Colorado University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Colorado-Washington State Quotes
February 16, 2014 | Women's Basketball
Colorado Head Coach Linda Lappe
General
“Well, it seems a little bit like déjà vu. I credit our team for continuing to fight, battle, stay in games and have the shots to win at the end. The key with us right now is that we need to make a few extra plays down the stretch. We'll make plays to cut the lead from eight to two or to tie the game, but it comes down to making those key stops, key free throws, key passes, and key shots down the stretch that would help us achieve the outcome that we want.”
On How to Make Key Plays in Late-game Situations
“There's no magic formula; you just have to do it. You have to figure out that enough is enough and decide to be tough enough to do that [make key plays]. You have to understand that every team is going to get tougher down the stretch and that's when the stars are really born; it's where players step up.”
On Team Mentality Following Consecutive Close Losses
“Well, we're getting better in late-game situations. I think you can look at the last two games and you can see us executing a lot better down the stretch [than earlier in the season]. I really believe you have to take the positives out of it. We're staying in games with teams but we need to keep getting better.”
University of Colorado Student-Athletes
Ashley Wilson Sr., G
On where the game got away
“[The game got away] at the free throw line. We got stops tonight, we got stops when we needed stops. We just couldn't convert it at the free throw line.”
On the final minutes
“I think you just said it, we couldn't get the ball in the basket. Shots just weren't floating around like they were a couple of minutes before that.”
On any changes between the final minutes and the rest of the game
“No, not really. Shots just didn't fall.”
On slowing down [Washington State G] Tia Presley in the second half
“We made an emphasis on focusing on keeping the ball out of her hands. We had a couple of different players on her. We just were basically trying to keep the ball out of her hands and when she was driving, just have our bigger post players waiting for her at the basket. It turned out to work in our favor.”
On her second half mentality
“I picked up two fouls early. I was just sitting there watching the game and how it was being called. They were calling the whole hand-check thing, so seeing the game from the bench and noticing the hand-check thing, I was able to just basically get to the rim. Finishing was big and that was it. I just got to the rim.”
Jen Reese Jr., F
On if Jamee Swan was supposed to shoot on the final play
“Overall, yes. If there was more time, Ashley [Wilson] could have shot the ball. The pass was there. She had it.”
On the last play's design
“We have some plays that we practice for game situations. We work on that a lot. Coach [Linda Lappe] draws it up before, so we know what to do.”
On moving forward
“We have to forget about this game, but we have to learn from it as well and move on. We just have to finish down the stretch. We just have to play defense, rebound and keep doing what we are doing on offense. Hopefully good things will come. We have to come together as a unit again and start getting better every day.”
Washington State Head Coach June Daugherty
General
“There was great play today for both teams. These kids competed hard on both sides. It was very entertaining – almost too entertaining for us. The key to this game that we said coming in was rebounding. We were able to match them. At half time, we were not happy with where we were in rebounding and we really challenged our front line at doing a better job at being one and done on shot hits and not allowing Colorado to have the easy put backs. [Jamee] Swan was amazing today, and I think our kids really responded to that. On the other end of it, I think we started getting more offensive boards. That was key, and our kids really rallied. Hats off to our defense. These kids played really hard.”
On Back-to-Back Road Wins
“We've coached for a long time in this league, and it's really tough to get a sweep on the road, especially this time of year. I couldn't be more proud of this team and how hard they are playing. You can see the energy. They are playing harder and playing together. Every little play matters. They are making sure they are setting great screens for each other and the transition defense was much better. I'm proud of our energy and how we are playing so hard for each other.”
On Tia Presley's Performance
“She has had back-to-back 30 point games for us. She played too many minutes tonight, but you really can't take her out. She's such a fierce competitor.”
On Not Letting the Altitude Affect Their Performance
“We didn't even talk about the altitude. Last year we made the mistake as a coaching staff of talking about the altitude. We didn't even mention it yesterday at shoot around or earlier this week at Utah. We've got a lot of kids that can come in and play valuable minutes, so it's great that they don't have that mindset or use the excuse about playing at altitude.”