Post Game Coaches' Quotes
December 28, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 28, 2009
Wisconsin Head Coach Lisa Stone:
Opening remarks: “I tell you, it was like a football game. I know we’ve got the bowl game tomorrow, but it was a very physical Big Ten battle out there tonight. Michigan State’s a great team. They rebound the ball with relentlessness and I thought we did a really good job of boxing out. I thought it was going to go right down to the wire there and that’s something we can shore up.
Rae Lin D’Alie’s energy and her leadership out there on the court was just simply outstanding. She had six steals (and) seven assists. I’m not quite sure of her line, but her leadership on the court and her energy in talking in timeouts about finishing the play and getting things done and let’s play to win.
We sputtered a little bit late but held on to win. Again, it was a tremendous defensive game for us. (Michigan State is) a team that averages a ton of points and I knew at halftime that we (couldn’t start) the half like we did at Ohio State and we talked about that. Let’s not let our second half be like that one at Ohio State, but I give Michigan State a lot of credit. They’re a very, very good team. They’re well coached and it’s good to win at home in front of great fans and I hope you come out for more because we’re going to do the best we can in the Big Ten this year.”
On Zastrow: “I thought Lin was trying to score offensively. She made some aggressive moves to the basket and I liked the look in her face. I’m very, very encouraged by that but your right Lin is a very good defensive player and she was big on the boards."
On Gant: "Teah Gant had her hands full with Lykendra Johnson. There’s not a better offensive rebounder than Lykendra Johnson in the Big Ten, but I thought Teah did a nice job on her. [As well as] Taylor Wurtz for a bit. Again, Anya Covington comes in and gives us key minutes. Her jump hook saved us a couple of times. Alyssa’s spin move – I don’t know how that thing went in, but it was a key moment. And I thought late in the game when Teah Gant attacked the basket, got a shuffle pass over to Tara Steinbauer late when we were struggling just a little bit and the shot clock was winding down, they were pressuring us, the veterans came through with our team.
Again, it feels really good because these kids work very hard and it was a possession-by-possession game and one that we just had enough in our tank at the end."
On Alyssa Karel’s toughness. “She came out really with a scorer’s mentality. She wanted the ball. She knew if she had any type of room she was going to look for her shot. I thought Rae (Lin D’Alie) did a good job of finding her. I thought early in the first half we got her some touches and she’s very good in the open court. We were able to get out in some transition too, which was nice to see and I hope that will continue.”
On playing Iowa on Thursday: “Well, it’s a short turn around, but it’s actually longer than we’ve had. In the preseason, we had three games in three days in Oregon, three games in five days here where we finished up with Robert Morris, so we actually have one additional day. That’s a little more rest for us, but we are on break. It’s nice to be here now that finals are over. We have some time to recover and watch film and more teaching. We’ll head down to Iowa on Wednesday and it’s important we play well on the road. We’ve played at some tough venues – at Marquette, at NC State, at Oregon – those three venues stand out in my mind in preparation for the Big Ten road games. It’s important we take one game at a time. It’s a journey this year and I’ve got a group of young women with a look in their eye and it’s pretty special.”
