Bowling Green State University Athletics
BGSU-Miami Quotes
February 16, 2003 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 15, 2003
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
MIAMI HEAD COACH MARIA FANTANAROSA:
"I am thankful to get out of Bowling Green with a win. This has always been a very difficult place to play, and, going into today's game, with us having similar records and watching Bowling Green on tape, I would definitely say that they are overachieving. I think Curt is doing a phenomenal job of getting the most out of the talent he has on this team. And, I think they're a very difficult team to scout and to play because of that."
"I don't know that (Miami's) inside game was as much a factor as the offensive rebounding. That became a huge factor, and I think our up-tempo attack, transition-wise, was a nice advantage for us. In the half-court, we might have been bigger and stronger, but they had a lot of looks at the basket from (three-point range). We prepared for that, we knew that would happen, and still, they hit some big shots."
"When you can grab 19 offensive boards, good things are going to happen. Kids like a Colleen Day, a Jana Butler, a Melanie Kozlowski, they do that every day. This wasn't just a one-time thing. Fortunately, they were able to grab (the ball) and go back up strong and get the basket. Also, we hit some big free throws when we needed to."
BGSU HEAD COACH CURT MILLER:
"Obviously, the offensive rebounding and the put-back points killed us again. You've got to give them (MU) credit for that, because they did not shoot the ball well. We executed our game plan, defensively, perfectly. But, that's what winning teams do; they find a way to score points even when they're not shooting the ball well. Their offensive rebounds bailed them out on a night when they did not shoot the ball very well."
"It is more and more apparent, all the time, that when you don't have an inside presence, you need to keep relying on three-pointers and dribble penetration. Miami is the most aggressive man-to-man defensive team in the league, and they never stop coming at you. And, when you put your head down, and are determined to get to the basket, good things usually happen. You get fouled, you make layups or you kick (the ball) out for 'threes.' But, as you get more tired, those options become more limited, because you're not getting to the hoop as often."
"One of the disappointments is that we continue to struggle to get points in the paint or 'easy' baskets. When Miami needed an 'easy' basket, sooner or later someone would get a post-up. We just don't have that option very much. When you get tired in the second half, our style is a lot tougher. We've just got to stay aggressive."
"To our credit, we guarded Heather Cusick very well. Lindsay Austin, Tene Lewis and Megan Jerome expended a ton of energy to do what they did. Heather Cusick is the reigning MAC Player of the Year, and we shut her down. But, in doing so, Lindsay wasn't as effective on the offensive end, because she was expending so much energy at the defensive end. So, it's a give and take."
Colleen Day is a coach's dream. She does all their dirty work, and makes big play after big play. She has hurt us two years in a row now. It is just all-out effort, and obviously, she is the MVP of the game. She played terrific. Miami doesn't win very often when Heather Cusick goes 2-for-16."
"You can write about the second half, but to our kids' credit, we have now led 13 MAC home games in a row at halftime. We have yet to trail at halftime here (in MAC games) in my tenure. Our preparation, effort and our attitude is absolutely first-class, going inton every game. Do we have the talent to always finish games yet? No, but those kids do whatever we ask them to do. I had a one-on-one meeting yesterday with Stefanie Wenzel, and I asked her to rebound. And, she went out and got us 11 rebounds. The character of our team is just tremendous, and I'm very proud of our preparation and our desire to stick to the game plan. We need to keep recruiting, we have to have a deeper bench -- we had five points from the bench tonight -- and we'll start to win some of these games that we're so prepared for."
