Bowling Green State University Athletics
BGSU-Notre Dame Quotes
November 14, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 13, 2006
Recap | Final Stats
NOTRE DAME, Ind. - Quotes after Monday night's Bowling Green-Notre Dame overtime thriller at the Joyce Center...
BGSU HEAD COACH Curt Miller
(Opening statement)
"A little over five years ago, I interviewed for the Bowling Green job, just a few months after Notre Dame had won the national championship. People laughed at me when I talked about the vision of our program, that we would be playing meaningful games in five years. And, ironically, I used Notre Dame as a measuring stick because of their national championship in 2001. I am so proud of our program, after being at rock-bottom five years ago, to get to this point.
"I have been involved with Division-I basketball for a long time, and this was one of the best games that I have ever been associated with. Both teams made big play after big play, and for as early as it is in the season, that was high-quality basketball. I couldn't be more proud of our kids. Despite the tough overtime loss, it was a pleasure to be a part of this game."
(On the minutes played by the starting five)
"We got tired in overtime, and it showed with about two-and-a-half minutes left. And, after the game I apologized to the team. That's my fault. I believe in our bench, and down the stretch, I think one of the reasons we didn't make the big play is that we were a little fatigued. But, I will go to battle with those five players on the court any day of the week. They are warriors, and they are proven champions. But, we did get tired, and that is my fault."
(On the Falcons' number of three-point attempts)
"That's part of our philosophy. Normally, we would rather have only about 33% of our shots be 3s. Sometimes, if it is a higher percentage than that, I feel like we are settling. But, tonight we got hot, and the kids took what was given to them, for the most part. Out of all of the 3s we took, there were only a few that I thought were poor 3s. We took what the defense gave us, and we really got hot from the arc, which we are very capable of doing."
(Coming into tonight's game, did you feel like you were the favorite?)
"Well, I definitely felt like we could play with them. You know, you don't lose the great players they lost without having some sort of adjustment early in the season. But, when you win the amount of games that Notre Dame wins in this building, against elite competition, I wouldn't have called us the favorite coming in. But, we have a confident group. We have lost very little over the last two-and-a-half years, and all of those losses have been against quality competition. So, we came in confident, but I certainly don't think we were the favorite against Notre Dame in the Joyce Center."
(Even though you lost, do you feel like this game will help you down the road?)
"Well, I certainly don't think we will be intimidated by a team's name on their chests. They are just five players on the floor, just like our five, and we have proven over the last few years that we can play with anyone. Certainly, we would have liked to win, but it will help us. That is why we are playing the schedule we are playing. (After going 28-3, winning the MAC and getting a #12 seed in the NCAA Tournament), we said we would never have that again. We are going to play the toughest teams we can play, and even if we don't come out on the winning end, we are going to grow from that and come out better."
"I am proud of our crowd. I don't know how many opposing teams bring that kind of a crowd here, but I am really proud of the fans who came out here tonight. They have really done a great job of supporting us."
BGSU SENIOR Megan Thorburn
(What led to your three-point explosion tonight?)
"I was just shooting with confidence, I think. Once you make one, once you have that under your belt, it is a lot easier to make the second and the third."
BGSU JUNIOR Kate Achter
(How difficult was it to handle the ball against Notre Dame's pressure?)
"As a point guard, handling ball pressure is never easy, no matter what type of offense we are running. We see good ball pressure in the MAC, but I can't say that I've experienced ball pressure like that in the last however many games we have played. I give credit to Notre Dame, with the way they were switching defenses, and switching the defenders on me. They are great ball defenders, great athletes."
(Did you feel that you pressed too much late in the game?)
"I normally don't like to shoot the ball all that much. I like to take care of it, despite what my stat line showed tonight. But, I thought there were times we could have worked a little more to get a better shot tonight. Defenses don't like to play for 30 seconds, and I thought we could have utilized that a little better. But overall, I thought we played great tonight, and we took what was there."
