Post-Game Quotes: Central Michigan

Michigan State head coach Suzy Merchant

Opening Statement
I'm just really proud of this group. We've had some really great moments in our season and we've struggled at times. Just to see them come together, I thought they were committed on both sides of the ball. It was probably a very entertaining game for fans to watch, as coaches we could've used more of a span of victory. I just love how we made plays, how we got stops. Just really proud of this group, they played their hearts out and that's what this time of year is all about.

On adjusting to Reyna Frost at halftime…
She's a great player, I was just surprised at how poorly of a job we did on her. Give that credit to her, I thought she was the heart and soul. She had what 23 at halftime? We had no answer for her which surprised me because I do think at the four spot we've got some really mobile kids that can do some things. I give her a lot of credit she's a very hard kid to guard, she can shoot it just enough, she can get to the rim, she's great on the boards, she runs in transition, she up-and-under's you, she's a very good finisher around the basket. I thought we did a better job in the second half of just try to deter the ball from going in there. We weren't in as many switch situations due to the ball screen defense, we adjusted that a little bit more in the second half, it was a little bit more of a conservative approach which on one side is good, but when Presley Hudson's in a ball screen and it's not any kind of super aggressive option sometimes that can get you. I thought our kids did a great job to be able to play within that kind of arc and extend and take care of her (Hudson) a little bit.

On final defensive possession…
We put five of our best defensive players in and we were switching every screen. I thought that was pretty effective, my worry was that sometimes you play so aggressively when you're switching that just even a hand check they would've been in the bonus, so I was praying that wouldn't happen. I really thought we did a good job of, not only guarding it, but we got the ball out of Presley (Hudson)'s hands and I thought once that happened if somebody else takes the shot to beat us at least we didn't let her or (Reyna) Frost hurt us. I was proud regardless of whatever was going to happen at that moment. I thought our kids talked, communicated, and it start with Shay (Colley) really because she scored that bucket, they called a timeout, and instead of her being excited about scoring the bucket, the first thing she was yelling was 'we gotta get a stop' so she wasn't even happy about going up in the game, she was more worried about getting a stop. I think it just says a lot about her leadership on the court.

Michigan State redshirt-junior Shay Colley

On final offensive possession…
We were looking for a bucket to win the game and coach trusted me to make that last play. I'm just happy that I had my teammates and my coaching staff behind me.

Michigan State junior Taryn McCutcheon

On how close the team is to playing its best basketball…
I feel like as a team we're sharing the ball more, we had ups and downs, she struggled to share the ball and score on offense. I think right now everybody's feeling good on offense, we're playing confident, our defense really intense. We know what time of year it is and that's how we're playing right now so I'm confident going in with this team.

Michigan State sophomore Sidney Cooks

On how she feels to still be playing…
Definitely confident. We know everyone's abilities on this team and I think if we really just lock in on our roles and mentally prepare ourselves for the next team we can really beat anybody so it's just a matter of preparing ourselves the right way and being ready to play.

On how she was able to contribute off the bench…
I've had a few good practices just really focusing on finishing at the rim lately. Everyone knows I can shoot a jump shot, I can shoot a three, but I think my best games are when I start inside and just really seal hard and catch and score instead of having to do a move every time. Coach has really been on us about just catching and scoring so I was just focused on that and using my height and my speed as an advantage today. It really worked out so I'm glad I was able to make my shots.

Players Mentioned

Shay Colley

Sidney Cooks

Taryn McCutcheon

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