Quotes
December 06, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Colorado Head Coach Kathy McConnell-Miller
General
"What I am most pleased about, is what has happened over a twelve month period. From last year to this year I like the way the returners bought in all summer, stayed focused, and embraced the younger players. Just the progression from what happened to us last year to where we are today is what I am excited about. I am excited for the players, for their development and for progress. That is what makes me happy; not necessarily the score."
On Early Turnovers
"They settled down a little bit, they realized that they could do this. I think in the first couple of possessions they felt pretty confident after we moved the ball. We got a couple of offensive possessions where we got some good looks. When we started to get our hand on some things on the defensive end, it started to flow. I thought they needed some time to settle down. The turnovers were unforced. We were just throwing the ball when we were supposed to be handing off. We were running at each other and exchanging. There wasn't necessarily confusion; there were just some poor reads. Once they settled in I thought we finished the half the way we needed to.
On Controlling the Game
"I am never to the point where I feel like we can rest. I know what every team is capable of, particularly a team like Seton Hall. They came at us with a little bit of pressure. I think at that point they were a little bit too tired to pressure us. They were pretty much on their heels at that point. If they had come with that a little bit sooner, I think it probably would have been a little bit more of a concern. I like to reinforce that we teach them to play every possession as if the score is tied. I hope at no point that I never let up or think that it was in hand."
On Inconsistency
"While they are running off those ten straight points they are exerting a lot of energy. There is a lot of excitement and they get to that point where they may be fatigued, maybe I have subbed and maybe I brought two bodies off the bench and there is not a carry over. That's a luxury right now. I don't want it to be where we score ten straight points and then disappear. I want that consistency. I have looked at film and there is a lot of different factors why that happens. It's either that I have subbed, or they are tired, but never the mentality of 'we don't care anymore.' Those are the two reasons."
On Alyssa Fressle's 10 Point Run
"I think this game was very important for her. I thought she was under control. She took the shots that were her normal shots. I thought defensively she and Chuckie [Jeffery] at the top got their hands on everything, and made good decisions in transition. She has had a great week of preparation I thought, I think it definitely carried over. It was good for our team, and I think it was great for our confidence."
On the win
"I know they are happy. I think they're happiest that they have a day off tomorrow. Meagan [Malcolm-Peck] and Chucky weren't there last year. They didn't experience what this team experienced. I think they are feeling growth, and I think they are feeling improvement individually and collectively. I think they want to keep playing. This has been very interesting, we have had a lot of different rotations. We are trying to keep them up and down a lot, not stagnant. We are trying to keep it very active, going shorter practices. We are going harder, and they are responding to it. We just have some players that can make some plays. Last year I would draw something up and it would look like I didn't even draw anything. This year I draw it up and they finish it and it's an exciting interaction between player and coach. They are just really responding."
Seton Hall Head Coach Phyllis Mangina
General
"I thought they shot outstanding. (Brittany) Spears was unbelievable. We had a couple turnovers early in that second half and we took about four ill-advised shots that turned into Colorado points. Overall I thought Colorado played very, very well."
"We have about a week off now which is good. That gives us about 3 or 4 days to really practice. We have started to play much better until we came here. That's how it goes sometimes when you are playing on the road. I just again thought [Colorado] played really, really well. We need to shoot the basketball better, we have been shooting really poorly all year long so we just have to go from there."
Colorado Players
Brittany Spears, Jr., F
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS GAME AFTER LAST SEASON'S LOSS-"It was really important. Last year was just an embarrassment. Last year we didn't come out to play, and this year we really came out to play. We got the 'W'. It was really important for me to go out there and win and play hard."
ON COMPETING IN THE BIG 12-"It gave us confidence. The Big 12 is very athletic, and they [Seton Hall] were very athletic. It gave us all kinds of confidence that we can score against those bigger teams."
Meagan Malcolm-Peck, Fr., G/F
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS GAME-"We understood that we needed to get this one and come out and play hard. You always feel it, and we just wanted to come out and get as much of a lead as we could, and just keep going and playing hard."
Alyssa Fressle, So., G
ON COACH McCONNELL-MILLER'S COMMENTS ABOUT HER - "In the previous six games, I have struggled a little bit. I was fortunate enough to get on the fast break and get some easy fast break points, which is what I love to do. That just helps my confidence a little bit. I think this is a great win for us, and we're going to keep building on it."
