Colorado University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Colorado-CSU Pueblo Quotes
November 08, 2014 | Women's Basketball
Colorado Head Coach Linda Lappe
General
"We're excited to about being able to put on the uniforms and getting on the court, giving our fans a preview of what's to come. Our exhibition game is very much like a dress rehearsal in that that there's a lot of things that we have to learn. The purpose is to feel really confident and comfortable when we hit the floor next Saturday against North Dakota. I like, especially our first group, in how they defended tonight. I think to end the first half and really challenge them to get defensive stops. We felt like we were giving up too many good looks to CSU-Pueblo. I think we held them to five points in the last few minutes or so. Our first group did a tremendous job defensively, trying to keep them steady, getting stops and turning them into offensive points. Obviously, some negatives were our overall defense and our consistency of our defense. I felt like we gave up a few too many in the second half. Give CSU-Pueblo a lot of credit. [Katie CSU-Pueblo Sr., C] Nehf is a good player. I watched her all the time in high school, I really liked her as a high school player. It's been fun to see how she's progressed through her career. She is a dynamite player, she scored well in the low block, and it was tough for us to guard her."
On Having More Than 50 Rebounds As A Team
"That's what we talked about after the game. Great job. I think that there's positives and negatives to that. The positive is that we stayed after it. We stayed persistent. Our post-players did a nice job of continuing to keep with it. They didn't give up and they didn't put their head down when they missed an easy shot. They kept getting the rebound and until it when they kept after it. I really liked that. Obviously, we missed way too many layups. Both our posts and our guards missed quite a few layups. So we have to get better at that, but that's part of playing live and playing against different teams, and feeling comfortable when you drive in there."
On Bri Watts' Return
"Bri has definitely changed her mindset. She really struggled last year with just the transition from high school to college. More so, towards the end of the year, it was just being able to get up and down the floor like she would need to get up and down the floor. You got to give her a lot of credit. She put in the extra work; she worked hard on her conditioning. She's really taken a lot of challenges that have been thrown her way. We know she can play in the half-court really well. Anytime we do a half-court drill, Bri dominates and that's the expectation and that's her expectation. But when we start to go up and down, that's where she used to really struggle. Now, she's getting to be in great shape. She's done that. She'll give other people credit all the time, which is great, but she has to put in the hard work and she has to push herself. She's learned how to really push herself. She's learned her limit and to go past her limit. Last year, she would never be able to go past her limit. That really hurt her. This year is completely different."
On Freshman Players' Play
"They have got to pick it up defensively. I think that's a lot of the time the hardest part for freshmen is to understand our defensive system. We play team defense. It's a big adjustment to go from high school to college. I like their demeanor; I like how hard they play; they come in with energy. You got to like the fact that [Zoe] Correal [Fr., C] runs down the floor and posts up hard. Brecca [Thomas, Fr., G] had some nice pull-up jumpers. Alina [Hartmann Fr., G/F] brings constant energy, enthusiasm, and hustle. They do a lot of good things. Now it's just a matter of getting them better defensively so they can be in."
On The Play Of Both Of The Team's Point Guards
"I liked how Lexy [Kresl Sr., G] moved the ball up and down the floor. I liked the tempo of our team when she was in. I liked how Brecca finished, in terms of just creating the tempo. I thought Lexi was passing up some good opportunities early to try and get some great opportunities instead of just taking the easy pass and making the right read. We talked a little bit about to her about that. I liked how she made the change in the second half. She's playing really aggressive; she worked hard over the summer. She has a lot of confidence right now. Brecca is just learning. For a freshman point guard, she's trying to keep her head above water. Every week you see her getting a lot more comfortable on both ends of the ball. We hope she continues to do that."
On Playing A Competitive Game Without Arielle Roberson
"I always like playing one, a game with our uniforms on. It's a different environment; it gets the nerves going a bit. We've been practicing without her for a long time. For us, for our team and for our staff, it's not going to be any different whether we put on our uniform or not, in terms of having Arielle [Roberson Jr., F]. More so, it was about giving our team a chance to get that dress rehearsal and to get the nerves, because we have a big one coming up."
Colorado Players
Bri Watts, So., C
On finally getting to play
"I mean it was like being back in high school, being able to play. I finally got to be out here on the court with my teammates. I have been working really hard. Last year was a little rocky but I'm back, and it's nice being back out there."
On preparing for this season
"I just had a little struggle with school and stuff. So they (the coaches) really helped me out, by taking me out. But I just got back in and worked out hard. I worked out with our strength and conditioning coach, I worked out with Jonas (Jonas Chatterton; assistant coach on the 2013-14 team) and now with JB (Jenni Benningfield; assistant coach), the coaches and my teammates really helped me get back out there."
On having a personal confidence boost
"Yes it is, I mean it was a lot of fun to finally be out there with my teammates. Knowing what we can do as a team is very exciting."
Jamee Swan, Jr., F
On the play of the University of Colorado front court
"You know that's always what we look for. I mean it's a team sport, so not only one person can do it. And it's awesome when, you know that when I kick this out for an open shot they (teammates) will make the shot. So for me I was really excited to see that everybody was scoring. And it's going to be really hard to stop us this year if we all continue to contribute and be the best we can be."
CSU-Pueblo Head Coach Kip Drown
How does playing a Division I team help your team?
"Well I think number one is they expose weaknesses and for us that's good. Its things that we will go back and work on, we didn't block off very well. They are a big basketball team compared to us. I thought they hurt us with some cuts offensively that we have to do a better job with. They show our weaknesses and give us something to go back and work on this week and get ready because we open up with Montana State-Billings on Friday night."
What are your thoughts on Katie Nehf playing here as a local kid?
"I was really glad she could, she had a fantastic game, she had 23 last Saturday against Northern Colorado and I would guess she had 20 tonight. She is a senior and our lone returning starter. We are very young, she is the only kid we have that has started a game in college. This is the first time she has ever lost on this court, she won three state championships at Broomfield here, but I thought she played great."
What are you overall thoughts on the game?
"I'm very appreciative that CU had us up to play. I really appreciate that, I told our kids it's a great experience and to enjoy it, to come in and play in this arena against a quality team like Linda has. Linda and I go back to when she was at Metro and in the RMAC. I always really thought a lot of her, she does a great job. I thought it was a great experience for us and I hope that we made it a great experience for them. I hope they felt like they took some things away from it positively. I know we are going to be a better basketball team from coming up here."