Michigan State 60, Penn State 49
2/11/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 11, 2011
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Michigan State Head Coach Suzy Merchant
Suzy what did you guys do defensively that was so effective in this ballgame?
I think we're a pretty good team defensively. We have our moments when we struggle, but we got to a point where we feel we can do some things and we have the ability to switch things if we have to and keep big on big if we needed to. The biggest thing we saw is that we can't get into an open court game with them. I mean even though we could run with them, I think the biggest thing is we could not get them into a situation where they were scoring in transition, and I think that's where their at their best. I think we really worked hard to get back at the same point not giving off easy offensive rebound opportunities. That's one of our strengths as a rebounding team. So it was a balance. I wasn't sure if I was going to have to send another person back if they got away from us but we worked pretty hard on transition defensive and defensive rebounding.
Could you talk a little bit about Lykendra Johnson's effort?
Yeah, she was big. Kalisha (Keane) struggled today and she got in foul trouble and I think that puts her in a different light mentally. So it seemed like whenever we needed something big to happen, she stepped up. She got rebounds. She was two (steals) away from a triple double tonight. She just kind of learned about quickness and leverage and her hands are quick in there. I thought she did really nice on the boards for us, making sure that they were one and done for the most part.
Since you guys one played each other one time this season, how big was it for you guys to get this one?
Well any road win is big, as you know. Obviously it's still a battle for first place at this point. There's still a lot of season left to be had. So it's up for grabs and it's anybody's game. But we just came up on a game where we played Purdue only once and we talk about that a little bit. You know it's like when you only have somebody one time, if you can get them, and obviously you have to leg up. And if they can go beat some people for you, then you're in good shape. But really this was just about executing defensively. I mean they're just a very high-powered offensive team. They don't even need to run plays - that's how good they are - that's how good their players are. I felt that we did a nice job of taking them out of their flow. I thought we handled their zone well too.
Your team has three seniors; Penn State has a lot of freshmen and sophomores on the court. Do you think, especially early in the game, it showed a little bit?
A: Yes and no, just because those kids have played a lot of minutes. I know Maggie Lucas is a freshman, but she doesn't play like a freshman. She's a big time player. She's played in a lot of high-level AAU games and competed at the highest level against the best players in the country. So I didn't really see that. I don't think it was that as much as they couldn't get their runs going and transition offensive. I don't think it had to do with youth. I think we just worked really hard to secure the basket and obviously they had to run their halfcourt stuff.
Penn State Heed Coach Coquese Washington
The turnovers went both ways, they had a ton too but do you think with a more veteran team they were better able to grind out a game like this?
I definitely think that they have four seniors on the floor and they played like it. They played like they had been in this type of game on the road a lot. It didn't matter what was going on in the game, they maintained their confidence and composure. You have to credit them; they have been in this position a lot.
What happened with Michigan State's defense, was it more what you did against them or what they did against you?
Coming into the game we knew that we had the top defensive team in the conference against the top offensive team in the country. It was going to be a battle of pace and the pace from the very beginning was the pace they wanted, a pace to put the game in the 50s or low 60s. We didn't push the ball up the floor like we have done in the past to make their mess. Turnovers slowed the pace of the game down for us. We have got to be better against the press.
The shots against their defense, was it tough to find holes once they made you play their way?
They do a good job of contesting shots, and in the game of basketball when you can contest shots you can make people shoot a poor percentage. We got shots that we like and wanted, they were contested and we didn't make them. Again the shot attempts were fairly even, the game was fairly even, it came down to the 24 turnovers, and for us 24 turnovers has been a number that really impacts our offense. Our defense was just as good as Michigan State's defense; it was the 24 turnovers, which slowed down our ability to get points on the board.
What is the potential value of a loss like this, you are not happy about it obviously, but as well as you have played lately, is a punch in the gut like this giving you some value?
We talked about that, we talked about Michigan State as a team and how they have played this type of game before. Their seniors have played in these types of games before and atmosphere with so much on the line and I think our kids came into the game ready to play. We may have been too ready to play, might have been too hyped up for the game. When you're over emotional that have an impact on the game and it impedes on your ability to perform. I think that was the case tonight, we were so hyped up and so ready for the game; we probably round ourselves up a little too tight.
You go on the road now, do you still feel you are in this Big Ten race?
Of course, there is a lot of basketball left, not just for us, but for the rest of the conference. There are games every Thursday and Sunday and some teams are beating teams you didn't quite anticipate. You never know what is going to happen the rest of the season. We have been a good team and we have been all season. We can't worry about what other people are doing; we just need to worry about what we are doing and our business. Depending on what happens and how things shake out but I feel like we are right in the thick of things but we just need to take care of business and now we go on the road. We need to get it done at Indiana.
How do you not let a game like this beat you twice?
We haven't lost two games in a season. We have done a good job of looking at it and looking at the lessons from it and we refocus, go to the next opponent, and take care of business. I am not worried about this game, you don't want to lose a game ever, every single coach and every singles player wants to go undefeated every single season but however this was an NCAA Tournament-type game and our kids haven't been in this kind of game. It is a lesson for us to learn about how do you keep your confidence and composure and deal with frustration in this kind of game and atmosphere with so much on the line. It's something that we are definitely going to learn from but I know our kids aren't happy about this came but we are definitely going to learn from it.
How effective were their half court sets?
Even with everything 60 points should be good enough to win, if you hold a team to 60 points you should win. When we have held people to that kind of number we have usually been in a position to win. Our defense was good; we gave up a few too many ill-timed offensive rebounds and second chance points. We didn't foul them hard enough and gave up some and-ones but overall 60 points is enough to win a basketball game in you don't have 24 turnovers and are getting shot opportunities on the other end.
How hard was it to find the right combinations, the bench didn't seem to get you what it normally does?
I didn't think it was the bench, I think especially in the second half the bench came in gave us a lot of energy. I think the bench came in and gave us a lift. We got some deflections; got some steals, got some turnovers and we didn't capitalize on turnovers in transition. We created a lot of turnovers and we went down and didn't capitalize on it, we had a lot of empty possessions off of turnovers. We have a lot more control over that with our decision making in transition; it wasn't where it has been all season, we made the wrong decision, passed to the wrong person at the wrong time. We didn't make great decisions in transition. I think the bench gave us a lift especially in transition; we just didn't have enough energy to start the game.
