Bowling Green State University Athletics
BGSU-KSU Post-Game Quotes
February 21, 2004 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 21, 2004
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
BGSU HEAD COACH CURT MILLER
"Kent State is a very good defensive team, one of the best teams in the league (in scoring defense and field-goal percentage defense). You earn your points against Kent State. A lot of credit goes out to them, getting to players they wanted to stop, and forcing other players to step up and make shots. Hats off to Kent State for a defensive game plan that really took us out of what we wanted to do."
(On KSU's comeback after BG took the lead midway through the second half:)
"Kent did a great job of coming back at us and scoring, and never letting the crowd become a huge factor. They never panicked, which is the sign of a true championship program. They've been there before. They have now won 16 or more games in 14-straight seasons. They just know how to win; it's ingrained there, and they have a terrific coaching staff. They really tightened up their defense down the stretch, and made us try to earn every basket."
(On BGSU's shooting struggles:)
"I think we were intimidated with their size inside. They did a good job of not letting us get the ball inside, and I thought we were trigger-happy from the arc. But, it is now two games in a row in which we have had terrible shooting. When you can't put the ball in the basket, you don't deserve to win. We have to be able to step up and make baskets."
(On the play of KSU's bench:)
"Their bench was great. They got good athleticism and a big double-double out of La'Kia Stewart. She really hurt us, and made big plays at big times. But, the kid who was the difference off the bench for them was Tiffany Kelly. This is a kid who had made three threes all year, and stepped up in a foreign gym and went 2-for-2 from the arc. In a game that was for third place in this league, with Western (Michigan) losing today, that was huge for them."
"Again, hats off to a Kent State program that has had to deal with some turmoil off the floor, and people trying to discredit coach Lindsay. He is the class coach of the MAC, he's the all-time winningest coach, and it's a credit that that program has won the amont of games they have down the stretch. With people trying to hurt his name in the entire profession, it is a great credit to their current team to not let that distraction off the floor derail them. That team is on a roll."
"If you told me we would have four minutes left in the game and the score was tied, I would take it. I would play it out. But, we had an opportunity, with them struggling and getting in some foul trouble in the first half, to play a good first half and maybe have some distance on them. Instead, we were the ones trailing. We did a great job of getting them in foul trouble in the first half, and it is a little disheartening, looking back, that we weren't able to have a halftime lead with (Lindsay Shearer) playing only five minutes. Shearer is arguably the best power forward in the league."
"If you would have told me we would hold those two (Shearer and Andrea Csaszar) to a combined 18 points, I would have assured a win. We did a great job on those two."
KENT STATE HEAD COACH BOB LINDSAY
"I'd like to pay tribute to Bowling Green's team. They are a very, very young team. That staff has done a tremendous job with this team, and they're tough. They've got a big future ahead of them."
"I thought we were very fortunate -- given the foul trouble that we had in the first half and the fact that Bowling Green was playing very well in the beginning of the second half -- to get the win. The difference in the game may have been our defense in the last seven or eight minutes. But, overall, that's a very good basketball team, and they're very well coached."
(On KSU's defense in the last eight minutes of the game:)
"I thought we were passive at times with our defense, especially earlier in the second half. One of the things we did want to do was pressure their wing players, force them to run their offense under pressure. I thought we did a pretty decent job of that in the latter stages of the game, and that was the difference in the game."
"When you're on the road, you've got to guard, you've got to rebound, and you've got to make some shots. ... We've lost six games by a total of 29 points, and I think you can look at all of those losses and point to a dry spell on offense, and maybe a spell where we gave up some key rebounds. Today, I thought we were a little bit better. We've gotten better at that as our season has gone on, and I think our record reflects that."
