Feb. 23, 2011
Recap | Box Score | Notes
Post-Game Quotes: Wisconsin vs. Indiana
Head coach Lisa Stone
On this year’s senior class and the Kohl Center crowd:
“It’s been a very special class. Those that were here the other night, I thanked them, and those who came today. Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and the Upward Bound Program brought 500 people tonight. Student organizations and the students that stuck around, we need you. Keep on coming back. I know we don’t have any other home games, but the Big Ten Tournament is not far away. Certainly, come on back next year.
“I can’t say enough about the seniors. When you play your last game at the Kohl Center, you really realize how quickly those four years go. We miss Tara Steinbauer. There’s no question about it, but Lin (Zastrow) did a great job in the second half. I challenged those seniors. Speaking of our seniors, I challenged them a lot at halftime. Again, Emily Neal had a good game today, just like she did the other night. It’s special. It’s great to play here. I thank the fans for coming out on a Wednesday night, kind of an odd day to be playing, but we needed this win. We needed it bad, and we need some momentum going into the tournament.”
On Lin Zastrow’s statistics tonight:
“When we needed Lin, she came in and she was ready. She responded. At halftime, I really challenged her. I said, ‘Lin, you have to impose your will in there.’(Aulani) Sinclair was guarding her for a while, and she’s a really good player, did a good job defensively. But, I felt we could get the ball inside. Lin took some tough shots in the first half, but in the second half, she really got a rhythm and made some free throws.”
On rebounding, turnovers and finishing:
“We needed to take care of the basketball better and rebound. We talked about that at halftime. Our turnovers were at one of our highs. We haven’t had 20 turnovers in a long time. You give credit to Indiana. They’re third in the conference in steals. They really reached and caused us to turn it over. I felt we got rushed and a little panicked down the stretch, but we did enough at the end. We made our free throws. I thought Anya Covington played very well today. Cassie Rochel gave us great minutes. Morgan Paige does what Morgan Paige does. She comes in, knocks two free throws down, got a break on a lane violation and she capitalized. Those are two big free throws at the end of the game coming from a freshman.”
On the importance of finishing in the top five of the Big Ten:
“There’s no question that a win on Sunday guarantees it. Tomorrow there are a lot of games going on. The Ohio State game is a big one for us, obviously, and the Penn State versus Purdue game is big. They are all big games out there. I’m glad we played tonight, so we can kind of sit back and watch everybody tomorrow.
“The bottom line is we’re treating it as a one-game season. We’re on to the next game. One game and that’s Ohio State. It’s a game that we were hoping we’d be playing for a conference championship, but we’re not so what we need to do is go in there and beat them, get a significant win and some momentum going into the tournament.
“It’s a great group of young women and we’ve seen different people step up right now in Tara’s absence, and that’s really encouraging. But, we have to get back to basics. Take care of the ball on Sunday, and see what we can do in Columbus.”
On the 2010-11 season:
“It’s gone fast. It really has. It’s certainly an enjoyable group. You don’t want anything to end. To me, it feels like December, not this late in the season. That’s a good sign. We want to keep on playing, build off this one and go get Ohio State.”
Indiana head coach Felisha Legette-Jack
On how the team stayed in the game after a slow start:
“All we could do is fight. We can’t look at things happening, we can’t look at it like somebody grabbed our arm or things going bad for us. All we can do is fight because at the end of the day it’s not about the score, it’s about building your character when you’re on the floor and that’s what we talk about. We don’t talk about basketball; we talk about this game being a microcosm of life and how you handle yourself to adversity is what’s going to help you throughout your career. I didn’t think we were in that big of a hole, but what I love to see is the character of someone else stepping up. Hope Elam came in and hit some really key shots. Alisha Goodwin came in and really ignited the defense and got energy out there. We’re not a winning team right now, we’re a character team, and I think there is a place for us in the Big Ten.”
On how the team changed their play from the last time they faced Wisconsin:
“A cohesive unit becomes something significant. We were individualizing. Everyone thought that it was up to me to make this day great, and we realized that it can’t be just one person or two people or even three or four, it has to be a whole cohesive unit and they came together. They’ve been coming together so significantly. Unfortunately, we don’t have the wins to back this up, but this is one of my favorite teams that I’ve coached since I’ve been at Indiana because they’re learning the big lessons and are going to succeed in life after this season because of all the adversity we’ve been through. One thing that we never did was that we never fell apart. We came together and became one, and that’s where we are right now. We’re getting better, and I’m really excited about our chances in the Big Ten tournament.”
On if they were surprised by Lin Zastrow’s play tonight:
“No, we can’t be surprised by a kid who I already believe is one of the best five players in the conference. It’s not a secret about Lin Zastrow. If somebody else would’ve come out, we would’ve been surprised. Lin Zastrow has been consistent for the Badgers for four years. She’s an unbelievable player. She reminds me of a young lady who played over at Notre Dame. Zastrow is a really fantastic player who is only going to get better in the years to come.”
On Jori Davis’ play in the second half:
“Jori Davis is the third leading scorer in the Big Ten Conference. She saw other people doing their thing and she still tried to put up some shots that she usually takes but they weren’t going in. But we saw other players step up, and that was good. I’m not certain if I saw any one person held Jori in check. I think she was just really rushing her shot at the beginning, but eventually some players like the Lin Zastrows and the Alyssa Karels of the world are going to find their way. That’s what is so cool about the young ladies in our conference. The top players always seem to rise, sooner or later in the game, and Jori just picked hers up in the second half."
