Post Game Coach and Players' Quotes
December 31, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 31, 2006
General Comments:
"We talked about, going into this game, playing 40 minutes. UCLA is so talented, and they are so much better disciplined as a team. They certainly gave us a lot. It was tough to handle them at times, and they jumped out to that lead. I think we showed good poise and leadership to get out there and get the defensive stops. We needed to settle down, and be a little more patient offensively to be able to climb back in there. Kids coming off of the bench, Erica Schelly, again had a huge game. With Emily's foul situation, I thought she got in there when our offense was sputtering a little bit and really got us going. We are really excited about this win, because obviously they are a good team."
On Defending Quinn:
"We tried to mix it up as much as we could, as far as personnel on her and what looks we wanted to give her, whether it was player to player or matchup. We tried to trap the pick and roll, as much as we could. She is so good off the dribble and the pick and roll. We weren't really effective early on that, but as we got going into the second half I thought we got a little bit better at it. Basically, enormous respect, she is one of my favorite players. That sounds funny, because she is on the opposition, but she is so talented. It is great to see our kids believing that we could do something to settle her down, because she is so capable of having the big game."
On slow start to the game:
"At this point in the year, I think everybody knows, they have seen all of our preseason tapes, and we have seen all 14 of UCLA's tapes. We know exactly what teams are doing because of our scouting. So, I think people are well prepared. We were working three or four weeks ago to get ready for these games, preparing for stuff and putting things in. I think that is a part of it. Also, I think tonight UCLA was playing much, much more disciplined defense. I think they are a very interesting team and are very well coached."
On physicality of the game:
"That was a Pac-10 game, and it seems like they are always pretty physical. We just remind our kids to play hard and to play within the game, don't get crazy with it. You don't want to get your frustration level so high that you do something you regret later."
Jill Bell- Forward/ Center
On her intensity: "I just tried to come off the bench and maintain the intensity to win the game. I tried to pick up everybody on the floor, and take the shots that were available and open."
On being one of the taller players in the conference: "I don't really see myself as one of the taller players in the Pac-10. I am usually one of the smaller players on the post. But every night, it is always a tough match-up. I have to utilize my quickness, and get around them because I am not going to beat them with my size."
On Cameo scoring big: "It just always help when someone is making their shots. It kind of helps everyone else, and takes the stress off and the load off from everyone else on the floor. I just did the best I could, and I am just happy that everyone was stepping up in the second half."
On the fans: "It is great. It feels like with every home game we are getting a little bit more fans. It has been so helpful these past ten games. The support is just so helpful. Every game is going to be hard and tough, and it is helpful to have the crowd there and the fans supporting us."
On Cameo's performance: "It is like that every night for Cameo. She is always playing hard, trying to carrying us, and bringing her intensity. Of course that is going to trickle on down to everyone else. We all want to play hard, and Cameo plays like that every night."
On Noelle Quinn's game play: "She likes to shot fake, and come off the dribble. I try to stay down because I have the tendency to jump and try to block everything. I just try to stay down, and play one-on-one. It frustrated her a little bit--she still got points because she is a great player. That was just my focus, was to maintain her defensively.
Cameo Hicks-Guard
On playing harder the second half: "I think we knew that we could play harder than we did in the first half. We did a good job the first half maintaining the offensive threats, but we knew we had to come out in the second half and not be satisfied with the effort in the first half."
On the energy: "We had a lot of energy in the second half, especially when it got close down the stretch and we started to kind of pull away. The crowd definitely kept us into it. We have great fans. When things get that close, we have to share our intensity and when we share our intensity it goes through the whole team."
