Bowling Green State University Athletics
BGSU-Miami Quotes
March 01, 2007 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 28, 2007
Recap | Final Stats
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) -
BGSU COACH Curt Miller
"I am really proud of our kids. I thought we did a lot of good things in the first half, but foul shooting and some missed opportunities to extend the lead made it a very close first half. We regrouped at halftime, and I thought we adjusted well to the physical play."
"I was proud that we really buckled down (in terms of) execution and trying to be efficient at the offensive end. A key for us tonight was points in the paint, and we eventually wore them down and got points in the paint. They are as good a jump-shooting team as there is, (but) I thought points in the paint could be a big thing for us."
(How excited was your team for tonight's game after Saturday's loss?)
"Well, I think they just wanted to get back on the floor. We know we let one slip away (Saturday vs. Ohio), we know we had our chances but that we certainly can play better. The seniors wanted to go out in style, and they were as fired up, as a unit, to play tonight -- as emotional as I've seen them in a long time. If there was any -- my favorite phrase -- mustard seed of doubt, we finally got it off our backs with that big run to start the second half."
(On his halftime speech)
"I told them I was going to be calm all game. And certainly, I was not calm at halftime. We had a spirited halftime conversation, and they responded. They wanted it as badly as I did. Sometimes in the first half tonight, I thought we wanted it too much. We didn't always just let it happen, and take what they gave us. You saw the character of that team coming out of halftime. If there was a doubt in the game, they put it away pretty early."
(On the seniors, four of whom hit double figures in scoring)
"Well, they were big, and they had to be big. We are down in numbers, and they are such a huge part of this team. They went over fifty-five hundred (career points) as a group tonight, and they were all big. I thought Megan (Thorburn) had a really good game, too. I was very happy for the seniors to go out that way."
"It has been an amazing journey, and it has been an honor to coach the seniors. I'm just really proud of them."
MIAMI COACH MARIA FANTANAROSA
"It was bad timing for Miami, to have to be the team to play Bowling Green on Senior Night after a loss. I thought we gave them a good game in the first half, but I felt like they stepped up in the second half and we got deflated. You can tell that they are a senior team that has been playing with a lot of confidence. When we got deflated, we never got ourselves going again to challenge them."
(Have you seen a senior class like this Bowling Green class?)
"That's a tough question. I'm an Ali Mann fan. ... Ali Mann makes that senior class that senior class. I think Ali's the Player of the Year; I mean, she's exceptional. Whenever it's a crucial moment, competitively, she's the one that takes over ... She is the kind of player that is going to be tough to replace."
