From The Press Room
11/21/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 21, 2004
Joanne P. McCallie
"Wow, what a game that was. I am just so thrilled for the fans and media alike to have that kind of game with 18 ties and 19 lead changes. It was a great basketball game. Boston College is a really good team and so are we. I'm really proud of the way we played today. Led by Kristin (Haynie) and Kelli (Roehrig) for the seniors, and I know what Liz did was incredible. Lindsay has been sick all weekend and fought really hard today and did what she needed to do. Victoria (Lucas-Perry) and Rene (Haynes) had big plays. We had some better rebounding overall. In this game, perhaps, we weren't as deep as we would have liked to be, but it was a very high level game and we needed to go with experience. I am very pleased with what our people did given the minutes that they played."
On players stepping up...
"I think Victoria's steal was very critical. Kelly and Liz's defense was strong as they were pulling down rebounds to help us secure the basketball. There was a special composure about the team today, and that was enjoyable to watch during timeouts and on the court. It also showed out on the floor. We tried to create something and we came out in overtime really tough. Boston College hit a nice 3-pointer in overtime but I think we dictated most of the overtime play. That's important despite the fact that a player that doesn't normally shoot for them hit a shot to tie it up. The character of our team was incredible considering the momentum was in favor of Boston College. They pushed it into overtime. Our kids steamrolled in overtime and came out really strong and attacked."
On correcting first-half problems...
"We tried to be more aggressive in the second half. The first half we had a lot of loose balls and they were always ending up in BC's hands. We were disappointed with the blue-collar nature of what we're trying to do to get those balls and the possessions. It was definitely a possession game. We got onto them in the locker room to really step it up with the effort and hustle. We had to tighten up the defense and execute better in offense, we definitely wanted to be tougher in the second half and I think we were rock solid in the overtime."
Senior guard Kristin Haynie (Tournament MVP)
On being named MVP...
"It's a great feeling but to tell you the truth it doesn't matter. I am just happy for our team that we got that win today. Boston College is a great team and we just played really well together as a team. We stuck together down the stretch."
On coming back to tie and going into overtime...
"The game is made of runs, one team makes a run and then in a couple of minutes later the other team makes a run. Last year Indiana made a big shot that sent us into overtime, too, so we have been in tough games like that before. We knew that if we just stuck together in overtime we could get the job done."
On the atmosphere...
"Our fans are great. Hopefully we get more as the season goes on, but the fans were great. They stuck behind us the whole time today and we really appreciated it."
Senior center Kelli Roehrig (All-Tournament Team)
On Boston College coming out strong in the first half...
"In the beginning, our post players, we really stunk to put it bluntly. We, including me, we weren't playing our defensive roles. We weren't playing together, we weren't talking, we weren't doing anything correct. So we talked about it during the half and knew what we had to do. We had to stop their post play, stop the high post, stop the low block. We had to play our roles."
On playing Boston College for the second game of the season...
"I think it's great. I think it is really good for us to have games like this because it just gets us ready for the end of the year. It just makes us better."
On what the team got out of the game...
"I think we got really good experience with this game. A close game, fight to the end, bloody battle, a really good experience for us all."
Junior guard Lindsay Bowen
On the win...
"Awesome win. Up and down the whole time. We just came through. We played with a lot of heart I think. When it came down to the wire, we just buckled down and got it."
On fighting back against a good team to pull it out...
"We are a blue-collar team. We never gave up and we're just going to keep fighting and keep coming back. The score doesn't matter. We are just always fighting."
