Bowling Green State University Athletics
From the Interview Room
January 18, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 18, 2006
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Quoting Bowling Green State University players and coach after the Falcons' win over Ohio University, 77-63, Wednesday ...
BGSU SOPHOMORE GUARD Kate Achter
(You made a big run in the second half. Is that something you're always looking for?)
"Yes. Actually, on Saturady at Kent State, they went on a run early in the second half. We talked about it at the first media timeout (tonight); we had to put it all together. We had to make sure OU didn't go on a run, and we had to put one together ourselves, and I think we were pretty successful at doing that tonight."
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"I looked at tonight's game as a 'trap' game. It was the game immediately after the big emotional matchup between Kent and Bowling Green, and you worry about a letdown. You can get in the mindset that that game was for first place in the division, and forget that there are other teams battling in the East. We had to remind the kids that, if we lost tonight, there would be a quick three-way tie (in the East Division). Essentially, we were playing another game for first place right away, and I was worried about our mentality going into the game."
"Lo and behold, we had a lull in the first half against their zone. We got a little trigger-happy at the three(-point line), and didn't attack the zone the way we had hoped. But, we got to halftime, and were able to regroup."
(Were you settling for shots in the first half?
"I will never complain about open 3s. I give our kids a lot freedom to miss shots, because I believe that they will stay confident and hit the next shot. I wasn't real happy with our preparation; I felt like we were rushing, or we weren't ready to shoot when we received the ball, and then were out of our rhythm. But, I'm going to give them that freedom. There's a fine line between points in the paint and points at the arc against zones. In the second half, I thought we had a much better attack, and a much better balance between inside and out, and we shot the ball better."
(How do you feel about the 4-0 start?)
"I love the new scheduling format, because right out of the gate, you play five MAC East opponents, so you get a guage of where you are right away. It's a long season; we have 12 very difficult games ahead of us, and I truly believe that you can be upset by anyone in this league on any night. We need to be ready, night-in and night-out. But, I love the new format; (after a game) you can't get to your office fast enough, to check the other scores, especially right now, with East playing East and West playing West."
(On forcing 27 Ohio turnovers)
"The scout by the assistant coaches was a great one. We knew a lot of what they were trying to accomplish. We got our hands in passing lanes, and we didn't get pinned in the post, which was a big concern coming into the game. We have had three conference games now where we have forced more than 25 turnovers, and that's not a big part of our scheme. We're more of a containment defensive team. We want to make people shoot low percentages; we want to make people make tough shots. But, right now, we're forcing a lot of turnovers, and that's a real bonus for our defense."
JUNIOR FORWARD Ali Mann
(You were a big part of the second-half run. Were you trying to put the team on your back at that point?)
"Well, it starts with getting open shots. Once you start hitting a couple, you can feel the whole atmosphere change, and it starts to come a little easier. I just felt that's what the team needed at that time, and I tried to step up."
