Post-Game Quotes vs. Marshall

Head Coach Suzy Merchant

On Alyza [Winston]'s performance...
"Yeah I mean she was in foul trouble early obviously. She had two quick ones so I think that hurts and then kind of subbed in and other people were playing well. So it kind of made it a situation for her to get her third, didn't make a whole lot of sense going into to half time. We had a good group out there You know sometimes it's not what somebody isn't doing, it might be what someone else is. As a good example, you know Smitty [Alisia Smith] was in that situation. I thought DeeDee [Hagemann] was really good today and gave minutes to her that maybe Alyza would have had. You know we had to hold Nia for a little bit too because she was in foul trouble too, some really crazy calls. But you gotta learn to play through some of that and some of the foul trouble. I don't think it was anything that she wasn't doing per say other than I thought DeeDee was giving us a lot at the defensive end in particular."

DeeDee Hagemann fitting in as a "sixth man" and her role going forward…
"Yeah, I mean I don't know. We'll see. I think DeeDee [Hagemann] is a start great and finish great type. I don't think she really cares, she just wants the team to do well. Could she start? For sure. I think her and Ty [Taiyier Parks] off the bench give us that spark. Mo [Joiner] coming off the bench ... you've got some offensive firepower there a little bit if things aren't going your way. I don't necessarily think it's anything that she isn't doing. And I really don't think the kid cares. I think she just wants to see the team do well and win. I thought that she was communicating out there. She was the one that wanted to stop their best player and guard her at the end. That says a lot about her as a freshman, but I thought that she did a good job collectively, all game. Also setting other people up, and getting herself to the free throw line. They sat out a three-point shooter, so we knew that we had to drive the ball. And I thought we did a good job, I mean 35 free throws are a lot. But you know, I really like the fact that we made them too, we had a good percentage. And we've been doing a good job from the line this year."

On Smith's career high tonight, and her performance so far this season…
"She has been [great]. I really loved her up-and-unders today. I thought she did a good job ... you know, sometimes she tends to float a bit. I thought she was posting and using her up-and-under moves. She did a great job setting screens. I thought she did a really good job as well communicating out there defensively. She knew who was in front of her and she was a force in there. She had a couple of big blocks too. Four games in seven days is a lot. You know these kids were pretty tired, to be honest. But to see that grit and toughness kind of come out. And Smitty [Alisia Smith] has played a couple good games together for us and we're going to need her to continue to do that."

Team health and dealing with sickness after the Oakland game…
"Yeah, after Oakland we probably had about six of them probably sick, congestion mainly. It's been going around but not feeling the best. You wouldn't know it with Nia [Clouden]. Nia could probably be on her death bed and you wouldn't know it. But that kid had a temperature or a fever, she had the same stuff a lot of the other people had and she just grinds it out. I think that says a lot. A lot of great players do that. They show up, regardless of the circumstances. And she's been pretty consistent for us."

On taking time to rest and recharge before Thursday's game…
"Yeah we definitely need a day off. But we just gotta be able to guard better, rebound better. We're really missing that when we lost Julia [Arault] and Tori [Ozment]. I mean those are big guards. Big sized kids that can defend perimeter and post. We're a little smaller than we anticipated so we're going to have to do a better job. They're [Notre Dame] bigger, stronger, more physical. Our defense in the first half was pretty lackluster, but I liked our fight in the second half. I thought we put some stops together and capitalized. I thought that's what we needed to be able to do there down the stretch."

On the recent string of close-scoring games…
"Yeah I mean I think Nia being able to play in foul trouble, I think that was big for us. I thought DeeDee [Hagemann] getting that experience mattered. Anyone can play when the lights are on and you're up by 20 and the shot seems to go in easy. But who performs when it matters? I think that's kind of what these lessons are for. I thought a lot, and I've had a lot of good connections with a lot of these kids kind of stepping up a little bit. But for us, I think Nia has been a big factor for us. I thought Matilda [Ekh] was too, with rebounding the ball today. We talked a little bit more today about our guards rebounding the ball. She had 8 defensive boards tonight to so I think collectively she helped us in other ways besides just being a scorer for us as well."

Players Mentioned

DeeDee Hagemann

Taiyier Parks

Alisia Smith

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