Michigan State University Athletics
Post-Game Quotes: Purdue Fort Wayne
11/10/2022 10:01:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Head Coach Suzy Merchant
On the overall thoughts on the 85-53 win…
I think we did some good things. I mean, we didn't shoot the ball really well, but I did like the fact that we got ourselves to the free-throw line. I thought we shared the ball. I thought there was pockets defensively where we were pretty effective. If I had to kind of critique us, I think our "quote-unquote" defense was not very solid once we got down there. We were very, at times, some people were very undisciplined. We weren't communicating and rotating and taking good angles and just staying in front of people. So that was a little bit disappointing to me because I thought we had made progress in the last game, and I felt like we kind of took a step back in our "quote-unquote" defense. But it was good to kind of see multiple people score. I thought Mo [Joiner] and Theryn [Hallock] off the bench were really good. I thought K-Mac [Kamaria McDaniel] did a good job playing north and south, getting herself to the free-throw line, she was able to kind of do that. I thought Tai [Taiyier Parks] was really good today, probably with her career-high would be my guess at 18, and that's really good numbers for a big guy.
On forcing 26 turnovers in 3 straight games and attributing that to the press…
I think our kids did a pretty good job early, and like I said, I think we had pockets where we got a little over-anxious, and they scored on the back end of that. You know, we're playing a lot of people now. I'm trying to find people separating even within the pressure. One who can press and "quote-unquote" guard and what kind of tanks do they have. There's a lot of new faces here. We have three new transfers and obviously two freshmen that play, so there's quite a few new faces, and I'm trying to figure out how long they can go hard and still be effective at both ends of the floor. And I'm just trying to figure out a little bit, like, their tanks, and Theryn [Hallock] and Mo [Joiner], they always empty their tanks, they play, at least for the most part, but how long can they go playing that hard? That's one thing that we're looking at. But I thought we did a good job of scoring the ball, I guess at scoring 85 points and only made 2 threes, which is pretty unusual for us.
On the play of Theryn Hallock…
I'll say this about Theryn. She is very coachable. You can give to her and she will take it because she wants to be good. She recognizes when she makes a mistake. I think she empties her tank. Overall she is very solid. I think she can shoot the 3, she can get to the rim, she is a really good playmaker, and I think defensively this pressure we do is her game. She likes to anticipate. She has great speed and I thought she was one of the best ones we had tonight with staying in front of somebody in the quarter court. It was good to see she wants to be coached, she's a willing passer and she's a finisher. We had a lot of kids not finish tonight and she certainly wasn't one of those kids. It's nice to see a freshman keep it simple out there.
On 41 points off the bench, and the bench this year compared to last year…
Yeah. We had four kids out, four that started, one that went to the portal and three that were hurt. Depth-wise, that was a problem. And even last year, Tai [Taiyier Parks] was playing a four, some, and Tamara [Farquhar] who was really a four was playing the three. It made it difficult, but they played with a lot of guts and toughness, and I was really proud of that group last year. But, I'm gonna tell you this, it's a lot better. I look down the bench and can put someone in. Now, the next thing is who's gonna start separating themselves? Because I can't play twelve people. I'm not even sure I can play ten on some nights. So who can consistently perform night-in and night-out, and who's earning those minutes? So, you know, I can't give minutes out just to give them, I have to start playing people who are consistent and doing their job on both ends. So I think part of these early games is seeing who can do that.
