Colorado-Kansas State Quotes

Colorado Head Coach Kathy McConnell-Miller

General
“As far as the game tonight, for both parties, it was a tale of two halves. We talked about having to play well at home like we've been doing here at Coors. Tonight I think that our players stepped out on the court and expected to win and not that they had to play to win and I've never seen that side of them before. It took a half to adjust for that, and in the second half I have never seen us defend that way before. The way we defended, denied the ball and fought through screens. It was the best defensive effort of the season, coming back from 15 down and outscoring them by 26 in the second half.”

On First Half Performance

“Shocked, I hadn't seen that team before. I looked at our bench and didn't know where to go next; I started with our normal rotation and then tried some other things. I credit K-State, they executed their offense as good if not better than I've seen them all year from watching film and they hit their shots.”

On Halftime Speech to Team

“I think I'm going to ask that we remove my locker room from being right next to the media room. I really just challenged them to step up. You may be good players individually, but you are not showing it. I met with them once, right after the half and left and came back more composed and cooler heads prevailed. The last thing that I told the team before we went out for the second half was that there was no doubt in my mind that they could outscore Kansas State by 15 in the second half.”

On the Play of Hannah Skildum and Caley Dow

“I think when you look at Hannah (Skildum) and Caley Dow they always make the extra pass. I don't think that it is anything I've taught them, they are just always team players. When I looked at the K-State film from last year, Caley went 6-6 against Kansas State and I thought about that a lot in preparation and throughout the night last night.”

On Defensive Play

“We were in man to man defense in the first half, you may not have recognized it, I know I didn't. The second half we stayed in it, we just switched screens and switched on the off ball screens. We prevented (Kimberly) Deitz and (Claire) Coggins from getting the looks that they were getting in the first half.”

On Biggest Run/Comeback She Has Been a Part of

“My last year at Tulsa we were down 19 at SMU with 8:00 minutes to go in the second half and we came back and outscored them. This team is capable of the type of comeback we made tonight, but I don't want them to have to go through it again.”

Colorado Players

Jr., F, Jackie McFarland

On first half struggles
“In the first half, we were not playing at all as a team. We had no team chemistry. I think that everyone was forcing things, and it was very individual. We just came out in the second half and played as a team, and made the extra pass. We went out and had fun, and played like we wanted to play here and nowhere else”

On beating KSU for the first time

“I will definitely be making a few calls home. It is always good to get a win, and it has been hard. It is our first win against Kansas State, and it feels nice.”

So., F, Hannah Skildum

On coming off of the bench

“I think that our team has a lot depth on the bench, and coming off of the bench is something that I am strong at. When you come off of the bench you want to bring a lot of energy and I think that our team did that in the second half, and that helped us a lot.”

Fr., G, Whitney Houston

On career high

“It does not matter about me getting the career high. I was just trying to get the energy going for our team.”

On first half

“It was pretty tough, we were not playing pressure defense, and coach told us to come out and play full court, and that is what we did and it worked.”

Kansas State Head Coach Deb Patterson

General

“Colorado didn't let the first half rattle them. They came out very determined and aggressive in the second half. I thought, by and large, that they were the most effective team because of their no back-down mentality. Defensively, they cranked it up a little bit. We had a lot of individual turnovers as we started the second half and never really did get assertive on either end of the floor. I thought it was a game that was really more dictated in the second half and won by Colorado because they played with a great deal of aggressiveness and confidence, and that was the difference. From my perspective, we just did not match their intensity at all, not even remotely in the second half. I think all the numbers establish that as well. I was real pleased with the minutes and the production over the course of 38 or 39 minutes from Claire Coggins; I thought she played a good game for us. Obviously at this level we just did not get the job done in the second half defensively.”

On Scoring Drought

We could go on stretches where we might not score for 8 or 9 or 10 possessions, but they would not necessarily be peppered with unforced or careless turnovers I should say. I guess they are forced, but they are somewhat careless turnovers where players want to unload the ball and then on the other end of the floor not matching the production with the stop. I think that was a factor. Sometimes you can live through scoring droughts if you defend hard and well and step up and make plays on the defensive end.”

On CU's Comeback

“I felt that our passive play offensively to start the second half carried over defensively and before you know it, CU is back in the game, which you expect. I think no one goes on the road and expects that you're not going to have a team that makes a good run at you and the game is not going to be close.”

Kansas State Players

Jr., G, Kimberly Dietz

General

“I think we played a good first half and then just came out really soft. You can't do that in any game and I think that's what hurt us. No defensive stops and too many turnovers is something that was happening way too much in that game.”

On KSU Turnovers

“I think as a team we get too excited; we get one turnover and then we get another one. We've got to think if we get a turnover we've got to get a stop on the other end to get a score. We've just got to keep our heads I guess.”