Post-Game Quotes: Purdue

MSU head coach Suzy Merchant

On struggling when the game gets close…
Yeah, I mean the first thing is usually you look at who is on the court and who your leaders are. Leaders have to make plays, like if you are a good player and you are the best player on that team… It's kind of what they did, the (Karissa) McLaughlin kid, the (Dominique) Oden kid, and the (Ae'Rianna) Harris kid. Those three, the big three made those plays when they needed to and that's what we have to get out. The problem is some of the kids that should be in those roles aren't even here. They are sitting on the sidelines, they are about to get surgery and season's over, I mean that's a lot of years of kids. When you are looking at a first team All-Conference player in Shay (Colley), a three-year starter in Coco (Gaines) and a captain. Regardless of how her knee has felt, that kid battled and competed as you know. Now you add Drek (Cook) in there, her career is over, that's a lot of kids. I mean those three kids were starters for us and just difficult now to piece it together and we've always had Taryn (McCutcheon) and (Nia) Clouden, but it's put a lot more pressure on them because they are the go-to and the other three are out there trying to figure it out because they don't have the game experience. Nia and Taryn are the only players to have played any significant minutes in any significant role form a year ago. I think you are just seeing a team that struggles to make a play or get a stop when they need to because they just haven't been there yet. Obviously, our future could be bright, but right now we have to win games. I thought this was a winnable game but give Purdue credit. They played better than we did.

On having four players in double-digit scoring…
That's good. I think the percentages weren't spectacular per say, but all the way around, it's nice to have more than one or two. We weren't sure if Kayla (Belles) was going to even play. She tried to get through shoot around, they gave her some meds to try and help with the pain. She was able to go but I don't think she was herself, 100 percent, but she did what she could - if we didn't have her it would have been an absolute disaster. I mean it's like we got Taiyier Parks and you would really have in terms of a line up that you feel like you could get out there that's healthy would be her and playing Nia Hollie and some five, which we had to do. Cydni Dodd is not ready, she's not ready for that ability and pace of the game and where she is at physically, so it's going to take her a little bit more time. That was frustrating when those guys get in foul trouble, especially Taiyier because we really needed her to be able to stay out there in the first half. She's going to have to do a better job of focusing on taking care of that especially now that we are going to be down another player.

On Purdue backcourt difficulty, specifically McLaughlin and Oden shooting...
I think they are very talented kids. I'll give them credit there, but we have people that can guard them. The McLaughlin kid was big on us because they set a lot of ball screens, and we knew we couldn't go under ball screens. We were adamant about it. We went through it for two days. We showed it on film. You can't go behind DHOs. You can't go behind ball screens. If it was with the four, we were switching. You had to take the kid to the point of the screen before you switch because she would shoot it quick, and she did exactly what we said that she could do, and she did it very well. So, give her a lot of credit, but I certainly am disappointed in how we handled her defensively and Oden a little bit in that first half. I mean she scored three times in a row. I think a couple times on Tori and on somebody else, and then obviously we fouled her a lot, especially in late clock situations, just unnecessary really. They made plays, and we didn't. We are still trying to figure it out. We lost Dreika to an achilleas tear. She's done, her season is over. It happened yesterday. Coco goes in for surgery on Friday. Shays done. She's not back nor will she be back. Tori just got a really bad concussion, so I'm not sure how long she will be out, so that's tough. Taryn is playing with a broken finger. We are just trying to figure it out. Kayla had what we thought was a torn meniscus. Thankfully, it wasn't, but she has some kind of irritation and burst of sack problem, which is very painful, so for two days she couldn't practice. We weren't even sure we were going to have her. We thought her season was over as well, so she was a little hobbily out there today trying to compete, but I think she did as good of a job as she could considering how her knee was tweaked on Tuesday, and what that really could have been. So, we are really happy that it doesn't require surgery at this point.

