Post-Game Quotes
3/27/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 27, 2008
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MSU head coach Suzy Merchant:
On the defense in the second half (especially last 6-8 minutes) of the game...
The frustrating thing at halftime was I felt like we weren't really crashing the boards hard enough to be getting beat the way we were getting beat in transition. And I just thought our defensive intent wasn't there, we might have been back but we didn't have intent to get down, get in a stance and hold our ground. And I don't think our post players really were working hard to get back. So I was disappointed in our defensive transition mostly because we weren't crashing the boards, so we talked about that at halftime and having to clean that up. And then I just thought we did a good job of mixing our defenses up so that they couldn't get into as good of a rhythm as they can. I thought the zone would help us against their dribble-drive offense and they're really good at breaking you down and hitting pull-up jumpers. I thought our man defense would get to their shooters when they brought No. 24 and No. 2 in. Those kids can shoot it. So we would switch back and forth depending on who they had in and I thought our kids did a good job of adjusting.
On making plays down the stretch to survive and advance...
That really is what it comes down to, making plays this time of year and especially at the end of games. It doesn't matter really what point during the season. I thought our kids did a good job of getting a bucket when we needed it, and getting a stop or a rebound when we needed to. And then at the end making free throws, when it's a tight game, it comes down to the line, and I thought our kids did a nice job of stepping up with some confidence.
On Kansas' defensive effort...
I don't think we played as well offensively as we did against Bowling Green. You have to give Kansas a lot of credit. They really get up in you, and they really deny and pressure the lane passes, and that really bothered us. We don't see that night in and night out in the Big Ten as you would see in the Big 12. The other thing we talked about with Kansas is being tough, because watching film, I really felt like they were one of the toughest teams that we played in terms of intensity and focus, and being powerful to the rim and having a good inside, outside game. I thought we would definitely have our hands full tonight and we did.
On if the turnovers were a concern...
I thought 16 for us was pretty good considering their pressure. The one thing we talked about, that we've talked about all season, is that I think we've got progressively better that if we're going to turn it over, let's turn it over going north and south at the rim, let's not turn it over for touchdowns. But it wasn't as bad as I think it could've been.
On getting another crack at the Michigan...
Well certainly it's interesting this time of year to be playing another Big Ten team and then you add the Michigan-Michigan Stat rivalry. They are really challenging to guard, the way they run their offense and we struggled with that so we're going to have our hands full. And I think they're probably looking forward to it and we're looking forward to it. We split during the year so it's probably anybody's game. There's going to be a lot of emotion and energy, and it should be kind of fun for the fans and the community. So it's time to start thinking about the next one and we know a lot about each other, that's for sure.
Kansas Head Coach Bonnie Henrickson
On the play of Allyssa DeHaan...
She is skilled and very talented, with great touch and great hands. I didn't think we were as good early on as we needed to be against her. We were probably better on her in the first half than we were in the second half. I thought she got loose in the second half.
On what playing in the WNIT will mean for next year's team...
I think it's a combination of two games and two more weeks of practice. We've had great workouts and the experience of the games has been great. We were excited to play in it. It's just disappointing we weren't able to get out of here with a win.
On the team's lack of transition points in the second half...
I thought we probably dribbled it too much. I think we should have thrown it ahead like we did in the first half.
On the defensive changes Michigan State made in the second half...
They went from the 2-2-1 to the 2-3 and we really didn't see that in the first half. We expected to see it. We anticipated going back and forth. In the second half, they capitalized on our turnovers. That had nothing to do with them playing the man or the zone.
