Bowling Green State University Athletics
BGSU-Miami Post-Game Quotes
March 13, 2004 | Women's Basketball
March 12, 2004
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CLEVELAND, Ohio -
BGSU HEAD COACH Curt Miller
"It was a great basketball game today, with two tremendous teams. I have ultimate respect for Miami; their balance and power. You saw a little bit of an inexperienced coach in the first half, getting caught up in the physicalness of the game. But, I regrouped at halftime, and I told the team that we were OK and we would make runs. I sat in here (Wednesday) and said that you can look at stat sheets at this time of the year, and see that you're going to go as your seniors go. We entered halftime with three points out of our senior class. We ended the game with 26 points out of our senior class. Twenty-three points in the second half. You saw us come out of halftime with that senior leadership. Without question, our seniors proved to the freshmen and the other players on the floor that we weren't done yet."
"I was very excited about that (second-half) start and leadership from the seniors. We just battled to the bitter end, and continue this magic carpet ride."
(Were there any similarities to the regular-season meeting at Miami?)
"Miami is so talented in the post. They just out-muscle you and out-physical you. They have two tremendous senior post players, and we're playing with freshmen in the post. So, that materialized, and Ali is right: it's hard to prepare for that physicalness. We can't simulate that. But, I have such a determined group of freshman post players, and they're not going to quit."
"Another thing is that they scored so many points in the paint against us the first time, and you saw Wednesday that they scored 50 in the paint against Ball State. We felt like, if we could hold them under 35 points in the paint, that we would have a chance. I think we accomplished that, and we made adjustments in the second half. We took more chances."
"What a showcase for the seniors. Melanie Kozlowski played great as a senior off the bench. Colleen Day and Kim Lancaster are tremendous. And, you saw two very underrated seniors in our program. Lindsay and Stefanie are going to go down fighting. They were disappointed with their leadership and play in the first half. At this time of the year, you hide behind your seniors. They can cover up a lot of mistakes."
(What did you do differently in the second half?)
"We just got more aggressive. We wanted to trap in our zone more, and we extended our pressure in man-to-man, which we haven't done in weeks. We just wanted to be aggressive. We did not want to lose without throwing our best punches. I thought our trapping defense against their ball screens in the second half surprised them. We did not do that for the first 60 minutes against them this year. I liked how our team responded to us being the aggressor in the second half."
(On Miami)
"They're the champions. There's just no question. Many people know that Maria (Fantanarosa) is my best friend, and she has done a tremendous job with that program. They have so many weapons. When we play people, we try to insult a poor player, and make those players make plays. Well, there's no one to insult on Miami; all five of their starters can score 20 on a given night. So, you've got to play good, fundamental team defense against them. That's such a demand for a young team, but our kids never quit, and they played good team defense the entire game."
(On the final play)
"In the last timeout, we were planning to put the ball in Lindsay's hands. We prepared for being down two, and being down three. They had not missed a foul shot at that point, with a senior like Colleen Day (at the line), who easily could have been Player of the Year. We didn't even talk about being down one. We wanted the ball in Lindsay's hands, and we wanted a high pick-and-roll, roll Ali (Mann) out, and just spot-up shooters. If we were down two, we wanted to get to the basket. I was concerned they would trap the ball out of Lindsay's hands, so I told everyone they had to be ready to step to the ball. (I told them) not to hide, but to want the ball. I didn't think they would let Lindsay take that last shot. Lindsay has good clock awareness, and is very confident in that situation. She's either going to make a play for herself or for someone else."
(On playing for a championship)
"It's been a great ride. We have won 21 games. We were picked sixth in the West, and we're playing in the championship game. It's been a magical season, with a freshman recruiting class that I thought would be tremendous. But, we have watched two players in Stefanie and Lindsay develop their games, and work their tails off to do it. They refuse to let the history of a program, that has lost in recent years, deter them this season. We had a five-year vision with this team, and Lindsay and Stefanie told me, 'I'm not going to be here in year five.' They said, 'let's talk about a three-year vision, and get there faster,' and I can't be more ecstatic about how this season has gone."
BGSU SENIOR Lindsay Austin
(On the game-winning shot)
"After the foul shot was missed, Carin (Horne) got the rebound, which was huge. She kicked it out to me, and I knew there wasn't a lot of time left. I just went down (the court) with it. They were hugging all our players on the arc, and I just went up with the shot, and cut it close again. But, it went in, and I couldn't be happier."
(What were you thinking at that time?)
"I just went down there looking to see if they were going to all jump on me, and I would have to kick (the ball to a teammate), or if they would all spread out, which they did."
"This has been a great season, and I just couldn't be happier."
(Which deficit worried you more -- the 15-point halftime deficit or the eight-point deficit with just a few minutes left?)
"I would say coming out of halftime. I mean, we just went into the half down by 15, and you (have time to sit and) think about it."
(On the game-ending run)
"Those threes by Stef (Wenzel) brought us back in the second half. I don't even really remember what happened, but each time we got a score, we tried to go back, get a stop, and come back and do it again."
BGSU FRESHMAN Ali Mann
(On the second-half defense)
"Being down by 15 at halftime, that's a pretty big deficit. We came out knowing that we had to make an impact, one possession at a time. By forcing those turnovers, we got more possessions, and we started attacking the basket better."
(Did you or your teammates ever panic?)
"No, we were all very loose. Everyone wanted the ball, everyone wanted to take shots, and that was the difference."
(Did you have confidence that Lindsay would make that shot?)
"Yes. The whole season, everyone has been confident with the ball in her hands. She has been the leader all season, and she has really pulled through in this tournament."
(On the physical play in the game)
"Miami is a very strong team. We knew that coming in, but you can't really prepare for it. They were pushing us around in the first half, but in the second half, I think we came out and matched their intensity and physicalness, and we competed with them."
