Colorado-Iowa State Quotes

Colorado Head Coach Kathy McConnell-Miller

GENERAL?“That was a great basketball game, that is for sure. We knew it was going to be a hard fought game from start to finish and it was a great basketball game. We knew coming in that they shoot the three consistently and we just had some defensive let downs. The adjustment we made in the second half was to go out and blow up their screens. Our objective was to make them put the ball on the floor and make plays, and not to allow them sit around the perimeter and make shots. Threes are their firepower, their Gatorade. At times I looked up and they looked tired, but then they'd hit a three and their team became energized. We had too many miss communications and (Iowa State Guard Alison) Lacey got loose. I wish we would have rebounded better, limit our turnovers in overtime and that we would have put the game away when we had the chance.”

ON THE LOSS?“We never addressed the (winning) streak in the locker room. The issue with this loss is that it was a Big 12 home loss that we could have won. We had some defensive let downs that led to some offensive rushes. Our team has never been in this type of situation before, we try to simulate it in practice but it is different in a game. This shouldn't effect our team too much, the Big 12 is open this year. We had an opportunity to help ourselves in conference play and we let it go.”

ON TEAM FATIGUE?“I thought that Brittany Spears and Bianca (Smith) got a little tired but not too bad. The guards became more tired than the bigs but it was the intensity of the game more than anything. I didn't think that we more tired than Iowa State but they fought through it better than we did.”

ON BRITTANY SPEARS?“Our expectations for her are what she has been accomplishing so far in conference play. We see it everyday in practice and when we were recruiting her. What she's been doing is good for her, but she is capable of continuing to play this way. Once she gets it she is going to be an absolutely incredible player. There was a lot of banging going on with here and when she becomes more established she'll get more than five free throws in a game. She is fun to coach, she is an exciting player because of what she can do. She is very even keel on the floor, I saw her clapping for a teammate today and that was a first because she is not an emotional player. She is evolving into a player who is an offensive threat on every possession.”

Colorado Players

Sr. F Jackie McFarland

GENERAL?“I think that the attitude was the main difference in the game, we had the attitude of a young team. We've matured a lot and we fought back at the end of regulation and the first overtime to force double overtime. I just don't think we have that killer instinct to put a team away, we had a chance in the second half and in double overtime but we didn't do it.”

ON THE DIFFERENCE IN THE GAME?“We got complacent on defense. We went up by 12 in the second half and then we let them back in. We didn't allow them to shoot a three for the first eight or ten minutes of the second half, then we had a few mental break downs and allowed them to get some open threes. Everyone in the nation knows that they are a good three-point shooting team and we gave them open looks.”

ON THE LOSS?“It was very emotional, we forced double overtime and the Big 12 is open this year. This loss hurts our chances in the Big 12 because this is a game we could have won.”

Fr. F Brittany Spears

ON DEFENSIVE LET DOWN?“I don't think that we ran out of gas, our defense just let up a little bit at the end.”

So. F Aija Putnina

GENERAL?“I thought that we did a good job today, but our defense just didn't finish the job on screens. That is why we allowed so many open threes late in the game.”

Iowa State Head Coach Bill Fennelly

General?

“This was a huge win here. I was proudest that we were able to get it done; we played hard and grinded it out. Being down 74-69 didn't look good but we couldn't have played better in the final four minutes.”

“Kathy (McConnell-Miller) has done a great instilling the best of both worlds in her team?adding Brittnay Spears and Bianca Smith to the team, playing with energy, and having McFarland at post and Susie Powers at guard. I'm not surprised how good this team has come to be. They played Vanderbilt and won, we then played Vanderbilt and they stuck it to us, we knew (Colorado) was going to be a good team.”

ON DOUBLE OVERTIME?

“We started defending better and not fouling as much and we made a couple of shots. We started to stop them finally, but I was worried about the team's legs?they played a lot of minutes.”

ON ALISON LACEY?

“For playing point guard for the first time, she is becoming one of the best in the league. She couldn't have hit bigger shots. In the past two games versus Oklahoma and Colorado she has had 14 assists and one turnover; that's absolutely staggering. Everyone looks at points but playing well defensively is often more important.”

ON KELSEY BOLTE?

“Kelsey has gotten much better and that is a direct result of her practice habits. She doesn't dwell on mistakes like coaches often do. She's not afraid to shoot and as a result she's had a great week. She's surrounded by four or five good players so she has to make shots.”

ON BRITNEY SPEARS?

“She is better in person than on tape. Coming off the Missouri game, she was shooting threes very well. She's a dynamic scored and all that's advertised. She's going to be a great player.”

Iowa State Players

So. G Alison Lacey

“I give all the credit to my teammates. I found myself wide open, but that's credited to Nicky and Amanda (Nisleit). It was a very tough game, we should have won in the first overtime but we came back and played how Iowa State should play.

I was so tired. I don't think I have ever been that tired. This game proved how good we can be. This is a tough league and no game will just be given to us. We have to keep practicing.”