Colorado-Kansas Quotes

Colorado Head Coach Kathy McConnell-Miller

General

“I like the way we started the game. We had a lot of fire power and a lot of energy. We probably didn't have the best rotation of players which allowed them to get back into it. I thought in the second half, when we pulled off the pressure and allowed them to go on a run and get up by four, then we put the pressure back on. When we were pressuring full court I thought we were a lot more effective. They didn't have enough time to get in their sets and run what they wanted to run. Spears didn't get a shot off until four and a half minutes left in the second half. She's our go-to player; undoubtedly the one that we need to get the ball to the most and needs to take the most shot attempts. We need to provide the opportunity for her to do that through screens or handoffs and we just didn't do that tonight until late. I thought when she got hot, we took back control of the game.”

On Getting Brittany Spears Involved

“She was to be the recipient of a lot of the diversions and stagger screens, but it ended up being a lot of driving and kicks to Kara [Richards] or (others players) shooting. It just didn't evolve. It got to the point that we just made the initial pass to her so we didn't leave it to chance. I thought when we forced their hand and made them guard her we consistently took control down the stretch.”

On Starting Kelly Jo Mullaney Over Britney Blythe

“You hate to pull somebody out of the starting lineup. Unfortunately, it didn't help Britney, and Kelly Jo went through the same thing when she was pulled out of the starting lineup. Sometimes it's devastating to players. Sometimes they can handle it, and sometimes they don't know how to handle it. Unfortunately, it didn't work for Britney because we didn't have the player we needed when Kelly Jo was off the floor. I was happy with Kelly Jo's performance. The sets we run with her in, we were able to push the ball. A lot of our points early on were off transition offense. I'm definitely happy with what Kelly Jo brought today. I'd like to limit those turnovers a little bit, but that's this league. You get pressured for 40 minutes and you're going to have that.”

On Turnovers

“If it was the same thing every time, it would be more of a black eye. It's offensive fouls, it's three seconds in the lane, and it's not getting the ball in bounds in time. It's like you work to fix one thing and something else breaks. It's going to happen with this young team. One of my biggest pet peeves is not getting the ball in bounds.”

On Determination to Win

“One of the biggest possessions of the game was when Kelly Jo dove on the floor, and it was a big stop. We watched film yesterday and there were a few times at Kansas that we didn't dive on the floor. When I think of Kelly Jo, I think of flag football. She's really physical and not afraid to get hurt, not afraid to get hit and sort of finds a way. She was on the floor a lot and was aggressive.”

Colorado Players

Brittany Spears, So., F

ON TEAM'S RESPONSE TO PLAYING KU AT HOME-“We know we could have won that game at Kansas, so we were talking about winning on [our] home court.”

ON FEELING PRESSURE OF BEING GO TO PLAYER-“No, there's no real pressure. It's an opportunity for me to make me play for the team. I don't feel pressure for that.”

ON NEVER NEEDING REST-“Today [I needed rest], cause my chest was burning for some reason. It will never happen again. I got a cold, and it was just burning, but never again.”

Kelly Jo Mullaney, So., G

ON BEING A ?FLAG FOOTBALL PLAYER'-“Kind of, I guess. I grew up with a brother who played football and a dad who played football, so I think I can be tough and be aggressive. That's the one thing, when you're shot doesn't fall every night, or something else can go wrong. But you can always be aggressive and play hard.”

ON AGGRESSIVE PLAY- “Yes, I try to play like that.”

Kansas Head Coach Bonnie Henrickson

General

“It ended up who was going to turn it over last. We turned it over and we made a run in the first half but our point guard turned it over a bunch early and then the point guard turned it over at a 2-point game with a minute fifteen seconds left after inbounding the ball. CU made their free-throws and we just can't be that sloppy.”