Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons 68, Chippewas 60
January 18, 2004 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 17, 2004
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
BGSU COACH Curt Miller
"I'm proud of our win today -- it was a big gut-check down the stretch. Just a few weeks ago, we were here against Ball State, with a close game down the stretch. We ran some plays for the seniors (in that game), and my heart ached after the game when Lindsay (Austin) and Stefanie (Wenzel) missed a couple opportunities. But, we told them we would put them back in that situation at some point, and I truly believed that the seniors would step up and make big plays."
"Tonight, we gutted it out and stayed in the game for a long time. But, two big offensive plays down the stretch came when Lindsay Austin turned the corner for a layup, and then Stefanie Wenzel's step-through layup at the end. Those were huge plays by our seniors."
"Hats off to Central Michigan; they played a tremendous game. They shuffled their lineup, and got a lot of good contributions. I felt confident that at some point in the game, we would get enough stops that we would win. I didn't expect it to come in the last eight minutes. We held them to six points in the last eight minutes of the game. That's a little unnerving -- I would have loved (to have some stops) a little earlier in the game. But, that's a credit to our players, that they could get down in a stance and play that hard to get stops late in the game."
"In the first half, against an aggressive man-to-man defensive team, we drew three team fouls. We knew, in the second half, we needed to get to the foul line or we couldn't beat this team. The 18 foul shots in the second half were clearly a difference, and that allowed us to be more efficient. When we got open looks, we made them, and when we stayed aggressive, we got to the foul line."
"The one thing you can see with this team is that, no matter the score or the time, you can see that this team believes they can win. When we were in this situation in my first two years, we folded at times, or we tried to hold on for victories rather than going out and securing victories. With the leadership that Lindsay and Stefanie provide, and the confidence that the freshmen bring to everyone, this team feels they can win, night-in and night-out. It's a comforting feeling, as a coach, to know that you have confident players on the floor, and that showed tonight. That last eight minutes was very impressive."
"I felt we could score against this team, as good as they are defensively. It took me about 39 minutes to call a good play for Lindsay, but we finally got the play that we needed, and she turned the corner and got that wide-open layup."
BGSU FRESHMAN Ali Mann
(On BGSU's blocked shots on three consecutive CMU possessions late in the game)
"They were big momentum swings, and they got the crowd involved. It creates tempo, and it let us push the ball up the court and get some big shots that we needed at the end of the game."
BGSU SENIOR Lindsay Austin
"We just decided that the best way we could win the game was through our defense. If we didn't pick up the defense, we wouldn't win. It was about trying to get stop after stop in those last eight minutes."
(On her behind-the-back pass)
"It was one of those things that just happens. Megan (Thorburn) was just in the right position (for me) to do it. I can't say that I planned it or anything; it just happened."
"This win was huge. Central played hard, and they played well, but we knew that we had to win this game if we want to continue toward reaching our goals for the season."
CENTRAL MICHIGAN COACH EILEEN KLEINFELTER
"I told the team at the end of the game that I don't believe in moral victories. But, based on how we've been playing and how young we are, I think there's a bright light there, in terms of what we can do. We have 10 freshmen and sophomores out of 13 kids out there, and we're starting to toughen up, step it up and add a new mentality to our game."
"I'm very proud of what the girls did; they pretty much controlled the whole game. The game boiled down to two key things. We had about three or four turnovers, with those blocked shots at the end. And, we put them on the line too many times and they shot an incredible 95.7 percent from the free-throw line. I think that was the big difference."
"They (BG) have some good leadership in (Lindsay) Austin and (Stefanie) Wenzel. And, that move that Wenzel made at the end, where she did a little step-around in the paint, that's a senior move. I forget who she fried, but it was a freshman or sophomore."
"Bowling Green's a good team, and they're going to be good for a good while, and we have them one more time this year."
