Colorado-Stanford Quotes

Colorado Head Coach Linda Lappe

General

“Well, I definitely liked the way we fought back tonight. Any time you lose a tough one like we lost on Friday, you can go in either one of two directions; you can feel sorry for yourself or you can show a lot of courage, character and resiliency, and I really liked seeing our fight and our toughness tonight. I thought we fixed a lot of things that we talked about during film on Saturday, but Stanford's good. You have to give them a lot of credit. It's fair to say that they are at least the second best team in the nation, and I can't think of another team besides Connecticut that is more dynamic or can hurt you in so many different ways. Chiney Ogwumike is one of the best players in the nation, and I felt like we gave it our best shot, put our best foot forward, we didn't back down and you have to like that from our team.”

On Stanford's Three-Point Shooting

“The difference in the game was threes. Giving up ten threes was significant in the first half, many of those came in transition and we just weren't getting back fast enough. We were hanging a little bit too long on the rebounds and we didn't find shooters in transition; we were mismatched. She [Stanford G Karlie Samuelson] did a nice job of knocking down her shots; we gave her way too many, way too many threes.”

On CU F Jamee Swan's Performance

“Jamee was fantastic. We knew that we were going to need Jamee in games like this and she was going at a good pace today. She was aggressive; she's a tough rebounder and physical player and at times, she gave Stanford a lot of problems. I liked her decision-making with the ball, I liked the way that she scored, and she played pretty good defense as well. It was tough to take her off the floor because we weren't getting the rebounds we needed to get when she was not in there. I'm really proud of her stepping up and playing the best game she's played all year.”

On Jasmine Sborov Not Playing Due To Injury

“It's tough any time you have to change your starting lineup. I thought Haley Smith did a fantastic job of coming in and giving us great minutes; she played tough and she was physical. I was okay with her fouling out because it meant she was aggressive. I feel bad for “Jaz.” This is the most fun time of the year and to not be able to compete and to play is really hard for her. I think she showed a lot of character and unselfishness by helping the rest of our team and our bench be better today. She can still be a huge part of our team even though she's out, and I think she understands that. But the faster we can get her back out [on the court], the better.”

Colorado Players

Arielle Roberson

On Stanford's Karlie Samuelson's Impressive Shooting Game

“I don't think surprised is the word. It was just mental lapses. We knew she was a shooter, but we continued to let her get her shots off, so nothing is shocking about that because Stanford has great shooters. We weren't in the correct matchup or helping off too much or not finding her in transitions. Miscommunications.”

On Defending Stanford's Chiney Ogwumike

“It's definitely a battle. It takes a lot of energy, but it is really fun. I enjoy it.”

On Their Team Standing After This Weekend

“After this weekend, I think we are more confident than we were before. We play really good basketball. I mean with the exception of the last six minutes in Cal, and then a few minutes here with Stanford, I think we have more positives to take away from this than the negatives. I think if we continue to play how we did in the second half and continue to fight how we did against Stanford, we have a really positive upside.”

On the Difference Between the First and Second Half

“We were definitely a lot more aggressive. Coach made the point in a timeout that they aren't calling all the fouls, so you might as well go in there, be aggressive and get a foul that way than just getting a ticky tack foul. So I think we upped aggression and just took it up and finally believed in ourselves, more than we did in the first half.”

Jamee Swan

On Defending Stanford's Chiney Ogwumike

“I enjoy it. It's a lot of fun to see how you stack up against somebody who is as good or better than you in the post.”

On Her Career Day

“I feel like I played pretty well. I don't think I could have done it without having my teammates helping me get to places I needed to get to and getting me the ball and all that kind of stuff. But it's another game. It was a great game.

On the Difference Between the First and Second Half

“I think our defensive intensity increased a lot. We knew that we needed stops, we needed to play and we had a shot at winning it. I feel like that was the change.”

Stanford Head Coach Tara VanDerveer

On Win

“I thought we had a good first half. I think Colorado played really aggressively. They got us in some foul trouble, but we had some young people step up, I thought. Lili [Thompson] came in and really helped us. Karlie [Samuelson] had a really big game. I thought Erica McCall came in and hit a big shot for us. But, I wasn't impressed with our overall team effort. I just think we looked a little tired. We weren't as sharp as we needed to be. We have a great player in Chiney [Ogwumike], and she really battled in there tonight.”

On Karlie Samuelson

“She really knocked down shots. She was 5-for-8. I thought we did a great job from the free throw line, which has not been our strength, and we did a great job from the three-point line. We were 10-21. So, in some way, we're doing all the hard things: we're shooting the ball, but we need a much better effort defensively and in terms of how we're playing. But, I credit Colorado. They're a top 20 team. They battled. Linda Lappe does a great job with her team. They are a very, very well coached team and she showed it tonight.”

On Withstanding Late CU Rally

“Well, we hit some big shots and we made free throws. Mikaela Ruef made two down the stretch. Taylor [Greenfield] missed one, but we did a great job from the free-throw line. Lili [Thompson] made a big three. Erica McCall hit a really nice high post shot. We made shots. It would have been better if we would have taken better care of the ball and maybe done a better job on the glass.”