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Bowling Green State University Athletics
BGSU-EMU Quotes
March 05, 2003 | Women's Basketball
March 4, 2003
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
BGSU HEAD COACH CURT MILLER:
"Kevin Eckert deserves credit for the scout; he did a great job. Stats don't lie, they haven't won yet when (the opponent) gets to 70. It was a race to 70, and we got there first. I felt like our tempo was the right tempo to beat Eastern, even though we had some dry spells and we made it interesting. We still needed the game to get out of the 50's to be successful."
"We haven't ever lost confidence. We're as confident as a 10 seed can be. We have a lot of senior leadership, and I'm very proud of our seniors to go out with a win in their last game at Anderson Arena. They combined for 48 of our 70 points, and no one played less than 28 minutes. We had them on the floor a great deal, and knew that their emotion and energy would carry us. We rode the backs of the four seniors, and I can't be more proud and happy that they won their final game here."
"Ryan Coleman is a tough matchup. We told them (at halftime) that the game was going to be drastically different in the second half. They were not going to shoot such a low percentage again. They were absolutely on a roll in regards to execution in the half-court game. They're playing as good a half-court game as anyone in the MAC, and you knew they weren't going to continue to miss shots."
"It felt like a good chess match between Suzy and I. In the first half, we disrupted them (when they) threw it inside, and we did a good job on their spacing. They made some subtle adjustments, and it was harder to get help in the post in the second half. To her credit, and to Eastern's credit, they did a much better job spacing the floor in the second half, and we really struggled to defend them inside. And, individually, Ryan Coleman can just take over a game by herself."
"We ran a lot of plays through Francine (Miller) tonight. Not only was she scoring, but she was able to get people in foul trouble. And, down the stretch, she made some big post feeds. She made one to Karen Stocz, to Sakima Smith, Jill (Lause), and that's the attention Francine draws. Putting the ball in her hands and running the offense through Fran is great, because she's such a great player, but she also creates many shots for other people."
"The other player who really stepped up big, in a stretch where we were struggling to find any kind of a rhythm in the second half, was Megan Jerome. Megan stepped up and hit a couple big shots when we were just out of rhythm. We came out of a timeout and ran a play for her, and she came off a ball screen and made a jumper off the dribble, which was a huge momentum-stopper. We were really hurting at that point (before she made the shot)."
"You have to play the schedule you're given, and we all have complaints about our schedule, but it's obviously common for seniors to play their guts out on senior night. Fortunately, we've stepped up and upset Eastern Michigan two years in a row. We finished the MAC season 4-4 at home for the second-straight year. We're in a lot of games at home, and I feel very confident with what we're doing at home in the MAC. Now, we've got to continue to find ways to win on the road. We're not done; I think we're a tough out, and we look forward, no matter where we play on Saturday, to try to achieve our goal of getting to Cleveland. We'll prepare hard and go on the road somewhere, and play hard and without fear. We look forward to finding out who and where we will play. I think we're not a team that people want to play in the first round."
EMU HEAD COACH SUZY MERCHANT:
"We were all in la-la land (in the first half). I just said to Curt, this is the last time Eastern Michigan will play on Bowling Green's senior night. Two years in a row, they don't miss a shot. Those seniors -- they seem to have, like, 15 of them -- they all just 'bombs away' and get after it and play better than they've ever played all year long. He's got to come to our place; he hasn't played at our place since he's been in the league."
"They came out ready to play. I think we got caught up in our own hype. Yeah, we beat Ball State, and it was a big win on TV, and blah, blah, blah. To me, any win in February or March is great, and any loss can be devastating. But, Bowling Green came ready to play, and Eastern Michigan played 20 minutes tonight. And, you will not win on somebody's senior night on their home floor when you play for 20 minutes and they play for 40."
(On Ryan Coleman:)
"Ryan had a tough first half, but she has so much presence and poise. If she doesn't hit the shot, she's getting someone else open with the offense she creates. She had a tremendous second half. She's been our rock. She's a first-year player, and she's leading us in scoring, rebounding, you name it. We just need other people to step up with her, and it didn't happen tonight. Abby (Wiseman) did to some degree, and Nikki (Knapp) in the second half, but you're not going to win with three against five."
BGSU SENIOR FRANCINE MILLER:
"We came out, before the game, saying that we weren't leaving here without a win. It doesn't matter who you play on Senior Night; there is so much motivation. You want to leave your home court with a win. We really wanted to make a statement, knowing that this was our last game here."
(On her assists on back-to-back BG possessions in the second half:)
"I could feel the defenders around me. I had at least two on me, so I knew somebody was open. I just looked underneath, and I found Jill (Lause) open, and then Sakima (Smith) open underneath. Usually, I try to take it in and try to draw a foul, but I saw those girls open underneath, and those are passes you have to make. We needed points, because it was such a close game, and it wasn't worth throwing up a bad shot."
(On the final few tense minutes of the game:)
"We had a couple bad turnovers, and they had a couple bad turnovers right toward the end. Those could have cost us the game; it would have been a lot easier had we just held on to the ball. But, luckily, we held on to the win."
"I would have felt like we let everyone down if we had lost our last game here. I'm just happy that I played well, and other people stepped up and played well. And, we got the win. They (EMU) are a really good team. Give our team credit; we played hard tonight."
BGSU SENIOR MEGAN JEROME:
"I think the whole senior class pretty much came into the game with the thought that we weren't going to leave here without a win. We really put all of our heart and desire into winning the game, and we never let up. When we got down, we bounced right back, and thankfully, we came out with a win tonight."
(On her baskets early in the second half;)
"I didn't do a lot of shooting in the first half, and I felt I needed to step up my game on the offensive end. We were hitting a dry spell (early in the second half), and I just felt like I needed to step it up."
"It just felt good to be out on the court, and to enjoy my teammates, especially the other seniors. We want to enjoy our last few games this season. It wasn't just the senior class that got this win, though. It was a total team effort. The underclassmen did amazing things tonight; they helped to motivated us and get us emotionally ready for the game."
