louisville locker room quotes
2009 NCAA® WOMEN’S FINAL FOUR® Championship Final · UConn vs. Louisville Scottrade Center · Saint Louis, Missouri Tuesday, April 7
LOUISVILLE LOCKER ROOM QUOTES Freshman Forward Becky Burke About trying to stay with UConn in the first half: “I thought we stayed with them pretty well in the first half but we had a few breakdowns. They went on a run and got their lead. We felt like we did a very good job of staying with our game plan, at least in the first half. What happened in the second half – we had mental breakdowns and you can’t make those mistakes against Connecticut. Our goal was obviously to win a national championship. We are really happy just to be here but we fell a little short.” On what she learned from this experience: “We learned we had to play as a team. We have to listen to our coach and do what he tells us to do. We could be as good as any team in the country.” Freshman Forward Monique Reid On if it takes a perfect game to beat Connecticut: “We definitely thought we’d have to play a perfect game to beat them – we just had too many turnovers to make it close.” On next year: “We think we can get a lot better and progress as a team. We have to continue to play with a lot of heart and a lot of pride. That’s what Louisville basketball is.” Freshman Forward Janae Howard On getting to play in the National Championship game as a freshman: “It was an overwhelming experience. We just didn’t follow our game plan to the extent that we needed to. We tried to pick it up (in the second half), but were taking shots that we didn’t need to and the game kind of got away and we couldn’t pick it back up.” On guarding UConn’s Maya Moore: “She’s a great player and I tried to keep her in front and keep a hand up in her face as she has a quick release.” On the season: “It was a great year. Angel (McCoughtry) and Candyce (Bingham) made it as great as they could. They put us on their back and they got us here (to the title game) and we tried to do everything we could to step up when they needed us to. It was a great experience; we couldn’t have gotten here without them. I give everything to them.” On missing so many easy shots: “We missed a lot of easy shots and a lot of layups. It’s really hard to get back in the game after you’ve missed the easy ones. At one point I think we’d missed ten points worth of layups which at that time could have had us up a few points instead of being down six or eight like we were.” On if Louisville can have similar success next year: “We’re going to do everything we can and try and get in the gym as much as possible. I know we can make our program like their program. They (Connecticut) had to start from the bottom and we had to start from the bottom and I think we can get to the top too. “Now that we’ve got a taste of it we’re going to do everything we can to get back. Our seniors are great players and great leaders but there’s no reason to think that other girls in this locker room can’t step up and help us be just as good next year.”
Notes and quotes can be found at NCAA.com
CONNECTICUT QUOTES 2009 NCAA® Women’s Final Four® Scottrade Center · Saint Louis, Missouri Tuesday, April 7 Page 2 Freshman Guard Tiera Stephen On playing for the National Title as a freshman: “We are so blessed to (be at the title game); no one thought we’d be here, I don’t think us five freshmen thought we’d be here. But I think we got this far because of our seniors. I think the most disappointing thing rather than the sad thing about this loss is that we won’t get Candyce (Bingham) and Angel (McCoughtry) back next year. Losing these two is the most disappointing thing about the year.” On the experience of playing in the NCAA Final Four: “The best part of this whole weekend was waking up this morning and knowing that the men’s tournament is over, the NIT tournament is over and we are the last two teams playing.” On Louisville’s fans: “Nobody expected us to be here first as much as the men and the men’s loss was a little disappointing and that was a big shift in support to our team. When people were doubting us, we had heart and fought to get here.” Freshman Center Gwen Rucker On when they felt that the game was slipping away: “I didn’t really think it slipped away at all because I thought we could come back no matter what, even when we were down by 20. I could start to see it on our faces though in the last ten minutes or so.” On how Connecticut is able to be so good: “I honestly don’t know how they are so much better than everybody. I think that what separates them is that they spend so many hours in the gym while others probably don’t. It seems like they don’t miss shots and they take every position for what it’s worth. The never take a possession off.”
LOUISVILLE LOCKER ROOM QUOTES Freshman Forward Becky Burke About trying to stay with UConn in the first half: “I thought we stayed with them pretty well in the first half but we had a few breakdowns. They went on a run and got their lead. We felt like we did a very good job of staying with our game plan, at least in the first half. What happened in the second half – we had mental breakdowns and you can’t make those mistakes against Connecticut. Our goal was obviously to win a national championship. We are really happy just to be here but we fell a little short.” On what she learned from this experience: “We learned we had to play as a team. We have to listen to our coach and do what he tells us to do. We could be as good as any team in the country.” Freshman Forward Monique Reid On if it takes a perfect game to beat Connecticut: “We definitely thought we’d have to play a perfect game to beat them – we just had too many turnovers to make it close.” On next year: “We think we can get a lot better and progress as a team. We have to continue to play with a lot of heart and a lot of pride. That’s what Louisville basketball is.” Freshman Forward Janae Howard On getting to play in the National Championship game as a freshman: “It was an overwhelming experience. We just didn’t follow our game plan to the extent that we needed to. We tried to pick it up (in the second half), but were taking shots that we didn’t need to and the game kind of got away and we couldn’t pick it back up.” On guarding UConn’s Maya Moore: “She’s a great player and I tried to keep her in front and keep a hand up in her face as she has a quick release.” On the season: “It was a great year. Angel (McCoughtry) and Candyce (Bingham) made it as great as they could. They put us on their back and they got us here (to the title game) and we tried to do everything we could to step up when they needed us to. It was a great experience; we couldn’t have gotten here without them. I give everything to them.” On missing so many easy shots: “We missed a lot of easy shots and a lot of layups. It’s really hard to get back in the game after you’ve missed the easy ones. At one point I think we’d missed ten points worth of layups which at that time could have had us up a few points instead of being down six or eight like we were.” On if Louisville can have similar success next year: “We’re going to do everything we can and try and get in the gym as much as possible. I know we can make our program like their program. They (Connecticut) had to start from the bottom and we had to start from the bottom and I think we can get to the top too. “Now that we’ve got a taste of it we’re going to do everything we can to get back. Our seniors are great players and great leaders but there’s no reason to think that other girls in this locker room can’t step up and help us be just as good next year.”
Notes and quotes can be found at NCAA.com
CONNECTICUT QUOTES 2009 NCAA® Women’s Final Four® Scottrade Center · Saint Louis, Missouri Tuesday, April 7 Page 2 Freshman Guard Tiera Stephen On playing for the National Title as a freshman: “We are so blessed to (be at the title game); no one thought we’d be here, I don’t think us five freshmen thought we’d be here. But I think we got this far because of our seniors. I think the most disappointing thing rather than the sad thing about this loss is that we won’t get Candyce (Bingham) and Angel (McCoughtry) back next year. Losing these two is the most disappointing thing about the year.” On the experience of playing in the NCAA Final Four: “The best part of this whole weekend was waking up this morning and knowing that the men’s tournament is over, the NIT tournament is over and we are the last two teams playing.” On Louisville’s fans: “Nobody expected us to be here first as much as the men and the men’s loss was a little disappointing and that was a big shift in support to our team. When people were doubting us, we had heart and fought to get here.” Freshman Center Gwen Rucker On when they felt that the game was slipping away: “I didn’t really think it slipped away at all because I thought we could come back no matter what, even when we were down by 20. I could start to see it on our faces though in the last ten minutes or so.” On how Connecticut is able to be so good: “I honestly don’t know how they are so much better than everybody. I think that what separates them is that they spend so many hours in the gym while others probably don’t. It seems like they don’t miss shots and they take every position for what it’s worth. The never take a possession off.”
