Bowling Green State University Athletics
BGSU-Iowa State Post-Game Quotes
December 29, 2007 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 29, 2007
Recap | Final Stats
Opening Statement
I thought tonight was a great learning experience for our kids. Obviously, there are no moral victories in sports, but we came to Iowa State to learn about ourselves as a team, to get better and to play in one of the great environments in all of college basketball. Hilton Coliseum is truly one of the best places to play in the country against a disciplined and structured program. Despite coming out on the short end, we learned a lot, both on the good and bad ends, about where we are and where we need to go from here.
I was really pleased as to how we attacked their zone. We got a lot of good shots tonight - making 11 three's marks a tremendous night, but I think we could have made 15 due to how well we executed at times. We need to be able to find more points in the paint against teams that zone us, but that was something on the negative side that we learned tonight - maybe we settled too much for the three against their zone.
For the majority of the game I thought we did a really nice job at the defensive end keeping Iowa State in check and really making them earn what they were getting. They got away from us at the end and I certainly do not think the score is indicative of how close the greater part of that game really was.
On Lauren Prochaska's double-double...
I thought Lauren chose her shots wisely tonight. She was patient for the offense to come to her and I credit our kids for finding her in the zone. She took advantage of her opportunities and stepped-up to make a lot of big shots. Also, I am really pleased as to how active she was on the boards; to have 10 rebounds against this Iowa State team was huge for us.
On Iowa State's non-conference success at Hilton Coliseum ...
I do not know if our fans realize what a learning experience this game was for our team. Iowa State has won 96-percent (76-3, 12-plus seasons) of their non-conference home-games under Bill Fennelly, one of the premier coaches in the game - that's 96-percent of their home games! With that being said, we weren't expecting miracles tonight. We were hoping to play four-minute segments at a time and if we could win some of those segments, and get them a little nervous in front of their home crowd, then maybe we could steal [a victory]. We knew the environment we were coming in to, along with the unbelievable home success that they have. As I mentioned earlier, we wanted to get this experience to get better and hopefully have it pay-off in the long run.
What do you feel was the turning point of the game?
I thought early on in the second half, after we cut their first 9-0 run to four points and survived their second 9-0 run which pushed the lead to 13 points, we could have folded. That lead could have become 25 or 30 points in a hurry - but we continued to fight. Hats off to Iowa State; somewhere between the seven and four minute marks they got going from the arc. They hit multiple three-pointers down the stretch to really break open the game and any kind of belief we had that there was going to be an upset was vanishing. Yet, our kids never quit; we competed on the boards and we are one of few teams to do so and that team is huge. (Note: The shortest player on the Iowa State team is 5'8 while five players stand taller than 6'0 with two topping out at 6'4) We only gave up four true offensive rebounds tonight with another two being given credit as offensive boards because it went out-of-bounds off of us. To hold a team that has great size to four offensive rebounds is a great credit to our kids' concentration on keeping them to one-and-done.
On the quick turn-around as the team prepares for Hampton...
After getting over the disappointment of not being able to find a way to upset Iowa State obviously the maturity has to take place within our program. One of the reasons that we like [in-season] tournament play is that you have to step back up to play again instantaneously. We have 18 hours until we play again. We are immediately into the film room and without delay we are focusing our attention from Iowa State to Hampton. We have to let the good and bad thing from Iowa State go as we move forward to concentrate on our next opponent.
