Colorado-Colorado State Quotes

Colorado Head Coach Kathy McConnell-Miller

General

“That is a different Colorado State team than we played a year ago. They are more athletic, they have shooters, and they have a good combination of players. They came in here with a lot of energy and expected to win. They are a very talented team and I thought they battled us for 40 minutes. I thought the adjustments we made late in the first half were key; some key substitutions, key match-ups. The biggest adjustments came at halftime, when we really talked about tagging all of the staggered screens, tagging all of the ball screens and not giving them any touches. We started that late in the first half and carried it into the second half and kept the players who we felt were drivers. With that adjustment, the players took it and absorbed it. I thought we were unselfish with the ball on the offensive end; we moved it, made the extra pass, and the chemistry just gets better and better. I really like this team; I like what they bring to the table every night. They responded from last game from the free-throw line; they were a little more relaxed, a little more focus, a little more extra work this week, and went 22 of 24. I think overall it's a really good win. It's a tough game to play, an in-state rivalry and obviously that's something you focus on coming into the game, but as you tip it off, it's just another opponent.”

On the Rivalry

“I love rivalries; I love what it brings out. It clearly brought some more fans in tonight and we like that. I think [Kristen Holt] is doing a really good job. The players that they have in that program have really bought into exactly what she's doing. I think they're going to be a good team.”

On Colorado State

“They play hard, they play very hard. I think they're physical, they know their strengths, they go to their strengths. I don't think they go outside of their box too often. I don't think they had an answer for Kara [Richards] inside, and Brittany Spears is a very difficult perimeter player to guard; she can hit the three and if you get too close, she can go by. Those two did a really nice job in picking apart their defense. They are a very, very hard working team; they went on the road to Witchita State, went to overtime, they battled us the whole game. I definitely see them getting better.

On How Colorado Pulled Away

“It started on the defensive end, but initially we just went right inside and just tired to establish a presence. I thought Kara [Richards] really dominated on the interior, she was phenomenal. I think the adjustments defensively gave this team the extra bounce, the extra step that they needed. I think the adjustments were big; not necessarily what I said, but what they did.”

On Colorado Senior Center, Kara Richards

“Kara has the tendency to score in bunches and when she disappears sometimes, that's the time to get her out with some rest and have her re-focus. When a player gets two, gets four, you have to keep going to them until it's dry, you have to keep going and this team knows that, they're basketball players. The good thing about Kara is that she didn't take it every time; she kicked it out a few times, sometimes she just stepped away and kicked it out for another shot, or kicked it out for us to reset. Her presence in there and her understanding of what we want to do is getting a lot better.”

Colorado Players

Kara Richards, Sr., C

ON SECOND-HALF ADJUSTMENTS--“I became a little bit more aggressive, I started calling for the ball more. As a post, the only way I'm going to have a good game is if the guards get me the ball and we have guards that can all do that.”

Kelly Jo Mullaney, So., G

ON PLAYING AGAINST HER OLD TEAM?“I've been looking forward to this game for a long time. You try to look at it like any other game. It's an in-state rivalry and having played in that uniform, I was looking forward to playing against them.”

ON PLAYING POINT GUARD?“Playing point guard will take time to get comfortable with because I haven't played it since high school. As the season goes on, I'll get more comfortable with it.”

ON COLORADO STATE F JUANISE CORNELL?“Juanise is the only one I really know from when I played there. She's a great player and it was a lot of fun playing against her.”

Brittany Spears, So., G

ON IMPROVEMENT FROM LAST SEASON?“I feel more comfortable playing with my team because I've been here another year. I have more confidence in myself this year than last year.”

Colorado State Head Coach Kristen Holt

General?

“Well I know in the second half we came out pretty flat and you know you can't do that against a team like Colorado. You have to be ready to come out and play. I didn't think out defense, or either teams' defense, in the first half was great. I mean we didn't play the type of defense we want to, and really the game needs to be up tempo for us and I think when you saw us at times do that we had good shot opportunities. I was pretty pleased with the first half, but the beginning of the second half was a big let-down for us and we couldn't come back.”

On Losing by 30, was it an accurate reflection of game? ?

“No, that's what ticks me off. I mean you can't just play a half and that's what our players have to learn. You can't be satisfied with that, you have to put two halves together and we have to quite fouling people. They shot phenomenally from the three point line and that's the same thing that happened in our first game. We would put them at the line and they would make their free-throws. I was happy with our turn-overs being down. There were positives, but I am disappointed it was a thirty point ending. “

On Britney Spears?

“She's very good. We had our best defender on her the whole time. We wanted to play her very tight and we didn't play her tight enough. It comes very easy to her.”

Colorado State Players

Juanise Cornell, Jr., F

General?

We just came out flat in second half and I think after a while they wore on us. It's really easy to go out at the beginning of the game and go hard and push against their 6'4” post push players?both of our push players are under 6'3”. I think we just got worn out and they beat us down. We stopped playing our game and we let them dictate the speed and tempo of the game.

On Britney Spears?

Obviously she is good all around so it's hard to help off of her and they have girls that are a lot bigger than us. She can shoot the three so it's hard to help off of her, but obviously she is a good player and she's going to get to the basket and get her points. For a while we did a good job containing her, but she was able to hit those back-to-back threes.

On Loosing by 30?

Definitely not, the halftime score wasn't bad, we were still in the game we just have to do a better job at holding them for a longer period of time.