Bowling Green State University Athletics
BGSU-WMU Post-Game Quotes
February 07, 2004 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 7, 2004
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
BGSU COACH CURT MILLER
"That was a great college basketball game. I'm very proud of our kids. We battled throughout the entire game, to give ourselves a chance to win down the stretch. Western Michigan is the reigning MAC Tournament champion, and has represented our conference very well. They went out and played a murderous non-conference schedule, and have not lost to a team under 70 in the RPI rankings all year. They came into the game ranked 57th in the country, RPI-wise. That is as big a win, as good a win as this program has had in a long, long time."
(Was it your goal all week to try to stop Casey Rost?)
"This is how much of a focus Casey Rost was (for us). If the men's practice player that was simulating her play got a shot off, we gave him three points. It didn't matter if it went in or not. We did not want her to get shot attempts. She showed she was human today by missing a couple shots, but the kid does not miss. She is an offensive machine. We tried to slow her down, and she still had 13 points. She's just a tremendous player, but to our kids' credit, we knew where she was on the floor the whole game. We did a good job, as good a job as I think you can do on Casey Rost."
(On Lindsay Austin's game-winning shot:)
"The interesting thing was that they went man-to-man on the last play, for the first time all game. Thirty-nine straight minutes of zone against us, and they finally went man-to-man. I had a timeout left, and I thought about using a timeout and setting up a play. But, then they would get a chance to talk about what we might do. So, I decided to just roll the dice and play it out. ... The first two people that get touches (in the play BG ran) are our two seniors, and you ask them to make a play."
"It didn't develop like you would typically want that play to develop, but I didn't have any fear when the ball ended up in Lindsay's hands. She knew she had to go make a play. Coaching staffs don't win games down the stretch on those kinds of plays; players make plays. And, Lindsay made a great jump-stop in the lane, got by people and then made a shot that forever bounced on the rim and went in. But, that's players making plays, and you see it time and time again in both the men's and women's game."
"That was a big shot, and Lindsay had missed a couple of foul shots, but had the guts to take that shot, and I can't be more proud of her to make that shot."
"This is a big win, an emotional win. This was a big week for us. We were playing (the two) divisional leaders, and we're still so young as a program. We are still growing, still learning how to win, and we're fighting for our lives. We don't talk about championships; we talk about seeding for the MAC Tournament. But, that game puts us one game behind (division-leading WMU) in the loss column, and we will be a factor in this race down the stretch. I can't be more proud of how this program is maturing. We weren't very good two years ago, and we still have a ways to go. But, if we can beat the reigning MAC Tournament champion, we can play with anyone in this league."
"We were very good after halftime. (The team) got yelled at, as much as they have in a long time, at halftime. The thing I was disappointed with was that you have to score points in the paint against Western's zone. Nearly half of our first-half shots were threes, and we talked about not being in so much of a hurry to take threes against their zone. We did a much better job of attacking them inside in the second half. We were blown out by Western last year, using that same type of defense, because we relied so much on the three and did not have an inside presence. The two freshmen (Ali Mann and Liz Honegger), along with Kelly Kapferer, enabled us to have a presence inside today."
"Casey McDowell hasn't played point guard all year, but, because they were playing zone, gave us an extra shooter on the floor. We stole some minutes with Lindsay in foul trouble, with Casey playing the point. That's a big factor in that game, and Casey did a great job in those minutes."
(Did you feel good about Austin's shot when it left her hand?)
"Well, we have gotten tentative in some games, and we have been aggressive down the stretch in other games. Just the fact that Lindsay got so deep before she took the shot, that showed aggressiveness. Because of that penetration, I knew we had a good chance of that shot going in."
"The crowd was tremendous for us down the stretch. But, as great as the crowd was, I have never heard that arena as quiet as when the ball was bouncing around up there (on the final shot). It was amazingly quiet. But, our crowd was terrific, and for the second game in a row, the fans were a huge reason that we won that game. I hope we won some more fans over and they keep coming out. We are a fun team to watch, and it is an exciting time around here. With crowds like that, we are now 7-2 at home, and we still have some big games coming up at home. We would love to see people keep coming out."
BGSU SENIOR LINDSAY AUSTIN
"(Missing the free throws) bothers you. But, it came down to the wire and the ball was in my hands. The way that play is designed, when I came off the pick I knew it was up to me to take the shot, and I just took it."
"The free throws shook me up a little bit, but at the end, I didn't really think about it. I just shot the ball."
(On the celebration after the shot:)
"You are so enclosed, with all the people rushing at you, but you don't even care. When (the mascot) whisked me away, I didn't know what was going on. But, I loved every second of it."
BGSU SENIOR STEFANIE WENZEL
(On guarding WMU's Casey Rost:)
"I was nervous, coming into this game. I don't feel like I'm the best defender. But, I didn't want her to even touch the ball. In practice yesterday, I felt like I did a pretty good job (against the practice player), and I just wanted to keep that momentum going into today. I didn't want to foul her, but I didn't want her to touch the ball, because I know how good she is. She doesn't miss if she gets an open look."
WMU COACH RON STEWART
(On Lindsay Austin's final shot:)
"We knew that was a definite possibility. She's either going to do what she did, or kick it to a wing for a three. Whether it's four-out or five-out, that's really what they do pretty consistently. I don't know if they have had last-second shots before, but that's not something that we had seen. But, for them to spread it out and go with the dribble penetration, that was a key for the whole game. There's no question that their penetration is a key to what they do."
"Casey (Rost) draws the respect of all our opponents, and also draws a lot of attention ... they did a good job on Casey, you can't discount what they did (defensively)."
"Curt made the statement after the Miami game that Miami was the best team in the league, and that Bowling Green was gonna be a factor. He was gonna give it a gung-ho try. Well, that was a gung-ho try, and I guess Miami is the best team in the league. I guess maybe his statement was true."
