Colorado University Athletics
Colorado-Idaho Quotes
December 04, 2011 | Women's Basketball
Colorado Head Coach Linda Lappe
General
“We ended the game very, very strong. Our last three minutes, defensively we finally buckled down and offensively we hit some key shots and a lot of different people hit them. We made some free throws when we needed to hit them. It was the first time we got to see our team in a close game situation and I really liked what I saw.”
On the Team's Slow Start
“I told our team that if we played like we did against San Francisco against Idaho, we wouldn't win. I thought we came out flat, I thought we had spurts where we did some good things and spurts where we just couldn't get anything going. I thought our defense let us down at times. Idaho's well-coached, they run what they run. They did a great job keeping us off guard in terms of switching up their defenses and not letting us get comfortable with any one thing. They manned their offense and just kept running. I thought Idaho did a fantastic job and they played really hard.”
On the Defense
“We have to get back and focus on it. But we've been focusing on it in practice since our last game but it's not transferring over to the games right now. I told our team the other day that everyone's offense is going to keep getting better which means our defense has to keep getting better. Right now it's not but we have to change it fast. They're all things that we can control and we just have to reestablish our identity a little bit.”
On Chucky Jeffrey's Performance
“Thank goodness Chucky came to play tonight. She did so many good things for us offensively and defensively. She did a great job of controlling the ball and I don't know if she let her girl score on her, maybe one time defensively. She did a great job on the boards and hit some outside shots. She had a great pace today and I'm really thankful that she came focused. That's what juniors and seniors do especially at this time of the year. This is the toughest time of the year to play for any team and so this is where you really count on your leadership to step up and get you through the week before finals, finals, after finals, after Christmas break. There's a lot of things happening during December. This is where you really need leadership.”
On Idaho Staying Close
“The big reason was that we had way too many turnovers in the first half. The second half we did much better. Our lackadaisical play, we weren't grabbing the ball, our post had a few too many turnovers. They were really doubling down and we weren't being strong with the ball. They did a great job taking advantage of that and scoring off of [the turnovers].”
On Jen Reese's Performance
“She played solid. She doesn't do anything flashy and that's okay. She did a great job on the boards. I thought defensively she did much better not letting the ball get to her player on the block so easily. We've been working hard on that and I thought she stepped up. I thought she hit a couple of tough shots, one that the stretch which was huge. Chucky made the right read to pass it to her and Jen stepped up and knocked it down when we needed a score. I thought she was really solid and that's just what we needed from her.”
Colorado Players
Chucky Jeffery, Jr., G
On Her Performance – “I just played basketball, I didn't do anything special. I took what the defense gave me. We shot a lot during practice and shoot-around. My shot was on, and that was great. For a while I tried to get my teammates incorporated so we could have a little balance on the floor. Jen (Reese) stepped up big; she made some big shots down the stretch, so that was good.”
On The Team's Poor Shooting – “Not necessarily shooting, but aggressive-wise we weren't as focused as we could've been. The game plan was to get inside the paint and we settled for a lot shots early because that's what they were giving to us. In most cases we should take those shots because they were open, but we weren't hitting them. We needed to get it into the paint and that's basically how it went. We need to get into the gym to get some shots up. It'll fall, so no big deal.”
On The Defense Last Three Minutes – “That was huge, especially for us being a young team and some of us not being in those situations before. We practice situations in practice. We knew our defense wasn't top notch like it should be and as intense as it could've been. But once we realized they were in this game with us and we couldn't continue to play the way we were, we allowed them to stick around until those last three minutes when we came out of the time out. We knew we had to buckle down, you could see it in everybody's eyes as soon as we stepped on the floor. Everybody got down in the stance. We were denying, we were pressuring and they didn't score. We created havoc that last four minutes and they didn't like it.”
On Idaho's Game Plan – “I don't know so much being confused, but they ran the basic on-ball screen, the roll, the pop and tried to get the high-low. I think we were focused enough, we changed how we were guarding it. Sometimes we weren't listening to what we were supposed to do. We had a lot of mental lapses. We were fouling a lot instead of beating our players to the spot. That's something we have to practice. We have to realize that we need our mental focus back. Once we are mentally in it, we can bear down and be a great defensive team.”
On Benefits Of A Close Game – “It teaches us how to keep our composure when things aren't going our way, especially down the stretch. Basketball is a game of runs and they kept coming back those last four minutes. We knew that this was it so we had to bear down. We did and that's huge for our team…We were scoring, but I knew that letting them hang around, but our defense wasn't there and that can hurt us come conference. I'm glad we got to see what it would be like if it does early so we can fix it and so we know we have to play defense for forty minutes, not just four.”
Jen Reese, Fr., F
On The Close Game – “Yeah, the other games have been a blow-out, but I think it's more fun besides beating teams by 30 because you get that adrenaline rush and you know you have to win. You play better, we all played together that last three minutes as a team, and it was great…I think defensive-wise we weren't communicating as well as we should have, like in practice. Our shots weren't falling, but defense comes first and the shots will come later.”
Idaho Head Coach Jon Newlee
On the close loss to Washington and using that in game plan against Colorado:
“We knew coming in here Colorado had big size. We needed to do a better job rebounding than we did against Washington, which I didn't think we did today. We also needed to slow down transition and I think we executed that really well.”
On how this game will help in the transition in conference play:
“Playing Pac-12 back to back is always helpful. We played them both close and I like to compare them to Louisiana Tech and Fresno State, so remaining in the game against talented teams like that helps us prepare for what's to come. Now moving forward we can build off these past two games.”
