Colorado University Athletics
North Carolina Press Conference Quotes, 3/23/2003
March 23, 2003
BOULDER -
Sylvia Hatchell
GENERAL: "We are excited about playing tomorrow. Colorado looked good last night. They shot the ball well, especially from three-land. We know they are an excellent inside team. It should be a great match-up. Of course, they are on their home court, but we've played in some tough places before, so we are just going to prepare and be ready to go."
ON SITE SELECTION: "I think home court is definitely and advantage but as you play this game you come up against difficult obstacles. This is an obstacle. I have never been for home court before, but you deal with it and you try to make the most out of it. That's the way the rule is now. You try to deal with it and be very professional. My biggest concern is what's fair for the student athletes. I don't think this is fair for the student athletes."
ON PLAYING FOUR GUARDS: "(We will) if we feel like we need to for defensive or offensive reasons. We have several combinations, so if we need to, that's something we will do."
ON THE GAME PLAN: "They have a lot of strength. They're very fundamental with great execution and a good half-court team. We know that their inside game is very strong. We have to be concerned with the inside helping out with the big girl. We also have to worry about their outside shooters too. Hopefully, they won't have the hot hand again because they shot lights out last night. We like an up-tempo game and we will not change the way we play."
ON SUTTON VS. BJORKLUND: "(Sutton) has played against some good post players. I think that has prepared her for the challenge she will face tomorrow night."
North Carolina Players
C Candace Sutton
ON TERA BJORKLUND: "She's a great player. We watched film on her and it's going to be a great match up."
ON ALTITUDE: "A Couple of days ago it was once down the court and we're winded. We're getting acclimated to the altitude now and we'll be ready definitely by tomorrow night."
ON COLORADO: "We know they are a good team. They have great shooters, but I think we have a good game plan and we'll be ready to play."
ON NIKITA BELL: "She's our spark, our defensive spark. She's our energy and we feed off of her energy. She played great considering how sick she was (last night)."
F Nikita Bell
ON ALTITUDE: "I just tried to take my time and breath and get some oxygen in and stay calm and not panic. I had gotten sick...Feel better than yesterday but still feel a little better.
"I don't think it's that bad now. We have been playing here for a few days. I think we'll be all right tomorrow night.
"Honestly, I believer it doesn't matter where we play as long as we work and play with the coaches game plan we should be able to come out and win."
ON THE GAME AGAINST AUSTIN PEAY: "I think the main thing is that we could have played on the shooters a little bit more. We helped off and then we were able to readjust at the end.
"I think that we missed a lot of easy shots. Normally, that's one thing that we don't do. I think tomorrow night we'll come out a lot better than we did last night."