Post-Game Quotes: Northwood

Head Coach Suzy Merchant

On what she wanted to see today and her thoughts on what transpired in the game…
Yeah, I thought we played better in the closed scrimmage against DePaul than we did tonight, but I don't know if that was nerves. I mean, it's been 18 months or so, however long since we've played at home with a crowd. So, you know, it was different again, but it was good and I think we have a lot of new faces that were probably very nervous. Six new faces. But I liked what I saw, we had 30 assists on 37 field goals. I think we shared the ball well. here's a lot we have to improve on, especially on the defensive side of the ball. I thought we were better in the first half defensively, and then in the second half we just kind of got a little sloppy defensively in certain areas. But overall, it's an opportunity to play someone else. (There are) areas that we can improve for sure.

On Alyza Winston…
Yeah, I think with Alyza, (there's) a couple things. We've talked to her, she's kind of really embraced just being consistent, you know, whatever that looks like. Sometimes your shot's not falling but you can consistently be a defender, you can consistently push the break, you can get your hands on balls, create tempo that way. She did that a few times and got to the rim, so I thought she did a good job, just not settling in for just shooting the three. She's capable of doing other things. 20 points and 22 minutes is pretty good. She also had four assists and one turnover, I believe, with a couple steals. So (that's) a really good line in just 20 minutes of play. I think our goal was also to try to play everybody. I played probably less people in the DePaul scrimmage, and this time we decided that we would take a look a little bit longer at some people, and they earn it every day in practice. So based on how you practice and what your player efficiency ratings are, how you perform in practices is usually kind of (how) you get minutes that way, but I liked what I saw. I think there's some improvement to be had, we just got to settle it and figure out what that rotation is going to be.

On Nia Clouden and her leadership going forward…
Nia is just such a calming presence. She's been that way for four years here, and she's just capable. She's capable of getting to the rim, setting people up, she can hit a three and she's got a really, really solid pull-up jumper. She's definitely put a little more focus on the defensive side of the ball, but her ability to have the ball in her hands and then move to the two (spot), just blending that back and forth, it was fun to watch. Again, we were looking to try to get everybody in, so that might be the least amount she's ever played for me. She's a 30-minute kid the way she plays, so it's just good to kind of get everybody else going and see what they can do. I think we have a lot around her on the perimeter, which is really nice. I think you can see her making the extra pass and don't doubt passes. I think sometimes she can feel like some of the weight of the world scoring-wise was on her sometimes last year, but I think she's certainly one of the best players, the best guards in the country. Now you got Alyza who's right there, you got DeeDee (Hagemann) who's right there. You got Mathilda (Ekh) who was right there. And I think Moira (Joiner) was right there too. Those kids really can help you from the perimeter and they're tough kids. So, I'm excited about what we have. It's disappointing to lose two starters in the first week, but I still like what we have and I think it's going to help with rotations, and kids are going to get confidence and early opportunities and longer opportunities, particularly Matilda and DeeDee.

Players Mentioned

Nia Clouden

Alyza Winston

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