Colorado University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Colorado-Oregon State Quotes
February 20, 2015 | Women's Basketball
Colorado Head Coach Linda Lappe
General
"It was a tough night for us. You have to give Oregon State a lot of credit. They do a nice job and keep coming at you. They have a great balance in their team and we knew it was going to be a tough game. I really liked the fight of our team. I really like how hard we played and how tough we played defense, especially in the first half. I thought that really kept us in the game. It really comes down to being able to execute and knock down some open shots. It's not always going to fall your way and anytime you shoot a low percentage you have to give their defense a lot of credit. I thought they did a nice job of forcing us into some really tough shots"
On Adjustments Oregon State Made In The Second Half
"They changed how they were guarding on-ball screens a little bit. They forced us to take some outside shots.  I just thought they did a nice job giving us fewer open looks. They stayed a lot tighter to Jen Reese and pretty much kept somebody glued to her. I wish that we had been able to get her a few more minutes of rest in the first half because she got worn down a little bit. That's where you have to give Oregon State a ton of credit because they keep coming after you, but I liked our resolve and fight. There are things that we can get better at, but I also saw a lot of really good things."
On Competitive Nature of Pac-12
"It's a great league this year. You can see that because Arizona, which is one of the last place teams, just beat Stanford not too long ago. It's really fun and it makes for a really fun conference. This is definitely the deepest it's been since we've been in it. We could get five or six teams into the NCAA tournament with really good seeds. It is really good for the Pac-12 to have multiple teams vying for those top-four spots and to have a lot of up-and-coming teams that can beat any of those top-four teams."
On The Play Of Oregon State
"They're number one in the league for a reason and you can see why. They have such good balance, they're tough and they shoot the ball well. I thought that we did a great job guarding their post players for the most part. We took them out of their element, but then someone else step up. You have to have five really good defenders and have a really good defensive scheme to beat them."
On The Height Of Oregon State
"They have a lot of length not only on the inside, but the outside as well."
On First Half Play Of Colorado
"We were defending really well and made them take tough shots. Everything that they did in the first half was tough. We forced them into five assists to ten turnovers in the first half, so that was a huge stat for us. In the second half, they had 11 assists to four turnovers. That really changed the tide. We were able to turn them into one-on-one players, I thought our help-side was good, we clogged up the paint and were tough on the inside. We were just able to execute offensively, especially in that stretch right before halftime, but the tide turned in the start of the second half."
Colorado Players
Jen Reese, Sr., F
On Second Half Play
"We couldn't get our shots to fall in the second half, especially with five minutes left. Coming out at halftime we did pretty well defending and turning Oregon State into one on one players. We just couldn't get stops when we needed to or score when we needed to."
On Playing Oregon State
"They have great players who can all score at any given time, just like we can. I feel like we matched up well to a point, and our first half play showed that since Oregon State only got 26 points. We just have to play a whole 40 minutes, we just can't play 30-35 minutes it's not going to cut it."
Jamee Swan, Jr., F
On Losing
"It's always frustrating to lose. We made some great strides as a team in becoming a better team in general. We are working towards our goal every day. And as disappointing as the loss is, we still have our goal and today I think we got better and closer to that goal."
On First Half Defensive Play
"We talked a lot about defense this week in practice. For us defense sparks our offense, so when our offense isn't performing you know that you can always rebound, defend, and keep players from the basket. Shots going in aren't something you can control but you can control your defensive effort. I think that today we decided to play defense as a team, and that defense was going to be our big goal for the night."
Oregon State Head Coach Scott Rueck
General
"I think they responded well to Colorado's play in the first half. I felt Colorado played very well. Jen Reese is so hard to guard and Jamee Swan is so difficult to guard and they played very well in the first half. They limited our post play and I think we just responded just like really good teams do. I thought we brought a great defensive effort in the second half and I think we took them out of what they wanted to do. We were first to the ball in several instances when we got a loose ball. We turned those into transition points and I thought we hit a nice rhythm of offensive execution in the second half."
On Their 63% Shooting Percentage In The Second Half
"I thought we moved the ball really well. I think we made better decisions in how we attacked off the dribble which created opportunities off of the perimeter. I thought we got great performance from Ali Gibson tonight. I thought she really sparked us into attacking the basket."
On Getting The Pac-12 Conference Championship
"There is still work to be done. It think we're in a great position. The team has created a great position and a great opportunity for themselves. We've got 40 more minutes to play this weekend and then 80 minutes to play next weekend. So, I know this team is laser focused. We just have to continue to get wins."
On Playing Stanford And Cal At Home
"We love being at home. That's a place that the team plays very well and we're supported incredibly well. Any time we can play in Gill Coliseum is great."
Colorado-Oregon State Game Story