Bowling Green State University Athletics
BGSU-EMU Post-Game Quotes
March 13, 2004 | Women's Basketball
March 13, 2004
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CLEVELAND, Ohio -
BGSU COACH Curt Miller
"We were invited to a party -- well, I don't think we were invited to this party. We crashed the party, and I think someone finally asked us to leave. It was a great game. Hats off to Eastern Michigan; they were tremendous defensively. We struggled the entire game offensively. We earned everything we got. They were the more physical and aggressive team from the beginning. We just couldn't get over the hump in the second half."
"I just hope that the WNIT takes notice of the tournament run that we had, and the great season that we had, and that it gives us a legitimate shot for the WNIT."
(Even when you trailed in the late going, did you still feel you had a chance?)
"Well, what better city to be in to be the Kardiac Kids? I thought we had a chance, I thought we had some momentum going down the stretch. I just felt confident that, sooner or later, we were going to string consecutive baskets together. Today, we just couldn't string consecutive stops together. They were either getting to the foul line or getting high-percentage shots. To their credit, Eastern Michigan executed very well."
"But, when you look at the stat sheet, a lot of it is equal. A lot of the statistical categories are surprisingly equal, even though -- at least from my seat -- it looked at times as if Eastern was dominating that game. I just feel like we were a couple consecutive scores or consecutive stops -- either way -- to getting some momentum, and really getting back in that mode where the pressure's on them, and we could play loose down the stretch. But, we could never get it to a single-possession game, to really put some pressure on them."
"Miami and Eastern are so similar. They (Eastern) have good shooters in their program. They're one of the best three-point shooting teams in the country, but they win games because they pound the ball into the post. We knew we were going to need another good game (in terms of) points in the paint. But, they spread you out, and they have such a good balance of scoring inside and out, that as soon as their inside game gets going, you're off a shooter (defensively) and they knock down a three."
"They overpowered us in the post at times. The most physical and most aggressive teams are winning games at this time of year, and I thought Eastern was more aggressive and more physical than we were."
"To Lindsay's credit, she got her 1,000th point. That's a kid that has over 500 assists and (the school record for) career steals, and is now a 1,000-point scorer. She will go down as one of the best ever at BG."
"We got (EMU's lead) to five, got a stop and ran it down the floor. The parting of the Red Sea happened, as they had a post player that stumbled and was late getting back. And, we got the ball in to Kelly Kapferer, and we kind of fumbled it out of bounds. That was the play we had to get it to one possession. You could almost feel the wind leave our sails there, because we had a chance to get it to three points. And, in hindsight, we would have had a lot of momentum if we had gotten it to three. (The pass) was from an awkward angle, it was kind of a no-look pass, and it kind of just happened. It was just an awkward play, and unfortunately, it trickled out of bounds."
(Do you think the program has turned the corner?)
"Absolutely. It started with the two seniors believing in a vision -- from a coach that didn't recruit Lindsay or Stefanie -- buying into what we do, and continuing to work on their game. I said, when I got here, that I was going to have to build this program through recruiting. Hopefully, people are taking notice that that freshman class is pretty good. And, we've got two (freshmen) on the sidelines that didn't even play very much this year. So, we are very excited about that class, and moving in the right direction. But, we will have two big pair of shoes to fill with the graduation of Stefanie and Lindsay."
(On BGSU's slow start)
"We were tight, but I thought both teams were tight. I felt in tremendous shape at halftime. We were down eight, and we were miserable offensively (in the first half). I said that, if we were on the opposite end, I would have been very nervous in the other lockerroom, saying, 'BG played horribly, and we're only up eight.' So, we tried to sell the fact that we were in good shape. We did not play our best basketball, and they did not blow us out."
BGSU SENIOR Lindsay Austin
(Having battled back from behind in the first two games, did you still think you had a chance in the final minutes?)
"Oh, yeah. We never quit. Even when it came down to under two minutes, we still felt we had a chance. We just tried to give it our all, and just couldn't do it."
(What were you thinking at the end of the game?)
"I know that Ali (Mann) and the team will keep going. They are just going to keep getting better and better. Stef and I have had a great year. The past few years have been different, but this year, we have gone out more like we've wanted to."
BGSU SENIOR Stefanie Wenzel
(On the state of the program)
"Of course it feels good that we have had a great season, and (the freshmen and underclassmen) have a great future ahead of them. But, it's hard to be done."
(What were you thinking at the end of the game?)
"I was just thinking about how far we've come. It's been a great run; it's been a great year. I've been playing basketball my whole life, and this could be it. That's what I was thinking about."
BGSU FRESHMAN Ali Mann
(On the battles in the post)
"They were playing physical; they were posting up hard, and we didn't do a very good job of matching their intensity."
EMU COACH SUZY MERCHANT
"Obviously it's an exciting moment for our team and the program and our school. We want to do the best we can to represent the Mid-American Conference and Eastern Michigan as we get shipped out somewhere, who knows where. Hopefully somewhere warm and enjoy it a little. It was a great game and the ending was the best part.
(On winning the championship)
"It feels great. I should come up with a better description. It's a fabulous moment. This thing starts in August when they come in to start doing conditioning, all that weight work, running and conditioning. It all pays off eventually. It's exciting for the program. It's exciting for the squad. We have a ton of tradition on the men's side. We made everyone get off the bus before we came here as they loaded on and took them back up to what we have in the Convocation Center. It's a Stadium Club room. That trophy we just had and the plaque that said 'West Division Champions' were all in a trophy case, but they're all men. We've had some great tradition on the men's side and it was time for the women to get that big trophy with the big ball on top of it as well as that big plaque. I said if anybody gets on that bus that doesn't realize what this is all about, that's it right there, and that's what we're going to come back with. If not, we'll die trying. It's fun to come back with the hardware we left looking at."
EMU JUNIOR GUARD ERIKA FORD
(On winning the MAC Tournament championship)
"You know that dream's fulfilled. Everything, right at the end of the game, the buzzer sounded and everybody just swarmed around, you know it was real. Right then and there."
"Other than free throws, one of our main focuses was getting it inside to the post girls. We accomplished that. We had our inside and outside game. We had everything working together."
(On Melis Ulker)
"We have to keep encouraging her. She has her moments and she really stepped today. She stepped up this entire tournament and knows we're right here behind her."
(NOTE: Eastern Michigan quotes courtesy www.mac-sports.com, the official site of the Mid-American Conference)
