Colorado University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Colorado-Northern Colorado Postgame Quotes
November 19, 2015 | Women's Basketball
Colorado Head Coach Linda Lappe
General
"I loved our defense, it really does get me fired up. Â I love how hard our players played on the defense end of things. Â We were active and we were moving our feet. Â We were helping each other out, and really did a good job of not letting Northern Colorado ever really get started and made every shot they took really difficult. Â I'm really proud of that, since we spent a lot of time on defense. Â Obviously you'd like to see the offense click a little better than it did, but you win with defense and I think it show you that we were able to win by a large margin because of our defense. Â The other night we were playing Loyola Marymount and our offense was clicking but we let them back into the game because we could nt get stops when we needed to get stops. Â Overall, it was very solid and I'm happy with where we are."
On Career Win 100
"Well it doesn't feel that much different from other wins. Â I don't really look too much at milestones, the only thing I really try to do is congratulate the players and staff members that I've had that have made this possible. Â As a head coach you have a very small part in all of those wins. Â It takes a lot of good player, talent and hard work to do that. Â I do want to take a chance to commend all the players and coaching staff members that have helped us get there."
On Slow Start to the 2nd Half
"Our offense in general was a little bit of a letdown coming out. Â We let them score a little bit too much in the third quarter. Â In general we were pretty sloppy with the basketball and we weren't clicking. Â You have to give Northern Colorado some credit, they did some good things defensively, they flooded the lane well and they were aggressive on the ball. Â They were coming after us with two and three players at a time every time you say the ball go inside. Â It was hard for us to sometimes get the ball out since they had so many players down in the lane. Â But we've got to be sharper, our timing, passing and movement wasn't that great. Â Those are the things that we have to shore up if you want to come away feeling like you played a great game."
On Momentum Going Into Game Against Kentucky
"We do have some momentum. Â Our offense has been playing well, up until tonight. Â But it was good for our defense to catch up. Â Now we just need to put those two things together. Â Obviously Kentucky is a tough opponent, they're big inside and they're going to pressure us. Â It will be nice to play against some true post players, it should feel more PAC-12 like then compared to what we've faced so far. Â That will be fun for us to see how our team does against competition like that."
On Kentucky Being An Early Test in the Season
"It was a little bit strategic to put this game so early in the season. Â I thought we could have some success in the first two games and now this game will show us some positives and some things we need to work on. Â It'll show us where we are strong and were we are weak. Â Ultimately non-conference is to prepare you for conference play and this game will definitely prepare us for not only conference play but the rest of our non-conference schedule as well. Â Sometimes after you've practiced for six or seven weeks you need to be shown what you need to get better at. Â I think we can go in there and compete, and I'm looking forward to watching a competitive team that will compete and we will have to be sharp and tough going into their gym."
On Kennedy Leonard and Alexis Robinson's Early Foul Trouble
"I thought they were a little tentative all night in their decision making and their aggressiveness. Â I liked that they both played great defense. Â Anytime you get two quick fouls you have to change your game slightly. Â Especially since Alexis got one on the offensive end, this always backs you off just a little bit. Â I do like their maturity, it shows a lot of confidence that we have in them that they can play with two fouls. Â I trusted that they would be smart and not pick up that third foul. Â They did show a lot of maturity in being able to play smart and do their work early to stay out of position to foul." Â
Colorado Players
Haley Smith, Jr. G/F
On Team's Improved Defensive Effort
"She (coach Linda Lappe) was just talking to us post-game about how we had a great offensive game last game, and then this one was a great defensive game. Putting those two together will have us a solid game for our next game against Kentucky. It was an awesome defensive effort for us. Holding them to 15 points in the first half was really awesome. We saw some great things. They (Northern Colorado) has some really good players and shooters. Holding them to 22% is awesome for us."
On Potential Letdown in the Beginning of the Second Half
"We really focused in the beginning of the second half on our defense, because we did have a little bit of a letdown in our last game. That was one of our focuses coming out. They hit some open shots coming out in the third quarter, so that was a wakeup that we needed to lockdown. After that, we were able to stop more of that and force them to drive when we have help. Waking up right then and not letting them get off those easy shots really helped us later in the third quarter and into the fourth."
On Getting Ready for Kentucky
"Being able to see that offensive effort we had in our last game and tonight playing lockdown 'D' gives us a lot of confidence. We had a little bit of stagnation on offense and didn't score quite as well tonight, but that's something that's easy to fix; we have some great offensive players. We have no worries about that. That gives us a lot of confidence."
On Kentucky's Atmosphere
"I think it's going to be really fun. We're all excited to have that big-time feel. We have lots of people coming out. We have Alexis Robinson – she's from Kentucky – is going to have some family out there. We're really excited about that. Everyone is really pumped for that atmosphere, whether or not the fans are cheering for us. To have that energy in the stadium, no matter who it's for, is awesome."
Jamee Swan, Sr. F
On Establishing CU's Advantage
"It was definitely a huge part. We talked a lot about getting paint touches and winning the battle of points in the paint. For us, it's a big accomplishment that we were able to do what we were asked and pull out a win."
On Getting Ready for Kentucky
"We look at it as another game. Wake up, everybody puts their shorts on the same way; everybody puts their shirt on the same way – one arm at a time. They're basketball players and we're basketball players. The names, we're not worried about that. We're worried that we're Colorado, but we're not worried about who they are. We're worried about what we need to do. With this game under our belt, I think we're ready to go in and play Colorado basketball"
On Kentucky's Atmosphere
"I'm excited too, because it reminds me of the time we played at UTEP. It'll be really fun to finally play again in a stadium that's packed. We're hoping to get that here at the Coors Event Center. It's going to be a lot of fun."
On Thunderous Block in the Second Half
"That one was really special to me, not only because I got the block but because that set Kennedy Leonard up to go down and make the easy bucket. All in all it was a productive block rather than one that was out of bounds."
UNC Head Coach Kamie Ethridge
On What Her Team Did Well This Game
"I didn't think we did very much well. It's a credit to Colorado, their length and their size really bothered us. We didn't move the ball really well against it, we didn't flip the floor much. Maybe we did better in the second half. But I liked a little bit of how we came out in the second half, our energy. I just think that we didn't execute very well for large parts of the game."
On If They Put A Big Focus Shooting From The Line
"Not really, we really don't spend much time at the foul line during practice. We tend to tell them to get that work done on their own. We put them in some pressure situations but other than that, it's a sad state that that's the only positive thing we have to talk about."
On Team Goals For Rest Of The Season
"The beauty of preseason and non conference play is to get a taste of all different styles and levels of play. Clearly Colorado plays in a BCS Conference and their bodies and their athleticism and their length is just greater than what we have. It's a great opportunity for us to face that. If we ever do grow our program where we're getting into the NCAA Tournament or having a chance at that, that's what you have to be used to. We have a few more opportunities; one is to play South Florida which presents itself some problems. We just look at this as one game. We'll dissect everything that we did well and didn't do so well. It's a journey and a growth process. I like this team. I think they respond well. They haven't hardly played at all in college, they're young. So we're going to get them to a better place by the end of this season. We may just hit some bumps along the way."