Colorado University Athletics
Colorado-USC Quotes
March 27, 2011 | Women's Basketball
General
"Well obviously this one kind of hurts. As I told our team in the locker room, I'm so proud of our team and what we were able to accomplish this season. It goes far beyond getting to the WNIT and getting 18 wins, and winning three games in the WNIT. It goes way further than just that. It's a credit to our players for believing and responding and continuing to fight and be tough. We started off the season talking about Colorado Pride and what that meant to be a Colorado player. These guys really understand that now and they understand what that means. I'm proud of our seniors and I'm proud of our entire team for everything that we've been able to do; we just didn't have quite enough tonight. USC was a good team, they shot lights out, [Ashley] Corral was unbelievably hot, and we just didn't have an answer for her. They deserved to win this game, but that doesn't make it any easier. I thought our team continued to fight and continued to battle and that all you can ask."
On being emotional with this team
"You can ask anybody, I'm not a very emotional person. I told these guys part of the way through the season that they were one of my favorite teams, if not my favorite team. They're fun and they're exciting because of what they've been able to withstand and what they've gone through and how they've responded to everything that our coaching staff has asked of them. I tell them all the time that change is not easy. Humans do not like to change. Our entire team stepped up to the challenge and we knew where we wanted to go and I was able to see parts of them that I didn't know I could get out of them at the beginning of the season. They did some unbelievable things this year. Like I said, regardless of how this ends; if we would have won three more games or we ended now; you're just as proud of them because of how we've done it. We've done it the right way and we've played hard, we got our alumni support back, it was great to see so many fans. These guys got that back."
On defending USC's three-point shooting
"I don't see very many of those NCAA Tournament teams hitting 10-of-13 threes. Corral hit seven of those; she went 7-for-8. They executed well and it doesn't matter if you're shooting in the gym by yourself, anytime you hit 10-of-13 that's a pretty good night. They were hitting shots contested, hand in their face, you've got to give them a lot of credit."
On rebounding
"That's big especially when they're making 46% of their shots. It seemed like every time we started to make a run and needed a stop, we got a stop and then gave them an offensive rebound. We're a very good rebounding team so for us to get out-rebounded by 20. That hurts and we couldn't overcome that."
On Brittany Spears' legacy at Colorado
"Her points and all of that stuff take care of itself. She really helped lead our team to where we ended up this season, more so than just points, more so than all of that stuff. The work that she put in here in the gym shooting baskets and getting better on a daily basis; not all that many people are willing to put in that work. She's put in a lot of effort and a lot of work into Colorado basketball. I think that's the biggest thing that she is going to leave behind, not only her scoring and being able to hit shots, I think this year she has really developed as a leader and her teammates look up to her and she gave everybody confidence. Not every person could do that and not every player could do that, but she has the demeanor that kept us going throughout the year."
Colorado Players
Chucky Jeffery, So., G
ON SIMILARITIES IN THE SECOND HALF IN THIS GAME AND THE FIRST MATCHUP AGAINST USC -- "It felt different because at the beginning of the year we just gave up. I don't think we gave up one time tonight. We just did what we could to keep fighting back and to get in a good position to come back."
ON THE FUTURE -- "We're just ready for next year. It does hurt to see them go; we had a great team. Our mentality is different; I know mine is from last year. It even hurts the younger players on our team, but I think we're just excited to see what comes next with the younger ones coming in and we're going to be anxious to see what comes next."
Brittany Spears, Sr., F
ON ACCOMPLISHMENTS THROUHOUT THE SEASON -- "I'm just proud the have played in the postseason and how our team is different than in previous years. We're closer and just fun to play with."
Britney Blythe, Sr., G
ON ACCOMPLISHMENTS THROUGHOUT THE SEASON -- "I think our team is really close and that's why it hurts and I'm going to miss them more. We got that fight back and I think a lot of people could tell. Walking in the stands at the end of the game [the fans] were thanking us for being fighters and I don't think we had that before. It sucks to end it this way, but I have faith in my team that's going on and I know they're going to keep fighting. I feel like we're walking out and I know we made great strides."
ON THE FUTURE -- "I feel like people can't sleep on Colorado anymore. We're going to a new conference, but I know what we have in our teammates and who is coming in and I'm really excited."
USC Head Coach Michael Cooper
General
"I would like to tip our hats to Colorado, very well played game. We knew coming up here we were going to have to play probably one of our best games of the season. This young lady here (Ashley Corral) wouldn't let us die. Most of the plays were drawn up for her and she was able to deliver. Coach [Linda] Lappe has a very good basketball team and we know that we are going to see them in the future, but it was a very well played game today by both teams and it is fortunate for us to get the win. We really want to thank all the throngs of people that came out today to enjoy some good women's basketball. Hopefully we will see all of you next year in the Pac-12."
On Ashley Corral's performance
"This young lady has worked extremely hard to learn how to get open. A person that we try to get a visualization of for her is Reggie Miller, and how hard he works to get open. It has been a long process for her and this has been the end result. A performance like this is a result from all the hard work she puts into practice. Her teammates were setting good picks and plays were being run for her, but you have to know how to get open and she did that today."
On USC's offensive rebounding and second chance points
"Offensive rebounding is just about the effort; you have to make the effort. That is one thing that we talk about in practice every day. You have to make the effort to get there, and we have some players that are willing to do that. Usually when we rebound well, we can fortunately get wins. That was a big thing that we wanted to do against this team. Even when our coaches wanted to go small, our small team was a pretty big team so we wanted to crash the boards as hard as we could."
On accepting W.N.I.T invitation this year opposed to rejecting invitation last season.
"Last year we had five seniors, and we really focused on making it to the NCAA Tournament. We were really hoping that we got an opportunity to play there, and once that opportunity didn't become a reality everybody was in a down mode. It would have done more harm than good to go there because we probably would have gotten beat pretty good in the first round. This year I think we have a relatively young team, and we need this postseason experience. We need to know how to get out there and continue to play after a certain point in the year. This has definitely helped us a lot. We seem to be getting better as each game goes. Things that we were trying to get our team to do early when we were losing games, they are now starting to do them. It is an opportunity for us to get better, so that is why I decided to enter the W.N.I.T."
USC Player
Ashley Corral, Jr., G
ON HER PERFORMANCE -- "My teammates set great screens for me tonight, that was the reason why I was so open. They are a lot of the reason why I get hot because when they set good screens I get wide open. And if I am being guarded they are wide open, so it was a very good night for the whole team."
ON THE TEAMS HIGH SHOOTING PERCENTAGE FROM THE THREE POINT LINE-- "We shot very well tonight; we have been shooting well all tournament. We have been coming off and hitting our jump shots and that is what the postseason is all about. You have to hit jump shots to get wins and we knew that we were going to have to hit our jumpers and getting the ball inside and kicking it out helped us a lot."
ON THE KIND OF SHOTS SHE GOT-- "I got good looks, some were open and some weren't. Like I said, when it is the post season you have to hit shots to go on and that is the main goal."
