Bowling Green State University Athletics
Post-Game Reactions
January 19, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 19, 2005
Recap | Final Stats
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
BGSU HEAD COACH Curt Miller
"It was a good win for us tonight. I don't believe that either team played their best basketball. But Miami has been in a ton of close games all year, and I knew we had to fight all the way to the final buzzer to earn this victory. And, they are the defending MAC regular-season champions, so I'm proud of our kids for getting to the finish line in a game where neither team played their best basketball."
(On playing with the lead, after playing from behind for much of the previous two games)
"There's a different mindset when you are playing with the lead. We were happy to have the lead, but we wanted to execute, and really make them work at the defensive end. We didn't want to start trading baskets, or turning the ball over and letting them make runs at us. We wanted to be more efficient offensively in the second half. Unfortunately for us, I thought Miami did a much better job in the second half."
(On Carin Horne)
"Well, she is an 'instant-offense' kid; she is one of the most talented offensive kids that I've ever coached, and you just come to expect that she is going to make offensive plays. But, we did a good job of defending their big three guards (Amanda Jackson, Cindi Merrill and Nicki Motto). As good as Carin was offensively, our wings did a good job of taking away Miami's dribble penetration without fouling. That was a big key."
(On Liz Honegger)
"Hats off to Liz for playing nearly 30 minutes on a bad wheel. I did not know how much we would get out of her, but she stepped up and showed how tough of a kid she is. Statistically, she is in the top 10 or 15 in almost every individual category in the MAC, and she showed why."
(On the team's focus)
"I thought we looked tired and sluggish, but I'm proud of our kids for their overall focus. To win our first home game in the MAC, not playing our best basketball, against such a good team, is a big accomplishment."
SOPHOMORE Carin Horne
(On picking up four first-half steals)
"I knew they wanted to pound the ball inside, and their guards are excellent. I just tried to play help defense, and tried to anticipate to step in the passing lane as soon as they tried to throw it in there."
(On the crowd)
"They were excellent -- we felt their energy. When they (Miami) would make a run at us, the crowd got us right back into it, and helped us do what we had to do."
SOPHOMORE Ali Mann
(Despite having an off night, shooting-wise, you were able to contribute in other ways)
"When things aren't going your way, shooting-wise, you can do other things to make up for it. Whether it's playing defense, getting blocks, taking charges, rebounding ... tonight it happened to be rebounding."
(Did you have any trouble staying focused for this game after Saturday's win at Toledo?)
"We knew that this game was for sole possession of first place in the MAC, and that was all the focus we needed."
MIAMI HEAD COACH MARIA FANTANAROSA
"I think we came out a little tentative in the beginning, and I'm not sure why. Part of it was that we had Amanda Jackson back. She hadn't played in two weeks, and even yesterday, I wasn't sure if she was going to play. She's our best player, so people look to her to take over right away. And she really didn't need to. Nicki Motto has been playing well, Cindi Merrill's been playing well. But, we had 12 turnovers in the first half, and six were in the first few minutes of the game. But, we played well in many aspects of the game tonight."
