Bowling Green State University Athletics
From the Interview Room
March 09, 2005 | Women's Basketball
March 9, 2005
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CLEVELAND, Ohio - Quoting the players and coaches after the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team's 84-68 win over Miami University in league tournament action Wednesday afternoon (March 9) at Gund Arena ...
BGSU HEAD COACH Curt Miller
"We are very excited about moving on. At this time of the year, it's all about surviving and moving on. It was good win for us; we have a lot of respect for the Miami program. Their backcourt is tremendous; Cindi Merrill and Amanda Jackson are as good as there are in this league, and we knew they would be hard to defend. To come away with a hard-fought win against Miami in this quarterfinal round; we are very excited about moving on."
"We were honored to have four players named to the All-MAC and all-freshman teams last night (at the tournament banquet), in our three sophomores (Liz Honegger, Carin Horne and Ali Mann) and our freshman (Kate Achter). But, in case people forgot, you start the game with five people on the floor, and welcome to our fifth starter, Casey McDowell."
"Not very many teams can have two All-MAC players like (Liz) Honegger and Carin Horne struggle, and still win convincingly. And, that's a credit to our team, and what I think makes our team so special. All year long, different people have stepped up. In the first half, Sakima Smith, a seldom-used senior, got big rebounds and made a big putback when Ali (Mann) rolled her ankle. That gave us the confidence that we needed, and that team play and teamwork is what our program has been built upon. We may not have superstars, but dang it, people have to bring a pretty good game to beat our so-called average players."
JUNIOR GUARD Casey McDowell
"That was probably the best I have ever shot in my career, in college or in high school. I have been shooting the ball well in practice lately, and Coach Miller has been getting on me to shoot the ball more. I had a bad shootaround today, but I felt good going into the game, and I knew somebody else had to step up."
(How bad of a shootaround did you have?)
'I don't think I made a three in shootaround at all today."
(Was there any shot in particular that took a load off your shoulders?)
"The first one. The first one that goes in always makes you feel a little bit better. Then , you just kind of breathe a sigh of relief, and I felt good. Once they started falling, (it felt like) they would just keep going in."
BGSU FRESHMAN GUARD Kate Achter
(Were you nervous in your first MAC Tournament game?)
"No, I was really excited to get out here and play. My teammates have talked about it all season. `We can't wait to get to the MAC Tournament, we want to get to the Gund and play.' And, so far, it has been everything that they said."
MIAMI HEAD COACH MARIA FANTANAROSA
"You have to give Bowling Green credit, they are a great offensive team. We knew coming into this game that we were going to have to stop them. Well, most times you don't know who to stop, and Casey McDowell came from nowhere. She shot lights out today."
(On the first half)
"I thought we had some good looks that didn't fall, and that could have made the difference, because we could have had some confidence going into the second half."
(On Bowling Green's scoring runs)
"To beat a Bowling Green team I just didn't have the numbers, so I was wearing a lot of my own players out. So, we gave them some opportunities, and to their credit, they capitalized on everything."
MIAMI SENIOR GUARD NICKI MOTTO
(On guarding Bowling Green)
"They are attacking from every position, with Ali Mann and Liz Honegger inside and outside for that matter. Then, you have McDowell shooting like she was, and (Carin) Horne is always a threat."
MIAMI JUNIOR GUARD CINDI MERRILL
(On the RedHawks' early-game success)
"I thought we had some pretty good looks. We got the ball inside to our post players, and we were able to penetrate. I thought when we got it inside we were able to get some fouls on them."
(NOTE: Miami quotes courtesy MAC office)