On Nia Clouden's recent shooting struggles...
I don't know. You have to ask her because it is getting a little frustrating. She is getting good looks. She used to attack the rim and make shots, and now she is always falling down and wanting a call. I think that is some of it. I think the league isn't going to make that call for her, so she should just go back to going in there and making the layup, and then if they foul her, then you get that. But, I think she is trying to be a little too fancy there. I think she's trying to create contact every single time. Refs after a while, they're not going to buy into that. Her freshman year she got a lot more calls, this year not. She needs to spend time working on her game shots, pull up jumpers, jabbing somebody, being able to hit a three. That is something that... Her numbers have been down a lot. She started off really well early, and then I think hasn't been in the gym like she could be and really pushing herself just to get extra shots. I think she's got another level to her. Then there are games...tonight she hit her free throws, but there's games where she also misses those, which is pretty unusual for her. Again, it's not rocket science. Just like we were saying in there is it just Dean (Lockwood) called it competitive immaturity a little bit with a really young team everyone thinks they're competing, but they don't really understand what it really takes at this level on night in and night out. We've got freshmen, sophomores, and injured kids going up against some big time players, and it's not an excuse. It is what it is. I mean we had every opportunity to win that game, but you can't leave eight points at the free throw line. Our best player, I would say Clouden and Taryn, our best two guards, they have to show up, they have to score for us. They have to get a little bit better there. I thought that we scored enough. Our defense then kind of cracked a little bit. It felt like the last three minutes of Iowa again. Where we were fouling them in late clock situations, and trust me, we work on it. We show the film. We work on it. It's not like we don't. You're playing with some kids that are very inexperienced and sometimes mental fatigue and physical fatigue makes a little bit of a mental midget out of you when those plays come down to the wire, so we have to keep fighting. I wish we were healthier and had our roster of vets that were starters and contributors, but we don't, so now these other kids can't come out with a blank stare and look around like what am I doing here. You gotta start getting inspired and playing a little bit tougher.

On Purdue backcourt difficulty, specifically McLaughlin and Oden shooting...
I think they are very talented kids. I'll give them credit there, but we have people that can guard them. The McLaughlin kid was big on us because they set a lot of ball screens, and we knew we couldn't go under ball screens. We were adamant about it. We went through it for two days. We showed it on film. You can't go behind DHOs. You can't go behind ball screens. If it was with the four, we were switching. You had to take the kid to the point of the screen before you switch because she would shoot it quick, and she did exactly what we said that she could do, and she did it very well. So, give her a lot of credit, but I certainly am disappointed in how we handled her defensively and Oden a little bit in that first half. I mean she scored three times in a row. I think a couple times on Tori and on somebody else, and then obviously we fouled her a lot, especially in late clock situations, just unnecessary really. They made plays, and we didn't. We are still trying to figure it out. We lost Dreika to an achilleas tear. She's done, her season is over. It happened yesterday. Coco goes in for surgery on Friday. Shays done. She's not back nor will she be back. Tori just got a really bad concussion, so I'm not sure how long she will be out, so that's tough. Taryn is playing with a broken finger. We are just trying to figure it out. Kayla had what we thought was a torn meniscus. Thankfully, it wasn't, but she has some kind of irritation and burst of sack problem, which is very painful, so for two days she couldn't practice. We weren't even sure we were going to have her. We thought her season was over as well, so she was a little hobbily out there today trying to compete, but I think she did as good of a job as she could considering how her knee was tweaked on Tuesday, and what that really could have been. So, we are really happy that it doesn't require surgery at this point.

On Nia's recent shooting struggles...
I don't know. You have to ask her because it is getting a little frustrating. She is getting good looks. She used to attack the rim and make shots, and now she is always falling down and wanting a call. I think that is some of it. I think the league isn't going to make that call for her, so she should just go back to going in there and making the layup, and then if they foul her, then you get that. But, I think she is trying to be a little too fancy there. I think she's trying to create contact every single time. Refs after a while, they're not going to buy into that. Her freshman year she got a lot more calls, this year not. She needs to spend time working on her game shots, pull up jumpers, jabbing somebody, being able to hit a three. That is something that...her numbers have been down a lot. She started off really well early, and then I think hasn't been in the gym like she could be and really pushing herself just to get extra shots. I think she's got another level to her. Then there are games...tonight she hit her free throws, but there's games where she also misses those, which is pretty unusual for her. Again, it's not rocket science. Just like we were saying in there is it just Dean called it competitive immaturity a little bit with a really young team everyone thinks they're competing, but they don't really understand what it really takes at this level on night in and night out. We've got freshman, sophomores, and injured kids going up against some big time players, and it's not an excuse. It is what it is. I mean we had every opportunity to win that game, but you can't leave eight points at the free throw line. Our best player, I would say Clouden and Taryn, our best two guards, they have to show up, they have to score for us. They have to get a little bit better there. I thought that we scored enough. Our defense then kind of cracked a little bit. It felt like the last three minutes of Iowa again. Where we were fouling them in late clock situations, and trust me, we work on it. We show the film. We work on it. It's not like we don't. You're playing with some kids that are very inexperienced and sometimes mental fatigue and physical fatigue makes a little bit of a mental midget out of you when those plays come down to the wire, so we have to keep fighting. I wish we were healthier and had our roster of vets that were starters and contributors, but we don't, so now these other kids can't come out with a blank stare and look around like what am I doing here. You gotta start getting inspired and playing a little bit tougher.

Michigan State University Athletics

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Nia Clouden

Cydni Dodd

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Taiyier Parks

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