Colorado University Athletics
Colorado 64, Iowa State 63
January 07, 2003 | Women's Basketball
Colorado Head Coach Ceal Barry
GENERAL-"This was an exciting win for us. It was our first Big 12 win against a program we really respect. We really stepped up when we were down nine with seven minutes left. I think being down at Syracuse really helped us. They were pretty physical out there and then we started to get physical too. I think Amber (Metoyer) really stepped up. She lit the fire and it was contagious. Syreeta (Stafford) also hit a huge three in the first half when it was 32-27, that lit the comeback. It was fun to see the physical play."
"When people look at us, it looks like we have just three big scorers. Tonight showed that we can score in different ways. That is a mark of a good, confident team. If they double us, we need to find other ways to score."
"In the first half, and first part of the second, I think we thought too much. I sometimes over-analyze things. We just need to go out and play."
ON F AMBER METOYER-"Amber came through against CSU and Syracuse. She was hot and wanted the ball tonight. We get the ball to people who want the ball. We decided to go to her at the end of the game. (Linda) Lappe got the ball to her and she went up."
ON THE PLAY OF THE DEFENSE-"We played great defense against Syracuse and CSU, but didn't see a Big 12 until tonight. I think the offensive foul that Syreeta (Stafford) drew on (Lindsey) Wilson was key. We didn't have anybody in foul-trouble except for Syreeta. Randie (Wirt) did a good job on (Mary) Cofield and Tera (Bjorklund) upped it up on their seniors. This just wasn't Kate's game. We wanted to find people who matched up better. It just didn't fit her style of play."
ON C TERA BJORKLUND-"Tera was just not confident in tonight's game and she did not get on a roll."
ON THE SECOND HALF-"In the second half, we had less tunnel vision. We wanted to find the open player and we did."
Colorado Players
F Amber Metoyer
ON HER WINNING SHOT-"The game was on the line and Coach Barry just told me to post up and I did it and we scored. You have to fight to win and get the ball in the basket.
"The play was just for Linda (Lappe) to drive my way, me to post up and her to get me the ball."
ON EARLY MISSES - " At first when the buckets aren't falling, you've got to keep shooting and eventually they will fall. You've got to put the ball in the basket. I knew the team was behind me and they had confidence in me. It helps when you have that."
ON HER MISSED FREE THROWS-"I knew I could make them, they just weren't falling. Syreeta (Stafford) just told me to keep my elbow in and shoot with confidence."
F Randie Wirt
ON THE BUFFS' DEFENSE-"We just had to get to the open shooters. Syreeta (Stafford) said that if we got a hand in the face they wouldn't make it. Coach Barry helped us decide to play defense."
ON HER OFFENSIVE PLAY-"They didn't really guard me too tight. When you play against zones, they allow you to get rebounds better. I just crashed the boards and got to the ball."
G Syreeta Stafford
GENERAL-"At the beginning of the game, I knew that this would determine how our season would go. If we lose here, we go into K-State with no confidence and it starts to get repetitive after that. It's an attitude. You have to decide that you don't want to lose. I did not want to lose my home opener (of the conference season). This determined how we will do. If we work together we can do anything."
"(Iowa State) had their A-game coming here. Everybody will have their A-game to play CU. They want to have their A-game to play big-time players like Amber (Metoyer) and Tera (Bjorklund). I never thought we were going to lose, even when we were down 10, I knew we were going to win."
"I had nothing to prove, except that the team can depend on me. Coach Barry said there was a gap in how we were playing and how we can play. We stepped up to the challenge tonight."
ON G LINDSEY WILSON-"She's by far the best guard I've every played against. She's just a leader. She will continue to lead. If people think they are going to continue to lose, they're wrong. They will win. She does not want them to lose. She will initiate everything because she doesn't want to lose. It was a fun game. "
ON THE TEAM'S ONLY LOSS TO VILLANOVA-"When we lost to Villanova at home, that upset me. It still aches in my stomach at night and I didn't want to lose again at home. I guess it's what a bad egg probably feels like."
IOWA STATE HEAD COACH BILL FENNELLY
GENERAL - "I was really proud of our efforts. I think we had a great plan overall and a chance to win, but Colorado just has so many weapons. All good teams have a good bench, and their bench played great. It was a very good game. Both teams had a chance to win, and one just had the better play.
"When you're playing any team, especially on the road, you just have to continue playing. I challenged our kids to get out. We were stumbling in the beginning, but I think we came back strong. Colorado is a more physical team, and I think we got tired, which led to fouls. I think we were a little fatigued, but Colorado is a very good team and they really got the crowd going at the end of the game."
"I think we played really hard and we did all we could, but that's the nature of the game. We had inexperienced players playing key roles. That's always nerve-wracking down the final stretch."
ON ISU STRUGGLES
"I think Kriener is an offensive threat, but she had foul trouble early and I think we struggled without her, especially scoring in the post. We had a couple of good looks, open threes, etc., and we just missed it. Colorado defended really well and playing home they had a great final stretch. It's tough to be aggressive when you're in foul trouble, but Bjorklund is a great defender. Between good defense and foul trouble we had problems."
ON METOYER'S GAME-WINNING SHOT
"I think we defended well. We tried to switch it up and our kid popped the ball up and it could have gone either way. It was a great effort on Metoyer's part and that's just how the game goes. Metoyer had an outstanding game, and it was probably a good thing that she was the one who made the game-winning shot."
ON COLORADO'S DEFENSE
"Colorado is a great defensive team, which makes it harder to score. I think we had good looks at the basket, but we also made their defense more aggressive. It's hard to score when they know where the ball is going.
