Bowling Green State University Athletics
Quoting Curt Miller
December 11, 2004 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 10, 2004
Recap | Final Stats
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Quoting Bowling Green State University women's basketball head coach Curt Miller, after the Falcons fell by a 73-43 final at the University of New Mexico Friday night (Dec. 10) at The Pit...
"I'm really proud of our team tonight. We played in front of 9,200 people and really competed. We had New Mexico on their heels at times. At Ohio State (in the season opener), on the road against a national-caliber team, we competed for a portion of the first half. Against New Mexico, we competed for 25, 26, maybe as many as 28 minutes, and at that point, still had a chance to pull off a huge upset."
"I think it is a credit to the players on our team, staying in an aggressive attack mode offensively, that we forced New Mexico to go to (a) zone (defense), which they simply don't do. They don't believe in zone, but New Mexico had to go to zone to beat us in the second half. New Mexico is coming off a game against nationally-ranked Texas where they didn't even try to play zone. You take pride in making an opposing coach make an adjustment that they normally don't make. We forced New Mexico to have to go to 'Plan B' to beat us."
"To New Mexico's credit, I thought they made some good adjustments against our zone, particularly in the second half. They spread us out, and I thought they were more patient in the second half. But there's no doubt that they also made some tough shots in the second half. In the game of basketball, it is easier to make shots with a comfortable lead. It is easier to step up and take shots with a comfortable lead. As teams start to expand the lead, players start to step up and shoot a better percentage."
"Hats off to New Mexico, as they made some good adjustments. I still felt like we were playing hard and contesting, but they made some big-time shots."
"I liked our players' approach to the game tonight. Instead of looking at the whole 40 minutes, we tried to break the game down into segments, and tried to win four-minute battles. Throughout the game, I thought there was a more consistent effort by the Falcons than in some other games this year."
"We play a very talented, fundamentally sound and solid defensive team in Utah State tomorrow. It will be an emotional game for me, coaching against a former colleague that I respect a great deal (USU head coach Reagan Pebley). It would be a big win for us, as Utah State is a very talented young team trying to find an identity, just as we are."
