Colorado University Athletics
Colorado-UC Riverside Quotes
March 17, 2011 | Women's Basketball
General
"I'm happy we got the win. We were definitely not as sharp as we could have been and as we need to be moving forward. I liked our grit and determination down the stretch to pull it out. We did too many lackadaisical things throughout the game; we didn't take care of business. You have to give UC-Riverside a lot of credit; they run that motion offense. I knew it was going to be tough to guard; a lot of teams have a real tough time guarding it. They constantly are moving, cutting, screening; they set a few screens that we haven't seen in a long time and caught us on some of those."
On the rust of playing after nine days off
"It's been a while. Especially when you're used to [a schedule of] two days, game; [it's hard] when you don't have anything for nine days. We practiced, but when you don't know if or who you're going to play it's hard to get motivated. It's our job to be motivated from here on out. We have to make sure we're focused and just get mentally more prepared going into the next game."
On the shooting at the start of the game
"We kind of started off how we finished at Kansas; missing a lot of easy shots, a lot of shots around the basket. Then we just settled in a little bit in that regard. I felt like we had some good looks but just didn't knock them down. I liked our hustle, I liked all of those sorts of things but we just have to be smart and just kind of keep taking care of the little things."
On the win
"We're excited; at this point it doesn't matter how you do it, it's survive and advance when you're trying to stay alive and play as many games as you possibly can. Any win at this time of year, any win in March, is very special."
On who could be CU's next opponent
"We're excited with whoever we play. It doesn't matter if it's Cal or Cal Poly, we're just happy to get a home game and playing on Monday. It's a good time of year and we don't really care who comes here. Obviously Cal is a team that we'll be facing in the future a lot of times, so that would give us a preview of what they're about. At the same time, if Cal Poly wins, we'll be excited for them as well."
Colorado Players
Chucky Jeffery, So., G
ON THE WIN - "It feels good. It wasn't the prettiest, but it feels good to get a win."
ON WHO THEY WOULD RATHER PLAY IN THE NEXT ROUND - "I don't really think the opponent matters because we're still going to come out and have a game plan that we'll follow and we're going to play our game. We're anxious to see who we do play, but I don't think it really matters. [Playing California] would be a preview to next year, and it would be a taste of the Pac-10."
Brittany Spears, Sr., F
ON THE WIN - "It feels really good. We worked hard in preseason for this, so it's nice to get win in the postseason."
ON THE NERVES COMING INTO THE GAME - "It wasn't nerves; I think it was more rustiness coming into the game because we haven't played in such a long time. We had to get back into our game mode."
ON WHAT COACH LAPPE SAID ABOUT THE WIN - "That wasn't pretty, but a win is a win."
ON THE NERVES COMING INTO THE GAME - "We just had to get back into it but I don't think any of us were nervous. We were confident the whole time; even when they made that run we said, 'Ok guys, get it back together because we're not losing this one.'"
ON UC RIVERSIDE'S FULL COURT PRESS - "Once we got in the rights spots, we handled it really well. We just had to figure it out."
UC Riverside Head Coach John Margaritis
On team mindset coming into the game
"A long time ago, we played in the NIT and that group didn't want to be there. I asked this group if they wanted to be here and they said yes. I thought we wanted to be here and play. I thought we battled, we were within two. I thought [Chucky] Jeffery made a really tough shot to be put them up by four. I thought a shot here or a shot there would have made a difference down the stretch, but it didn't. I thought we battled."
On trying to come back
"We looked at the scoreboard and at the eight minute mark we wanted to be within 10. We were within 10 a lot earlier so we said, 'we are within reach.' We did a couple of other things to give us an opportunity. We closed the gap, but they made a couple of shots and we didn't, and it changed the game."
On being outrebounded and poor shooting down the stretch
"We were outrebounded by 20, that is a lot of points. That is 40 points you could have had and 40 that they could have had, and that is not counting threes. That is a big difference. What determined this game was rebounding. Colorado's best two players stepped up - they did what they had to do, scoring 19 and 18 points. Some of our shooting could have been better, we've shot the ball better throughout the year, but I thought the rebounding was huge. I thought Colorado might have taken advantage with their height, or at least with their athleticism. We had to do a better job blocking out instead of just going inside and trying to get the rebound."
On final game for seniors
"I thought it has been wonderful. They have gone to the postseason the last two years. Last year they went to the NCAA Tournament, they got a ring, they won a lot of games, and I thought they had the opportunity to play on the road, at elevation, and we never gave up."
UC Riverside Players
Alyssa Morris, Sr., G
On trying to come back late
"No real pressure from coach or anyone. We just wanted to attack. They made a big run and we wanted to respond. We were trying to be offensively aggressive and attack the basket."
On mindset after being down by 19 points
"Thirteen minutes is a lot of time. We knew anything could happen so we just continued to play as hard as we could."
On disappointment playing in the NIT
"No real disappointment. It's the postseason and there are over 200 teams that are not playing any postseason."
Tre'shonti Nottingham, So., G
On if they had a shot to win this game
"Yeah, we did feel that we had another shot. If anything, we were just thankful and appreciative that we had another chance, especially with the seniors, that they had another chance at playing. I think we were just happy that we could play together. We're a family, and the thought that we get to play again is like the best feeling. Going into the game, we felt that we could get it, but even if we couldn't, we were happy that we were going out, playing hard, and playing the game that we love for the last time."
On relying on teammates
"You always want to rely on your teammates, especially if you are not making your baskets or your outside shots. You want to rely on your players to pick up the slack that you are doing. I think Rheya [Neabors] picked it up a lot. She stepped up. She came aggressive and hit her outside shots. Brittany Waddell was aggressive; she played until the last minute."
On CU's defense
"I would say that they adjusted their defense in the beginning of the game. I guess they could really defend our offense. We had a whole bunch of slip screens and a whole bunch of open shots. In the second half, I thought they were bumping us more. They were taking us out of position so then we started to curl."
