Post-Game Quotes: Florida Atlantic

Michigan State Head Coach Suzy Merchant

On Taryn McCutcheon's injury…
As you know, even for the last two years, anytime she gets bumped in the head or neck she gets a migraine usually pretty instantly. She was sitting up and she was talking. I didn't go in there yet because I had to come up here, but I'm going to go check on her now. It sounded like she was going to be fine. Nothing serious, things we have been through with her before. It's a good time for a break I guess. Other kids got to step up and play and we were able to get some things done without her which is good because she has been such a wire through this whole time. The kid has had to log a lot of minutes and perform at a high level so maybe it was her turn to take a little bit more of a break and other people's chance to step up. There was a positive in it, but obviously the negative is that you never want to see anyone get hurt like that. She is a tough kid, we've been through it before and it's something that just needs a little bit of rest and she will be back for Iowa.

On possible concussion protocol for Taryn McCutcheon...
I don't think so. I don't think that was it from my understanding and what I heard initially, but I haven't heard the final report.

On points off turnovers…
I think we could have probably done a little more of that if Taryn didn't go down because that really hurt us at the guard position. We could have stayed with the pressure that was bothering them I think and a couple other things we could do out of it that I just couldn't do. I think the biggest thing is that for us we always want to capitalize on a turnover or missed shot. Our fast break is something that we spend time on, I think it is a challenging thing to defend the way that we run it. It's different and a little bit odd but I think it really works for us and our kids have bought into it and really enjoy playing it. I think that not only creating the turnover was a positive, but I think the kids were a little bit more disciplined today and run in the positions that they were supposed to be in and knowing what they were looking for. It really helped us capitalize on those turnovers.

On going into Iowa with one loss…
I think every year it's interesting to build a team because you don't know what the chemistry is. You certainly know what you lost in your senior class and some of those kids. Just going through some of the things we went through, we adjusted some things on the offensive end that I think helped our kids play more in a flow and more reads instead of sets and plays. They have done a very good job of picking it up and buying into it so I think that has helped. I also think the addition of the freshman class has been very helpful. (Nia) Clouden plays north and south and can really attack and set people up and get herself to the free throw line. We haven't had that at that spot. Taryn was a really good point guard when she played that position specifically, but she was more of a three point shooting and set it up guard. Clouden pushes us to play a little faster. We also were not healthy at the beginning of the year so you really have got 100 percent. We didn't have Sid (Sidney Cooks) or Shay (Colley) so to me it was a great opportunity for other kinds to play. To say that we would be 10-1, I felt like we could be. I'm not sure when I thought in my mind if it would be Oregon or NC State. I thought it would probably be the other way around if you had me guess. I knew once we played NC State and we were right there and just didn't get over the hump, I knew we had a chance to beat anybody to be honest. I felt we played well together, we shared the ball every time. Kids respond to each other and we can score different ways. Did I ever think we would be ten and one… I thought we had a good chance at it.

Players Mentioned

Sidney Cooks

Taryn McCutcheon

Related Videos