UConn Postgame Quotes
No. 3 UConn vs. No. 6 Rutgers
Game 12 – Quarterfinals, March 4, 2012
XL Center – Hartford, Conn.

Head Coach Geno Auriemma
Opening Statement
“We talked all day along that the Rutgers games are. They all have the same patterns. It does not matter who you have on your team or who they have on their team. All of the games take on a similar characteristic. It is difficult to get things flowing in a positive way and get open shots. I know we missed a lot of open shots tonight so our defense had to win the game for us. I thought our defense was great for forty minutes and that we guarded them the way that we wanted to. I tip my hat off to our team. It takes a lot of effort to concentrate that hard on defense. Overall it was a pretty gutty performance by our team.”

How did you slow down Khadijah Rushdan tonight?
“We communicated well on defense and helped each other out. Khadijah is not an easy player to defend one on one because she can penetrate the lane. It is difficult to keep her out of the lane the entire game. I think we did a great job staying home on defense and made it difficult for her to find her open teammates.

Can you please talk about the challenges of facing St. John’s tomorrow evening?
“St. John’s had a chance to lose their game tonight and they showed a lot of confidence. They have a look about them that scares me. They know they are a good team and I liked it better when they did not know that. I sense from watching them that they are going to find an answer and somebody will step up for them. It is remarkable what they have done over there but I am glad that we are playing them again. We want another shot at them.“

Freshman Forward Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis
Can you please talk about the lift that you gave your team tonight by coming off the bench and hitting five three-point field goals?
“I just tried to help my team out as best I could because we were in a bit of a slump. Many of my teammates were setting screens for me so when I got an open shot I just tried to knock it in.”

Sophomore Center Stefanie Dolson
Could you please talk about your teams defensive performance tonight?
“I think we played great defense tonight. We communicated well and we helped one another through screens. Overall, I think we did a great job of communicating with one another and making sure that we helped each other out. We guarded the lane well and closed out possessions with a rebound.”

Sophomore Guard Bria Hartley
What did Rutgers do well defensively tonight?
“Rutgers came out and played hard defense. Sometimes you may come out shooting poorly but you have to keep on shooting and do anything else you can to help the team.”