Washington-Baylor Postgame Quotes
December 15, 2004 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 15, 2004
HEAD COACH June Daugherty
General Comments: "Obviously, the first half was super basketball. We played some of the best basketball that we've played in quite a long time here and it was a great game to be a part of. Then second half was probably the most frustrating thing to be a part of. We showed remarkable improvement. I thought the starting five just came out like gangbusters, they really showed their colors and really got us going. It was just back and forth, nobody was backing down, the support off the bench was great and then the second half it was just like a switch went on. The one switch that went on was Baylor stepped up. They stepped up defensively and it was one and done. We put a shot up and they were all over the glass. We were up positive on the glass the first half but second half it was like every time a shot went up you saw waves of green, and it was going the other way. Then they got into their running game, that's their forte and you guys saw the rest of the story. We've got to solve the riddle of the second half, because we have proved to ourselves, whether it be Minnesota, Notre Dame or Baylor, for a half that we can stand toe to toe with anybody. But we can't do it for 40 right now. We've got to be able to find the answers to that."
On if the first half was an indication of how the team can play: "I think so, I really do. We showed fire, we showed great intensity coming out. We were executing at a very high level on both ends of the floor. We were able to mix it up defensively a little more than what we've done. The kids were really responding. What was it, three fouls in the first half by both teams? We weren't just grabbing people, we were disciplined about what we were doing defensively. And that's exciting, and that's what we're going to build on. But as the coach I've got to find the answers for this second half and I'm going to find the answers and when we do I think we've got a chance to be a really good team. So we've got to go to work here and figure this out."
On second half momentum swing: "We went through a drought again. What was it, nine minutes or something? It seemed like an eternity out there where again Baylor stepped up. You saw all of a sudden we couldn't skip the ball anymore to our shooters. They were all over Hicks, they were all over Burt because they had great first halves. The other thing was they collapsed the middle on penetration and it was just arms everywhere. They really were flying at you, and then they were just cleaning up glass. We were one and done and that's when I felt like the whole momentum shifted and it went to what their bread and butter and that's running the basketball. They love to get out and just run, run, run."
GUARD Kayla Burt
On team's first half performance: "We did a good job in the first half executing on offense. Our double screen was working well and I was able to hit some shots coming off of it.
On Baylor's second half defense: "Baylor did a lot better job on defense in the second half. They were staying with me and paying more attention on defense. I got a few good looks, but my feet weren't really set and I got a little out of rhythm."
On Washington's second half performance: "I think that we lost our intensity in the second half and that has been a problem for us all year. We just have to keep fighting, because we are playing with these teams and playing fine. We have enough confidence when we play these big name teams, but we just have to put two halves together."
GUARD Cameo Hicks
On team's performance: "We just lost our intensity. In the first half we came out really solid and executed on offense and we seemed to be doing all of the little things. In the second half we kind of went away from those things."
On Emily Niemann: "We knew from the beginning that we had to know where she was at all times. We weren't surprised that she was a good shooter, but she did a good job of getting us off of our feet and in the air to give her a better look."
