Post-Game Quotes: Eastern Illinois
11/20/2025 10:29:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Michigan State Women's Basketball Head Coach Robyn FralickÂ
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Opening Statement
 First of all, congratulations to our women's soccer team. I heard they had a big time win today, so that is awesome. I am really excited for them. Our team, I thought, first quarter didn't play with the level of intensity required and about midway through the third quarter really challenged them on the way we need to play and the way we should be having a mentality around these possessions. I thought from that point on I thought we played with the sort of focus and tenacity required. You know, a lot of good things. Kennedy Blair had 15 rebounds. Juliann (Woodard) comes in; I think someone said it had been 281 days when she got a chance to play her first game a few games ago to come in and have 17 and 7. I thought Grace (VanSlooten) also had a really great game. Something we have been consistently doing is high assist and low turnovers. I hope that can stand because obviously that is an important thing for our team moving forward. I am proud of the last group that was in there. I thought they played really hard, and they made a lot of shots in a row which was a fun way to finish the game. But there is work to do. The good news from these games is that we always get some good feedback as we keep going.
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On the effort of the last group...
There is just a right way to play. I tell them we only get so many of these games. We only get so many minutes. We only get so many in your season and in your career. There is just a right way to play. We preach that at practice too. This goes a lot faster than you think. I thought that group played really hard. Came up with a lot of extra shots, shared the ball, kind of turned around and threw it in. It came off of effort. We found a way to win some extra possessions.
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Why was creating those easy chances so vital for solidifying the momentum throughout this one?
I always say I am not a math genius, but I know basketball math. If you can dominate possessions, that is usually a good thing. So, for us, if we can force turnovers, if we can rebound the basketball, that is an important part of being a good basketball team. Our first 10 minutes of defense was so bad, and it is just frustrating because, to me, most of it was effort based. We can control that. You don't want to start a game giving the other team confidence, and I just thought we did that tonight.
On (Jalyn) Brown's impact at the top in the press...
We love her length, her speed, you know, to be at the top of a press for us, that's a compliment. That means we trust your length, we trust your speed, we trust your ability to trap and disrupt. She's done a really good job with that.
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On the impact of performances for players coming back...
Confidence, right? Momentum, game rhythm. Credit to them to come back early like this. It's not like it's taking ten games. Juliann (Woodard) went in today, five for six from three, seven rebounds. That means you kept yourself and got yourself ready, so when your opportunity came, they're not trying to get ready in the season. They put in the work to be ready.
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On importance of rebounding...
 I think you get what you emphasize, and it's something we really, really emphasize. We make a big deal about it. We have game goals around it. It's just so important. If you were to take all the factors in basketball, and you were to say, you only get one thing to focus on, rebounding is the most critical factor across, at least Division I women's basketball, and being successful. You just can't get around it. It's so important. We see it on our men's team all the time. They dominated on the boards. They've had big wins and just dominated the glass. There's no way around it. It's not a style of play. It's not. It's just that important. We've got to make sure we keep making it a big deal and executing it."Â
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On Kennedy Blair's rebounding as a guard...
She goes to the ball. I always say, when a shot goes up, you've got to have an instinct for the ball. You've got to have an instinct to want the ball, whether it's a rebound, a deflection, you've got to have an instinct to be able to come up with the ball. It's basketball math. The more possessions you get, the better chance you have to win. She's one of those kids; she has an instinct for the ball. She's not a watcher. She's not an observer. She's always in the mix. I think the more you go after, the more you get, and we make a big deal about our guards being better rebounders, and she did a great job with that tonight.Â
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On confidence in roster after complete team effort...
 It's strength in numbers, right? Depth is a competitive advantage if it's productive. People a lot of times talk about depth, but there's one thing to just play people, and it's another thing to play people who are productive. We've gotten a lot of good production out of a lot of players. We've got to be able to keep that up because when we do it right, it's a competitive advantage.
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Opening Statement
 First of all, congratulations to our women's soccer team. I heard they had a big time win today, so that is awesome. I am really excited for them. Our team, I thought, first quarter didn't play with the level of intensity required and about midway through the third quarter really challenged them on the way we need to play and the way we should be having a mentality around these possessions. I thought from that point on I thought we played with the sort of focus and tenacity required. You know, a lot of good things. Kennedy Blair had 15 rebounds. Juliann (Woodard) comes in; I think someone said it had been 281 days when she got a chance to play her first game a few games ago to come in and have 17 and 7. I thought Grace (VanSlooten) also had a really great game. Something we have been consistently doing is high assist and low turnovers. I hope that can stand because obviously that is an important thing for our team moving forward. I am proud of the last group that was in there. I thought they played really hard, and they made a lot of shots in a row which was a fun way to finish the game. But there is work to do. The good news from these games is that we always get some good feedback as we keep going.
Â
On the effort of the last group...
There is just a right way to play. I tell them we only get so many of these games. We only get so many minutes. We only get so many in your season and in your career. There is just a right way to play. We preach that at practice too. This goes a lot faster than you think. I thought that group played really hard. Came up with a lot of extra shots, shared the ball, kind of turned around and threw it in. It came off of effort. We found a way to win some extra possessions.
Â
Why was creating those easy chances so vital for solidifying the momentum throughout this one?
I always say I am not a math genius, but I know basketball math. If you can dominate possessions, that is usually a good thing. So, for us, if we can force turnovers, if we can rebound the basketball, that is an important part of being a good basketball team. Our first 10 minutes of defense was so bad, and it is just frustrating because, to me, most of it was effort based. We can control that. You don't want to start a game giving the other team confidence, and I just thought we did that tonight.
On (Jalyn) Brown's impact at the top in the press...
We love her length, her speed, you know, to be at the top of a press for us, that's a compliment. That means we trust your length, we trust your speed, we trust your ability to trap and disrupt. She's done a really good job with that.
Â
On the impact of performances for players coming back...
Confidence, right? Momentum, game rhythm. Credit to them to come back early like this. It's not like it's taking ten games. Juliann (Woodard) went in today, five for six from three, seven rebounds. That means you kept yourself and got yourself ready, so when your opportunity came, they're not trying to get ready in the season. They put in the work to be ready.
Â
On importance of rebounding...
 I think you get what you emphasize, and it's something we really, really emphasize. We make a big deal about it. We have game goals around it. It's just so important. If you were to take all the factors in basketball, and you were to say, you only get one thing to focus on, rebounding is the most critical factor across, at least Division I women's basketball, and being successful. You just can't get around it. It's so important. We see it on our men's team all the time. They dominated on the boards. They've had big wins and just dominated the glass. There's no way around it. It's not a style of play. It's not. It's just that important. We've got to make sure we keep making it a big deal and executing it."Â
Â
On Kennedy Blair's rebounding as a guard...
She goes to the ball. I always say, when a shot goes up, you've got to have an instinct for the ball. You've got to have an instinct to want the ball, whether it's a rebound, a deflection, you've got to have an instinct to be able to come up with the ball. It's basketball math. The more possessions you get, the better chance you have to win. She's one of those kids; she has an instinct for the ball. She's not a watcher. She's not an observer. She's always in the mix. I think the more you go after, the more you get, and we make a big deal about our guards being better rebounders, and she did a great job with that tonight.Â
Â
On confidence in roster after complete team effort...
 It's strength in numbers, right? Depth is a competitive advantage if it's productive. People a lot of times talk about depth, but there's one thing to just play people, and it's another thing to play people who are productive. We've gotten a lot of good production out of a lot of players. We've got to be able to keep that up because when we do it right, it's a competitive advantage.
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Players Mentioned
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