Colorado University Athletics
Colorado-Oregon Quotes
February 10, 2013 | Women's Basketball
Colorado Head Coach Linda Lappe
General
“Well I really liked our second half, I thought we came out strong we pushed the ball well in transition extremely well in the second half. I liked the decisions that we made, I thought for the first time in a long time we took what the defense gave us we pushed but we made the right decisions in transition. That led to 17 assists and only 12 turnovers. I thought it was great being able to win two games in one weekend and protecting our home floor is really important. I liked how a lot of our players played significant minutes we moved the ball really well generally on offense.”
On Playing The Bench
“Anytime you can get players experience is important, especially young players. I thought Kyleesha (Weston) came in and really did her job and she played within the system, that was really good to see. Jamee Swan had a little bit of a tough night in terms of getting into some foul trouble, but she was able to battle in there and was able to take some shots, she got one shot blocked which was good so she could adjust. It is good, especially when you play that tempo; you have to playn10 players to stay fresh. We knew it was going to be a fast pace game today, and everybody who came in just kept that pace going.”
On Adjusting To Oregon's Start
“We were giving them too much space, good offensive players they don't need very much space to be able to get their shot off. We were treating them more like drivers than shooters, and the scouting report said 'pull up jump shooters.' I thought our pressure got better at the end of the first half. Then we were letting it into the posts too easily, we were standing behind and they are too good for that.”
On The Team's Offense
“You look at the scoring and I think it mostly has to do with the passer. I felt like our passers were seeing the floor much better tonight, we were seeing slips and openings. A lot of times we have those same sort of looks and we aren't seeing them as a passer. So we talked a lot about not being tunneled vision when we have the ball and being able to have good vision and seeing the floor and the openings. You have to give credit to our players for finding those gaps, especially Jen and Arielle even Jasmine and I thought it definitely helped us.
On Rachel Hargis
“Well Rachel has been a beast defensively. She had an outstanding defensive game against Oregon State. You look at her defense and she doesn't make very many mistakes, she is helping everybody else out. So it was nice to see her get some good shots on offense, she was aggressive in there and wasn't forcing them. So, her teammates did a great job of moving off of the ball, and that allowed her to get some nice looks. Her footwork is really good, when she is staying off of their body early and keeping her hands up, she is a pretty athletic post player. She understands everything about the defense and that is something she has worked on for years. At some point you get to the point of where the game slows down for you even on the defense end. So she knows what the offense is doing before they even do it, she understands positioning and I think that is what you are seeing with Rachel right now. She is doing a tremendous job for us this year. Another thing that Rachel does is she provides so much toughness and that goes to everybody else on the rest of the team.”
On Oregon's Quick Start
“Well I didn't think we were being very aggressive we were letting them score however they wanted to score with not very many passes. I thought we needed to do a better job of staying tighter to them; we were giving them way too much space, which was allowing them to get to their shots. Just a little bit of lighting the fire and we didn't look like we were ready for what they were brining so we just needed to take a deep breath and get back out there.”
On Having 54 Steals
“It is a lot of steals; it is aggressiveness; it is positioning; it is understanding where you are suppose to be defensively, and helping each other out. That is all knowing a scouting report and knowing tendencies, and just working really hard. A lot of time it seems like there are eight players on the floor defensively and anytime you have that it is tough for offenses to score. Defense is the bread and butter and If we continue to do that we will be a really good team.”
On Having A “Good February”
“February and March are always very important, I like our schedule, we still have to go on the road two more weekends. And we are going to have to be ready. I think the biggest thing with this team is our players still want to get better, each and every day. We have had very few sub-par practices and when you are coming to practices ready to work it keeps it fun and it keeps everybody energized and I think all of that filters through. The key is February and March are the two most fun months in our season because all of the prep work is over, so it is nice to be able to enjoy and improve and take care of business in February and March.”
Oregon Head Coach Paul Westhead
General
“I thought we played reasonably well. I was pleased.”
On preparing for team's next game
“We're going to be preparing for cutting down turnovers and defending pick-and-rolls better.”
Colorado Players
Brittany Wilson, Jr., G
ON RELAXED NATURE OF THE GAME- “It was a good game. We shared the ball a lot as a team. We had 17 assists. We hit open shots and played great defense so as a team, we put in a great effort all around. I don't think you can ask anymore out of the girls. They [Oregon] started out hot then we realized it and made changes [in the] second half and came out and played hard.”
ON GAMES SINCE UCLA LOSS- “I think we have just focused on us and realize that we are a great team and as long as we play together, we are one of the best teams in the nation. We have been working hard and the girls have been competing and that is all you can really ask of them. Of course, UCLA was disappointing. We didn't come out ready but that is in the past and we are focused and ready and we need to have a great February.”
ON CHUCKY JEFFERY'S PLAY-“I think she commands attention. She is a great player. I think it is kind of expected now for her to get a double-double every game.”
ON INSTINCT IN LAST FIVE GAMES TO PUT TEAMS AWAY EARLY-“We just realized that we have to have a great February. In our last two years, we haven't had a great February. We just want to come out and step on their toes and keep going.”
ON BEING RANKED-“I think it is a bigger testament to what we have been doing and how hard we have been working, and how hard we have been working to bring the tradition back, how hard we have been playing together and competing. I think this is a great team all-around. I think we have always had that heart but couldn't take that extra step. In the last five games and the whole season, we have been taking that extra step and it feels good to be ranked but you never want to pay too much attention to it because you never know who's night is going to be who's night. So we just have to come out and play like we are not the target.”
Lexy Kresl, So., G
ON SECOND HALF CHANGES-“In the second half, we normally come out with a lot more pressure and we decided to do that again – pressuring the ball and not letting it go into the post so easily.”
ON CHANGING THE GAME AFTER FIRST FIVE MINUTES-“We recognized who was going to be scoring and who was going to be shooting and we definitely picked up the pressure on them more and played them a little bit closer.”
ON CU PLAYERS DOING WELL OFFENSIVELY-“Yeah it's a lot of fun especially seeing people who don't normally score get the opportunity to play – like Alexus Atcheley – that's great for everybody to get involved.”
ON ALEXUS ATCHLEY SCORING FIRST CAREER POINTS-“She does that every day in practice, it's hard to believe. She is a real great competitor and pushes us a lot.”
ON MEAGAN MALCOM-PECK'S ABSENCE ON THE FLOOR-“Meagan is still a wonderful leader and she leads us vocally. Chucky is more of an example leader and she pushes us on the floor, but Meagan is just as important to the team.”
Rachel Hargis, Jr., C
ON GETTING OPEN LOOKS-“Coach (Lappe) talked to us about moving the ball well and just keep it moving and not holding it as much.”
ON HER GAME-“Playing a zone, you don't expect to score low inside that much but coach talked to us about keep attacking and cutting to open areas and that's what I focused on today. I didn't have a good offensive game against Oregon State so I had to get back in my groove tonight and it was better.”
ON FOULING LESS-“I have just worked on moving my feet better and not letting the post get seals so easily and just keep working around them and making it hard for them to catch it originally.”
ON CHUCKY JEFFERY'S PLAY-“I feel like she has really stepped up into a leader role position on the team and that has helped her game as well and she is staying more even keeled and that has helped her a lot.”
ON INSTINCT IN LAST FIVE GAMES TO PUT TEAMS AWAY EARLY-“Our defense has really been shutting teams down and coach focuses on that a lot and we have really stepped that up.”
