Colorado University Athletics
Colorado-Vanderbilt Quotes
November 12, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Colorado Head Coach Kathy McConnell-Miller
General
“I'm looking at this stat sheet, and I've been looking at it for quite some time. There's just not much of a difference in anything, with the exception of free throws. There are two things, when you go to sleep at night and when you go back to watch film, they always come back to haunt you. And those are the free throws and the bucket at the end of the first half.”
“I have to tell you, I feel, as far as the outcome of the game, missed opportunities changed it. I think they're talented enough and they're heady, and they're doing a lot of the things we're asking of them. I know we're getting better, I know we're getting stronger, I know we're becoming a better team, however you go walking away from that game knowing there were things you could have done or possibly have done for a different outcome.”
“Vanderbilt is a great team, and the difference is when you look at the players on the stat sheet, the amount of experience that Vanderbilt has. Playing in a conference like the SEC and the postseasons they've played in and what they've done with this particular group of players from year to year. Then you look at ours and some of the struggles and some of the things this team has been through.”
“They're getting better. They're performing, some of them, beyond expectations, but there's definitely a desire for this team to be where Vanderbilt is.”
On G Candace Rucker's technical foul
“Candace crossed the plane and touched the ball. I think if she had just crossed the plane, she would've been given a warning, but she touched the ball.”
On Vanderbilt's buzzer-beating shot at the end of the first half
“I thought Whitney (
On
“That was probably one of the best things about this afternoon's game. Down 17, they could've packed it up and they could've folded. It could've gone to a 30-point game, but I thought when we went to the bench and generated some offense and defense we weren't getting much and it was a struggle for us to score. So when we went with Whitney (
Colorado
Jr., F, Jackie McFarland
ON THE LATE RUN?“A lot of that was created by my teammates. Whitney (Houston) had a good assist, and we had all of our shooters in, so they were looking to pick up our shooters and I think it was more of a team match-up than what we had on the floor.”
ON DEPTH?“We can take a hit, with either me or Kara (Richards) going out, and still have people come off the bench and step it up and play well. I thought Anna (Nedovic) had a great night and really stepped it up off the bench.”
ON POSITIVES-“Last year we played a lot of really close games, so that was a little frustrating. But when you look at it, they are the 15th ranked team in the country right now, and we were right there with them. We had the lead once, for the first seven minutes I thought we were playing better than them, then we had a lull but still came back at the end. I think we felt there wasn't anything they could do to stop us at the end, but it just wasn't enough.”
Jr., G, Susie Powers
ON TEAM SHOOTING-“I think that we started off really strong. I think right in the beginning of the game our shots were falling for every player, and then they were just not falling for us later. I don't think there was a change, we just started off really strong in the beginning as shots were falling for us.”
ON NERVES DOWN THE STRETCH-“I felt really calm in the final seconds of the game. I remember seeing 12 seconds left and thinking that there was still a lot of time on the clock. I felt that we were right in there with them, there were a few missed free throws on their part towards the end of the game, and I definitely felt that we were right there.”
Sr., G/F, Jasmina Ilic
GNERAL-“I think as a team last year, we had too many opportunities that we missed. Being down 16, we usually would have given up. We had them in the first seven minutes of the game, we were up by five or six points, and we saw that we could basically play with them.”
Vanderbilt Head Coach Melanie Balcomb
General
“I thought it was a great, hard fought game. Both of the teams played very hard and you couldn't have asked for a better game for opening day. The toughest part for us was that we got a big lead in the second half and then played to passive and really struggled defensively. We got into some foul trouble and they really did a good job stepping up and they got the momentum rolling. I think the positive of it was that we learned a lot in this game and I think
On the Play of Senior Guard Caroline Williams
“I know she's a great 3-point shooter and probably one of the best in the country, she's also a warrior. She usually plays 40 minutes a game no matter how many players we have playing. She's just that stability on the court- she's a great leader, she's confident, she never gets ruffled and she's just that calm presence on the team that we need to have on the court.”
On the Play of Senior Forward Carla Thomas
“Carla hurt her back about five days ago and did not practice all week, we did not know if she could go today or not so I didn't start her. I was going to play her and if she responded well, then we would continue to play her. “
On the Play of
“They came out hot and fired up, which is going to happen. You are going to play teams that are ranked pre-season, and they are going to come out fired up at home to beat them and bring their best game. We have to be ready for that. They came out with a lot of energy, they came out hitting every shot and playing as well as they can play. We were just trying to weather that first initial run and that storm, and we were scoring, but we weren't able to stop them. We tried to pressure the ball a little more and get out on their shooters and make some adjustments.”
On Having four straight years of season-openers on the road
“Unfortunately it's been how we scheduled- not on purpose. I would rather be home, we just haven't done a great job. I don't want to just play someone easy though, especially because we have three seniors that have started on the road, that's hard. If we are going to play someone, I would like it to be hard, but I would prefer to have it at home and unfortunately we just haven't been able to get that game.”
On Expectations of
“I don't think I was surprised. I've known Kathy and her staff for years and I expected them to be competitors like she was. I expected them to be well coached, competitive and play hard and they're a Big 12 team and they play teams like we do in the SEC. I was ready for their quickness, they have a great mix of quickness and size, and they did a great job subbing that and keeping us off-balance.”
On the Play of Freshman Guard Jess Mooney
“[I was looking for her to] put ball pressure on the point guard. They have a young point guard, and saw it as a point where we could pressure. In the second half when I played her so much, they weren't running it, they were scoring in transition. What we wanted Jess to do is exactly what she did- harass the point guard and do a good job on the ball. That's one of the reasons we recruited Jess, is to be able to do that. We've never had a defender like that. I think she came in and made a big difference.”
