Post-Game Quotes: Notre Dame

Michigan State head coach Suzy Merchant

Opening Statement
Obviously disappointed in losing, but give Notre Dame credit. I don't know if there's a more veteran team playing than them. They're coming off a National Championship and their power is hard to simulate. I thought our kids did a good job at times, but to sustain the power, to keep them off the boards and to get that stop it was just difficult. In the second half, I thought we settled in a little bit better and did some of the positive things. Sid (Cooks) was a bright spot for us obviously in both games. Jenna (Allen)'s been consistent and some of our other young kids came in and kind of sparked us.

On Jenna Allen…
I think in coaching you don't always have the complete package. So many kids nowadays when you get them coming in as freshman they don't know who they are, and they're not supposed to have all the answers when they're 18 years old, but what I'm talking about is they really don't know who they are as a person or what that character inside of them is. Jenna had that, she had that old soul, old wisdom, she came from an amazing family that instilled that in her. Whether she played three minutes as a freshman or started every game and shot every single time it wouldn't have mattered. She made a commitment to Michigan State, she was all in, she knew who she was, she was a tremendous student in the classroom, an unbelievable ambassador to Michigan State, and a role model to so many young kids, and just one of the kindest-hearted people to be around. I was so happy for her this year with some of the success she had. I know she wishes she would have sustained it, she had a couple lulls, but just to watch her come off the court so many times this year with that smile, that joy. She left everything out there. I've coached a lot of kids, but she will always be at the top of my list because she is a class act, high in integrity, and just a wonderful person.

On Sidney Cooks' performance over the weekend…
She was very instrumental for us. I think she was a lot of talent and a lot of skill. Just to get her in the gym and to get her to commit, a little bit like Jenna (Allen), commit to her body and how she feels, how she takes care of her fitness level. She's very talented as you know, she can shoot the three, she can get to the rim, and she can certainly score the ball. It was really good to see her put these games together back-to-back for us. We definitely needed her in that Central Michigan game, and certainly to see her be able to do that against these (Notre Dame) guys was fun, the future looks bright. I thought her and Kayla (Belles) looked like a great duo, I kept thinking 'Wow, how fun are they going to be to watch together next year' as they could play together.

On Kayla Belles and Tory Ozment scoring 18 points off the bench…
We knew we were going to play Kayla a little more this game because of their (Notre Dame) size and power. We felt like she could handle that, she had played well. Tory we wanted to play, but her problem is she's just been coming off another injury and she never really was in the best shape. I think the last week or so you could almost see her start to propel and get her lungs under her. You could see she could get up and down the floor, she was hitting her shots, so we felt good about trying to get her involved here and she did a great job, she took two charges, got some rebounds, she hit some shots, she got to the rim, so her future's bright as well. It's difficult, both Sidney (Cooks) and Tory had tough situations. With Tory she had mono, she comes back, then her foot, that was tough. Same thing with Sid, she was going in the right direction and then she had the Achilles' thing and we brought her back too soon I think. Those are hard seasons when you're in and out I think. To their credit I thought they stayed the course and when you look at Kayla she was out all of November and most of December so I think if I could've had Kayla healthy in those early games, I think with what you saw tonight she probably could've been more consistent throughout the year for us.

Michigan State senior Jenna Allen

On how Notre Dame broke through after a back and forth first quarter…
We couldn't keep them off the boards to be honest with you. We were trying to get the misses and run and I feel like a couple of times we were just taking off without really getting to the boards. I feel like that's how they got away from us, and we missed shots in the first quarter too that we usually make.

On concluding her career at Michigan State…
I'm just so grateful to have picked to come to this University and to play in the Spartan uniform for the last four years. I'm sad to go, but I know all of my teammates are great people and they work so hard, they're going to do great things in life. I'm just really sad right now, but very grateful for the opportunity I had to be around great people for four years in a great city with great fans. It's just a very humbling experience. I'm very blessed.

On getting the team into the national spotlight…
I think after last season not making the NCAA Tournament, I feel like we all had a goal of, this was where we wanted to be and I feel like everybody over the offseason really worked hard. Especially me, I changed my diet and lost a lot of weight, got in the gym more, tried to be the senior leader that I could to help this team get here. I'm just really proud of my teammates for believing in me and coach Suzy and all of my coaches for believing in me and helping me achieve my dreams.

Players Mentioned

Jenna Allen

Kayla Belles

Sidney Cooks

Tory Ozment

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