Colorado Head Coach Ceal Barry
General: "Yes, I thought the way they played Oklahoma and the way they played Baylor, that they are a different team than from the past. They are a lot more disciplined and play with a lot more heart. They certainly have a lot of intensity. Fortunately, I think our field goal percentage helped us (beat Texas A&M). It's obvious that their game-plan was to make us turn the ball over. But the times we did not turn the ball over we were pretty accurate.
"I felt there was some physical play in there (in the paint) that was pretty rough. We felt (the game) could have been called a little tighter.
"They are good athletes and I think they are a little quicker than us. It is hard to simulate that speed in practice with our second team."
On Maria Billingsley's Performance: "She is a little more sure with the ball. She takes care of the ball better in the full-court press."
On Tera Bjorklund's Scoring: "Their pressure and forwards' play was making it tough for us to get her the ball. We could not get squared up to look at her. I think our top guard got it into her. She got it in enough for (Bjorklund) to get 23 points."
C Tera Bjorklund
GENERAL?"I didn't expect as much physical play as we saw tonight. We all knew that they were a very athletic team, just not that physical. They have really improved a lot from last year."
ON THE STATUS OF HER KNEE?"It's good. Yep."
G Kate Fagan
ON DEFENSIVE PRESSURE?"They made it tough on us because of the constant pressure. It was very tough on our guards because we usually have a few seconds to relax when we are bringing the ball up, but there was no time to relax tonight. There really was never an easy moment out there.
ON TEXAS A&M GUARD TOCCARA WILLIAMS?"She had seven steals and eight assists, so she is a great player. She doesn't play that physical on defense, but she is able to get to the ball on every play.
ON WHEN CU HAD IT WON?"I thought when we pushed the lead up to 13 with about five minutes left we had it in hand. We have some really good free throw shooters on our team and Tera is usually able to get some buckets at the end."
F Randie Wirt
ON HER REBOUNDING?"It's just something I know I can do out there. I'm able to get physical down low and it seems that the ball just comes to me.
ON IOWA STATE?"That is always a tough place to play. We've always been tested there, so we have to be ready to play our best ball. We never take anyone lightly, and you definitely can't do that with Iowa State."
Texas A&M Head Coach Gary Blair
GENERAL: “Colorado tightened their defense toward the end, and you have to give them credit. They are a hard team to defend, and one of the only teams we have played who are running the triangle. I thought Colorado was patient in the second half, and they were taking the drive. Their wings took the drive, ran the ball to the hole, and made the play. More than often we played a good defense, but offensive boards are what killed us in the first half. We began to run our stuff in the second half, but Colorado is a good ball club. This was by far our best 40 minute game, and we gave a No. 14 ranked (Colorado) team all we had, which is almost as good as we will ever play. I was pleased with how we competed.”
ON COLORADO G MARIA BILLINGSLEY: “I thought (Maria) Billingsley was the key to this ball game. I do not know that she will make All-Conference, but she does run her ball club. You do not have to be a big scorer to be a quarterback for any team, and she did an outstanding job.”
ON COLORADO F/C RANDIE WIRT: “Oh my gosh. I would trade for her in a second. She is all hustle and makes great plays. She may not be All-Conference either, but she is definitely a coach's player because of how hard she plays. (Randie) Wirt has great chemistry and she is a great role player. I think she could play for Bobby (Knight) tomorrow.”
ON COLORADO C TERA BJORKLUND: “Tera is a great player, and she knows herself within really well. She also is a great role player and she does not shoot the ball too much, especially when she is being double-teamed and she finds the ability to find an open shooter. Tonight she kept finding (Randie) Wirt to take the open shot, which is what the triangle is all about. It (the triangle) is about moving the ball, and Ceal (Barry) is a great coach. Tera is without a doubt a next level player.”
