Quotes Following Tulane's 61-31 WNIT Win Over Southern
Mar 17, 2011 | Women's Basketball
March 17, 2011
TULANE QUOTES
Head Coach Lisa Stockton
On Tulane utilizing the press to create turnovers
"We certainly felt that would help us. We felt that with our speed and the fact that they lost a couple of ball handlers for the year to injury and things, so we felt that was something we could do. We really just didn't have a lot of energy tonight either. I was glad the press was effective."
On everyone scoring in tonight's game
"You play this game, a few of our players are sick and we're trying to rest them, but I'm really happy with our overall performance. They didn't shoot the ball well and we were able to keep them down there (on their side of the court). We got different people involved in the game, and that makes a big difference this time of year when you can have different people who can score and not just one or two people."
On the team responding to the new season
"I think people don't realize how long we've been playing. We started practice October 5 this year. It was early so it's been a long time. You've got to be mentally tough to play games this close. To turn around after El Paso and come here and do this, I'm really glad our team came out ready to play. We talked about it, and there are two teams that can end it on a win - the winner of the NIT and the winner of the national championship. Our goal is to be one of the winners."
Senior Forward Tiffany Aidoo
Overall thoughts on the game
"I just think we're still excited to play. We've got four seniors on the team and everybody will one day play a last game. We didn't want it to be our last game so we just came out and played hard. It was exciting."
On what the team needs to improve on for its second-round WNIT contest
"We need to play with more energy. I know that for sure. Our rebounding wasn't that great. As far as our scoring, everyone scored tonight, and our scoring is always a plus for us. We just need to come out with some more energy."
Sophomore Guard Olivia Grayson
On the performance of the Tulane press
"We knew that they didn't have that many ball handlers and they struggled against pressure because two of their point guards got hurt earlier in the season. We came out with the mentality that we were going to make them turn the ball over and make some easy shots."
On using the press after not using it as much late in the season
"We started off the year pressuring a lot and we backed off because we were low in numbers. This could have been our last game so you just have to go all out. We knew that it was one of their weaknesses so we just sucked it up, got down and pressured them."
On what the team's outlook is advancing in the WNIT
"We were disappointed that we didn't make the NCAA Tournament, obviously, but we've got another opportunity to come out and play again as a team. We love playing with one another, so we didn't want this to be our last game. We're going to go as far as we can in this tournament and get some experience for next year."
SOUTHERN QUOTES
Head Coach Sandy Pugh
On the trouble that Tulane's press created
"Without a true point guard, we just don't have that leadership - that calming factor. We seemed to have a lot of individuals out there playing without any cohesiveness. We knew that they were going to be pressuring us. We knew exactly what we were going to be running. We just couldn't put the ball in the hole."
On Southern's poor first-half shooting percentage
"If you're going to shoot eight percent, you're not going to beat anybody. I thought we put too much pressure on ourselves."
