Marquette Postgame Quotes
No. 5 Marquette vs. No. 12 Pittsburgh
Game 5 – Second Round, March 5, 2011
XL Center – Hartford, Conn.
Head Coach Terri Mitchell
Opening Statement:
“The biggest statistics that stand out to us as a team are the two assists and 12 turnovers we had in the first half and second half we ended up having 14 assists and two turnovers, which shows the character of our team. I thought we were pressing too much in the first half, not making the extra pass and we talked about their bigs and defensively guarding them both. At the end of the day, this is a character win for our team; that’s what we’re used to. I wish we would have bigger wins – double digit wins, but down the whole game with Angel (Robinson) on the bench, Tati (McMorris) gets hurt and I thought they showed good character. Courtney Weibel hit some big three’s. Gabi (Minix) as a freshman stepped up. We are not a team of superstars; we’re just a team that’s united and is playing hard.”
This season seems to be one where you find ways to win games, it may not be the prettiest win but it’s a win. Is that how this year has gone – you get down late and you find a way to pull out the victory?
“Yes. The whole year we’ve talked about unity, our unselfishness and hard work. And if you have those characteristics, you give yourself a chance. Obviously, if you looked at our record 23-7, most games we gave ourselves a chance and during close games we just trusted on another. And that’s probably the biggest word because we’re not looking to any one individual to get it done, but we’re looking to one another and saying ‘who’s the hot player?’ and ‘I don’t have to do it, I can make the extra pass’. Then defensively, we try to switch a lot between our zone and man, throw in some traps to keep people off balance, but that’s who we are right now. They’re so confident during the timeouts and never think we’re going to lose because we’ve been there so much.”
Senior Forward Paige Fiedorowicz
You guys must have a lot of confidence now having been in many close games that even though you’re down by a few points, you still believe that you have a chance to win it. Any comments?
“Our team has so much heart that even if it’s a close game no one ever shows signs of doubt; everyone goes 110 percent. Just how we share the ball makes everyone so dangerous and I think in close games it’s hard to decide who to lock up on because we have great penetrators, great passers and I think everyone steps up to the occasion.”
Pittsburgh Postgame Quotes
No. 5 Marquette vs. No. 12 Pittsburg
Game 5– First Round, March 5, 2011
XL Center – Hartford, Conn.
Head Coach Agnus Berenato
Opening Statement:
“I thought it was a great game. I thought it was a game of runs. I am really proud of my team because we got down. Obviously at the beginning of the game, it was 14-2 and it looked like it was going to be a blow out. It think we were really resilient and we really D’d up, and we were able to get a couple of great play calls. I thought it was a great game. I didn’t like the first six minutes, but for 34 minutes I thought it was a really good game. Again I did think that people thought it was really going to be a blow out. We really believed we were going to win and we believed that today’s win was going to give us tomorrow. I thought the game was really physical in the second half and that played to Marquette for whatever reason. I think for me, exiting the BIG EAST, what it means is that the season is over. As a coach, the reason that you coach is because of your kids. I love my kids we have four fabulous seniors. We have four seniors that we have been to two sweet sixteen’s and an NIT and we have traveled the world together, sincerely the world together. We have had a lot of ups and a lot of downs. We have had deaths, we have had births, we have highs and we have lows. Today is really sad. It is because there is not a tomorrow. Now these young ladies go on and they are going to be maybe like you, sitting in your spots. Maybe become a Kathy Meehan and be an assistant or associate athletic director. Maybe they will be Barb Jacobs and be in charge of the officials. If I have my way, I have really talked to my seniors about going to Barb’s (Jacobs) camp and becoming an official. I have extremely encouraged them to stay in the game of basketball, stay in the game they love. If you can’t play it, coach it; and if you can’t coach it, ref it. I think the BIG EAST is the best conference in the country from the administration in the BIG EAST, to the officials, to the teams, players and the coaches. I want my players, my student athletes, to be a part of that and to be a part of something that is really awesome and something that I really love. There are so many different job opportunities. As far as basketball, it is just a game. But the game is exactly like the game of life. You have your ups and you have your downs. And today is one of the downs. But as my mom used to say, ‘the sun will come up tomorrow.’”
What were they able to do to your team on defense?
“They trapped. It got pretty physical. We missed some shots, had a couple of turnovers. Their post scored easy buckets on us. We should have done a better job defensively on them. I am going to have to go back and look at the video. I thought there were a couple of critical turnovers that happened. I felt like we were really attacking the basket and going really strong to the basket. We didn’t stop that. Again, it was an extremely physical game. It is what it is.”
Senior Guard Taneisha Harrison
It took you a while to get started. Were you feeling it there for a while when you hit that run of threes?
“ Yes, I felt pretty confident. My teammates were looking for me. It took me a while, but when I started to make shots. I felt good about it.”
You had highs and lows today, would you talk about what today has meant for in your time in Pittsburg?
“It is pretty sad. I didn’t want to go out this way, but I felt like the team worked really hard. We had them, but Marquette is a good team and they came back. This game hurts a lot, but we have to keep it moving.”
Senior Forward Shayla Scott
What were they able to do to stop you guys from scoring?
“I think we were running really well in transition, pushing the ball up the court. Maybe our legs caught up with us a little bit. I think that once we went away from our transition game, they went on their run and we weren’t scoring as much offensively. I think something they talked about is how we were scoring in transitio, and off of fast breaks, so slowing us in transition was in their favor.