Quotes - MSU vs. No. 19/18 Rutgers
2/22/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Michigan State Head Coach Suzy Merchant
On her team's effort today
We've got a good rebounding team ourselves. I felt like we could battle with them. We had to box them out, push them back a little bit more maybe because they're a little more physical, little bit bigger. That didn't concern me. I felt we could go toe-to-toe with them and battle a little bit on the boards. I was real concerned and worried about turnovers for touchdowns and turning up the heat, and we have no point guard. We can't get by people, and there are only so many places you can put them. On the baseline, you can pull them off the baseline. You can put them in a line; you can put them in a box. At the end of the day, you've got to be able to get open and handle it. I thought they did a good job turning up the heat on us in the second half and causing us a little bit of ruckus. That was my biggest concern going into this game - bar none. It wasn't rebounding. Defensively, we were going to pack the paint and make them take pull-up jump shots. I was a little worried about that. But, the sleepless nights came from the heat that they can bring and we're just not capable some times. I'm proud our kids just stayed in the fight and found a way.
On finally knocking off a ranked team at home
I just think it's one of those things. You just get tired of fighting and competing and being right there. It was nice to be able to do it. We've had Iowa on the ropes and Nebraska on the ropes and obviously Maryland on the ropes, Notre Dame on the ropes. The list goes on. It's just a little bit frustrating on one level to be that close and you look at it, and there's four or five games in the league. The one thing is, I said it to Fred after the game, every coach that's come in here has talked about how hard we fight and how our kids play so hard, and they've never seen a team battle like that with only seven players basically. The credit goes to these kids. They've been finding ways to put themselves in positions to be successful and it hasn't always come out in wins and losses. To be so close is frustrating. We're not satisfied with that, so it was nice to finally get the win and play that hard and it come out in a victory.
On her team's upcoming games at Illinois and at Purdue
Both are on the road and both are very tough places to play. Your last one isn't an indicator of your next one. Really, it's just about we've got to finish strong. Illinois does a lot of really good stuff; they're a tough matchup. They have Ivory Crawford back. They've been playing very well and obviously Purdue on senior night is tough. I just want to enjoy this one for the next half hour, 45 minutes, an hour maybe and then let's move on to the next one. This is the most proud I've ever been of a group to be honest with you. I've never seen anything like it. I've never seen anything like some of the things they've been able to accomplish with the limitations that they've had. I'm really, really proud of them.
Rutgers Head Coach C. Vivian Stringer
On Michigan State's zone...
It was just that we weren't hitting shots. Everybody. There was nobody that was getting shots. When that happens you can't win against a zone. It didn't leave us room to score points otherwise. They did a nice job. I thought they controlled the boards, putting both of those big people in. I'm a little surprised, but the minute that I saw a zone I wasn't surprised that they went with two big people. We could have put two big people in as well, but it wouldn't have made a difference. At the end of the day, we need to hit shots. When you've got people shooting 1- for- 18, which is what was happening here, that's poor. The best chance we had was someone who shot eight for 14 or 15 and that was it. [Tori] Jankoska was supposed to score points, and she did. She got to the boards. Aerial Powers deserves all the credit that she is getting because she got the 18 points and the 18 rebounds, which isn't surprising. It's disappointing from our side of it. We just seemed to be a step slower from the beginning, and I don't have any explanation for that.
On Aerial Powers...
Aerial Powers is an outstanding player. Just a great player. I think coach has done a great job utilizing her and [Tori] Jankoska. They complement each other very well, and she deserves all the credit that she can. She goes inside, outside. In fact, she probably didn't even have one of her best games. I've seen her before.
