Colorado University Athletics
Colorado-Kansas State Quotes
February 23, 2008 | Women's Basketball
Colorado Head Coach Kathy McConnell-Miller
General
“I thought it was a great team effort tonight. It was clearly a team victory. We fought hard down the stretch, and we've been in this situation before many times. Tonight they made plays and finished the game. It took every bit of this team to beat that team.”
On Team Maturity
We can only hope to mature from our mistakes. We were in familiar territory tonight. We were up,
On Play of Bianca Smith and
“In the first half they were really good. In the second half, we struggled to find Bianca and Brittany. They are in the gym all the time and they can shoot the three. They are expanding their game from the 3-point line in terms of finding other ways to score. I thought they showed a lot of mental toughness down the stretch.”
On Shalee Lehning and Kimberly Dietz
“Its maddening. You think that Lehning is a three point shooter, and then she drives, and you think she is a driver then she pulls up for a three. Dietz, I don't know, but Ceal and I are going to have talk. That kid has range confidence and poise. They are two of the toughest guards in the conference to guard. There is not much that rattles them. We tried shutting Dietz out, but in the first three minutes she was 3-for-3. We struggled to guard both of them.”
Colorado
Jackie McFarland, Sr. F
ON BEATING K-STATE?“Anytime you play a team from your home state, it's fun. I was thinking back from the ups and downs of my career here and getting a win like this feels incredible. I love seeing my teammates step up and hit big shots down the stretch. It was exciting. I was talking to Susie (Powers) before the game about the teeter totter of our season and we're starting to get back up on the upswing. I really wanted to win this game?you can ask Susie?before the game, that's all I could talk about.”
ON BEATING A RANKED TEAM?“I don't really look at rankings. But, if you look at the beginning of our season, when we won 11 in a row, we beat a few ranked teams. And, then when we got into conference, we lost a few games and lost our confidence. We had been struggling, but we've been playing better lately and it's nice to get our swagger back.”
ON COMING CLOSE TO ENDING HER CU CAREER?“I've said that for awhile now, that I wish I could go back to my sophomore year because of all the talent we have here and more importantly, the team chemistry. The only downfall to this season, is that I wish I could stay here longer and play with these girls.”
Bianca Smith, So. G
GENERAL?“It felt great to come back and hit the big shots late in the game. Early in the second half, I was really just trying to keep my teammates in the game. It felt good to hit some big shots and leave here with a win.”
ON SHOT TO GIVE CU THE LEAD?“Whitney (
Kansas State
GENERAL?“I think this was a game in which, defensively, we weren't good enough to beat the home team tonight. The difference tonight was that defensively we didn't step up and make the stops. I think that's what separated us from
ON PLAYERS FOULING OUT?“It was a challenge for us when both Sweat and Gipson fouled out. The foul situation made it tough for us defensively tonight. We had our two post players foul out. With Sweat and Gipson on the bench or in the game playing with three or four fouls they played passive and much more cautious. Getting 17 minutes from Gipson?it's tough.”
ON
ON DEFENSE?“When you let a team shoot 46.9 percent, we're not necessarily happy about our defensive effort. I don't think we were good in any aspect defensively as a whole.”
Kimberly Dietz, Sr. G
GENERAL?“It's plain and simple. We weren't playing our best defense tonight. We would try to guard Jackie and they would kick it out for a three. Spears and Smith got hot. They're at home?they're going to get that momentum and keep shooting. We're going to keep fighting and trying to stay at the top of the Big 12.”
ON PLAYING IN BOULDER?“It's always good to come home. It's too bad we have to leave here with a loss, though.”
Shalee Lehning, Jr. G
ON SCORING?“The opportunities were there, the driving lanes were open and shots opened up for me?especially with two of our top scorers on the bench with fouls. We have some stuff to learn from this game.”
