Michigan State 85, Iona 57
12/12/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 12, 2010
Michigan State Head Coach Suzy Merchant
On the effort of the team...
I thought we had some pep in our step for sure and I was a little bit concerned with that because of the tight turnaround between games. Friday night we got in after midnight and then you have a one day prep to get ready for Iona. I was really pleased and thought every time we stepped on the floor these last few games we got better and learned a lesson. Three areas I am most pleased about are our turnovers, not fouling and outrebounding our opponent which we did pretty significantly today.
On the 3-point shooting...
It certainly doesn't hurt and I think it's the same way with free throws. I think it helps to knock some shots down and everyone has confidence, and when you get that lead there is more confidence and there's not pressure to get a score. It was a nice all around win. We played Jasmine Thomas the most at 22 minutes but I think everyone had a really good flow today.
On Jasmine Thomas' effort...
She did a really nice job in the first half with offensive rebounding. She kept things going and did a nice job getting people the ball and played good defense. She had really good energy in a positive way today.
On the 3-point shot opening up today...
We anticipated them to play a lot of zone to be honest. We felt they were a team that played a lot of zone and when 23 (Kristina Ford) got her second foul we figured they would have to play zone the second half to keep her on the floor. We were prepared for it and I think we did a nice job of running in transition so we didn't always have to set up into zone offense. I think that was a nice way to attack their zone before it even got started. I anticipate us seeing a lot of it and we shot quite a few, but several of our three's were offensive rebound kick outs which is always nice to see.
