Colorado University Athletics
Colorado-UCLA Quotes
January 29, 2012 | Women's Basketball
Colorado Head Coach Linda Lappe
General
“Well we are disappointed with the loss, but you have to give UCLA some credit, they did some nice things. They were aggressive both offensively and defensively and really executed. We just have to figure out that we are better than average and that's what we talked to our team about, expecting to be at the top of the league and expecting to be the best. So I think we came out from the start and we were flat, we missed a lot of easy shots, missed a lot of free throws and then didn't' make the defensive stops down the stretch like we had been at other parts in the game.”
On Turning Over The Ball
“They hurt us all game. We started turning over the ball in the first half, we just gave away too many opportunities. We had so many opportunities to get a head by 10 to 15 points and we didn't take the opportunities. When UCLA wasn't playing well we didn't go in for the kill, and any time you let a team hang around, and hang around they gain confidence. They have good players, they were going in to their players and we didn't have an answer.”
On The Positives Out Of Today
“Well I think one positive is that we didn't play well and we had a great shot to win at the end of the game. But we didn't play Colorado basketball, we didn't rebound, we didn't get transition offense at all except for when we got it though our defense. And I still think we had a great shot to win, and so I think that should be a positive for our team that we can compete with anybody and it is just the matter of taking that next step.”
On Figuring Out UCLA's Man Defense
“We did a good job in the zone, but then they got out of their zone and went back to man, and that's when we started having problems, they started upping their pressure, being aggressive on the on-ball screens. We weren't coming to passes, we weren't meeting the passes I feel like we could have gotten some fouls on them as they were slicing, and we were just kind of back on our heels. You can't let teams hang around till the end of the game, we are all competitors, they are competitive and they want to win just as much as we want to win so it's about controlling the things we can control and I didn't feel like we controlled a lot of things that we could have.”
On Their Short Bench
“And again that is what I'm talking about right at half time. I felt like they were tired, they were short on all their shots, they couldn't score the ball, they were subbing, they were gassed and we didn't take advantage, we didn't push the ball in transition nearly as well or we weren't running. I think their subbing was hard for us in terms of just matching up you always had to guard somebody different.”
Colorado Players
Chucky Jeffery, Jr., G
On Scoring Drought – “I think that we were really flustered at the beginning of the game, bobbling passes, dropping passes and turning the ball over. I think we were going too fast and we never got settled until later on in the first half. Then we started getting shots, but coming out we need to be way more focused.”
On UCLA's Defense – “It's at the end of the game and it's tied and that's when you have to get stops and up the pressure. They started switching screens and we weren't reading them well. We know that if they switch screens or trap screens that we need to throw it to the next person. We weren't making the right reads and turning the ball over and it killed us.”
Lexy Kresl, Fr., G
On UCLA's Momentum In Overtime – “They scored first and they kept going from there. We didn't really fight back as early as we should have…It kind of looked like it on defense. We weren't as much of a presence as we were in the beginning of the game. We didn't apply as much pressure, or box out like we were supposed to.”
On The Shooting Slump – “I feel like the new motion we put in was a little bit better for our personnel and it incorporated our post morale, so it helped with the scoring inside and outside.”
UCLA Head Coach Cori Close
On UCLA's performance – “I am really proud of my team's fight. The way that they were able to get rebounds when we needed to, that was really the difference in the game. I told our team that this was not going to be a physical game, it was going to be an attitude and mental game, and that's really what it was.”
On Colorado's performance – “I want to compliment Colorado Head Coach Linda Lappe and her team. Any time we're not playing them, I'm a fan of what's she's doing. I think she's building a great program. She's coaching up this team in a spectacular fashion. I'm so glad they are in the Pac-12.”
On going into overtime – “I told them the same thing that I told them during all the other time outs. I told them to rebound the basketball. The rebounding obviously wasn't going very well the rest of the game, so I think they really sucked it up. We had some big shots. Markel Walker and Rebakah Gardner have to hit the big shots. In all of our really close wins, they have hit the big shots. We tried to spread Colorado out. We knew we had to give Walker and Gardner more space to make plays. They wouldn't have had that opportunity if we didn't control Colorado's defense. That was truly the big difference in the game.”
On UCLA forward Markel Walker – “She's a nightmare for anyone to guard. In reality, she can hit the perimeter jumper. When she's hitting those, she's very hard to match up with. She's so strong on the interior and she's the best rebounder I've ever coached. I'm really proud of how she came out to play today. For her to rally this team, it really means a lot.”
On her first year of coaching at UCLA - “I'm going to be honest, it hasn't been easy, but that's part of what makes it so special. This team has chosen to do the hard things. I don't think that confidence comes when you do the easy things. Confidence comes when you choose any way to do the hard things. It hasn't been easy. Not only are they young, but only Markel Walker and Rebekah Gardner are the ones that have played in these situations. It's almost like everyone else are freshman, they are completely new to this. I'm so thankful for this team and that they've been willing to grow.”
