic and covers a lot of ground. I think her biggest impact for us has been on the defensive end. The other thing we've been trying is to get her some more opportunities on the low post. She really is big and physical down there and can score on the block. We've tried to run some things to her on the low post and get the ball outside to Allyssa because she's a really good shooter.
