Colorado University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Colorado-Arizona State Quotes
January 26, 2014 | Women's Basketball
Colorado Head Coach Linda Lappe
General
“Well, obviously disappointed in the outcome of that game. Arizona State does a nice job; they're tough, well coached and they find ways to win games this year. They play tough down the stretch, and they make plays when they need to make plays. You have to really give them a lot of credit in situations because they've done this to a lot of different teams and we were kind of the victims tonight. The hard part about this game is that we really played well. I thought we did a lot of great things. We executed today a lot better than what we have been doing and we rebounded pretty well. We missed some key rebounds late that really hurt us. We had opportunities in the game and we had two or three great shots up one with about two minutes left and couldn't hit it. When it's tied and you have the ball on the sideline, you want to at least get a shot and you don't want to give them the ball back. Just about everything bad that could've happened did at the end of that game. So, I'm not thrilled with how it ended, but now we have to get back to work and do it again.”
On Why CU Isn't Making Plays Down The Stretch
“Bottom line, we have to make plays. We need to learn how to finish. The biggest thing is that we have to get a shot off. No matter what happens, if it's a foul, it better be a clear foul. They were calling fouls at the end of the game. They called two or three of them at the end of the game. You can't make excuses and you have to get back at it. Some of it might be about believing in each other at that time and looking in each other's eyes and saying, 'we're going to get this thing done.' It's about players stepping up in big situations. You look at Jen [Reese] and the night that she had and she's probably only going to remember the last shot that she took. She shouldn't because she's a huge reason why we were in that game. She moved so well and played a lot of minutes for us. I thought we had a lot of players step up and do a lot of really great things. Now it comes down to doing the extra and that's the thing when you have to make plays and you have to finish. Everybody gets better in the last few minutes of the game and you have to rise to the level and rise to the occasion.”
On Positives From Game
“There are a lot of positives. We out rebounded them and they're a good rebounding team. Our toughness level tonight was the way that we want it to be. I thought we were tough. We got a lot of loose balls. We executed in the last eight minutes, I thought really well. We hit free throws tonight, and it was good to see that again. Defensively, we were pretty solid for the most part. I liked our turnovers. With the exception of the last few minutes of the game, having ten turnovers against that team is good. There were twelve [turnovers] at the end of the game, but before that, only ten turnovers. I liked how Arielle [Roberson] was confident and poised. She brought up the ball a lot of times for us, and that was a really good way to get in our offense. There were a lot of positives to take out of that game. It just kind of hurts when the only thing the players will truly remember tonight is just the outcome.”
On Not Making Any Three-Pointers
“Arizona State doesn't give up three's. I think they might be the best in the conference of allowing three pointers to go. I think teams average maybe four three's, maybe even less than that, in a game. So, they don't give them up. I'm not concerned about that fact. I thought we took good three's when we took them. We didn't have a lot of them. I liked how we got to the free throw line. We took great shots. You know when you had Jen [Reese] and Arielle [Roberson] hitting those inside shots and those 15 or 17 footers, I don't think you have to hit a lot of three's, especially when they would be forced. Tonight we didn't have very many open three's. I thought we made good judgment in not forcing something up. I thought Lauren [Huggins] made some good passes and did a nice job of not forcing if it wasn't there. They're a good defensive team. They find three-point shooters and they pressure. They don't leave shooters, which is why those driving lanes are a lot of times open. I'm not concerned. If you're going two-for-fifteen like we have in the past, then yes that's a problem, but zero for four is not, and it wasn't how we were going to score tonight. I liked how we did something different and we found another way.”
On The Plan For The Final Possession
“Arielle [Roberson] was supposed to get that ball on the left, driving to the left. Lauren [Huggins] was going to be spotting up on that three and we were going to catch it a lot higher to get a decent shot. It didn't quite work out that way.”
Colorado Players
Brittany Wilson, Sr., G
On the last twenty seconds
“I felt like I got tripped and there was no call. There's nothing really to say.”
On what was said postgame by Head Coach Linda Lappe
“We just have to work on finishing. We had the game. You just have to finish.”
Jen Reese, Jr., F
On the last 20 seconds
“I felt like coming out of that timeout, we had the ball and we were focused. We just have to finish play. We should've got a shot up even if it didn't go in. We should've got a shot up. That would've left at least two or seconds left for them to have to hit a half courter. We just didn't finish. We didn't finish that last play and we got back and fouled. They hit their free throws. That's what happened.”
On what was said postgame by Head Coach Linda Lappe
“We can't expect it. We have to do it in practice. We just have to keep working in practice. I mean, we have to finish drills. If we don't finish it, it's not like we can do it again. Even if we do during practice, this is a game. We have to do it the first time.”
Arizona State Head Coach Charli Turner Thorne
On defeating Colorado in such a close game
“We've had such an advantage in these situations. A majority of our games have come down to one possession. We have a lot of experience in these situations. This team has a lot of confidence, and because of that, we've been able to come out on top of every single one of these close games. We have a great combination of veterans and freshman players who are just really tough. I'm proud of how we played today, and I think our toughness really showed. I'm really excited about this win.”
On her message to the team at the half about finishing the game
“In the pregame, our metaphor was that this is a heavy weight boxing match. You have to be able to take a punch. Colorado is a great team and they are very aggressive. They have a great winning tradition, and we knew we were going to get their best effort. At the half, we talked about how to evaluate and adjust. We tried to look at how we had been hurting them and how we weren't hurting them, and then tried to make the right adjustments. We're a tough team and we believe in ourselves, and ultimately, that's what helped us in the end.”
On ASU's 25 bench points
“This is why we are as good as we are. It's one of our huge strengths. Now that we're getting close to February, I think it's really going to kick in. Most teams play seven or eight kids and we play ten to eleven. We have our core players that play more minutes, but having the balance is great. Our depth in that area helps us a lot.”