March 20, 2011
Recap | Box Score | Notes
MADISON, Wis. - Post-game quotes from Wisconsin head coach Lisa Stone and Illinois State head coach Stephanie Glance.
UW Head Coach Lisa Stone
On the team's rally in the second half:
“First, I have to credit Illinois State. They're a very nice team. They made big shots when we missed at the free throw line. We struggled at the free throw line today, and that was doomsday for us.
"I wouldn't have picked a better free-throw shooter than Morgan Paige. That's who you want shooting free throws. She's a great freshman, she's got a beautiful future ahead of her. I told her it (the game) came down way before that. We missed the front ends early, we turned it over in the second half, (we had) back-to-back turnovers when we had it even, but Illinois State found a way to keep answering. Their six seniors put their team on their back and made big plays down the stretch and got us into some foul trouble.”
On Tiera Stephen leaving the game with an injury:
“My concern right now is for Tiera. That just summarizes the season for us (the fact that she suffered an injury and had to leave the game). Let's hope that it's not the worst-case scenario with her knee.”
On the team's technical foul turning the game around defensively:
“We're not a pressing team, and I thought we showed some fire and some fight at the end. We dug ourselves too big of a hole, and it started in the first half. There's 40 minutes in a game. A lot of things could have gone our way in the first half – we missed some free throws and layups – and defensively we had a tough time defending their ball screens. I thought we made a better adjustment at halftime, but again, it wasn't enough. Our fight was a little bit too late today.”
On the senior class:
“Bottom line, I'm really proud of our seniors and of our team. It's been a year where we've gone through a lot of things – untimely injuries at certain times, but again, I can't say enough about the senior class. Emily (Neal), Tara (Steinbauer), Alyssa (Karel) and Lin (Zastrow) – just a tremendous senior class. It's just tough to end here at home with a loss.
“That's a very special senior class. They're top students, they're some of our top scorers, they've been a very successful senior class, and I'm going to miss them dearly – not just as players, but as people.”
Illinois State Coach Stephanie Glance
Opening Statement:
“I was impressed that we were able to hold (Alyssa) Karel and (Lin) Zastrow. They both had a great game. They are great players as are all the players on Wisconsin’s team. I just thought that perhaps our defense lasted a little longer at critical times, we were able to defend and turn them over just a little bit, at least limit their shots.
“Offensively, I felt like we did a really good job, a much better job in the second half, of moving the ball and moving ourselves – just getting better ball movement and becoming a little bit more difficult to defend. It was great effort.
“The stat that stands out to me the most was the rebounding stat, I think that was the key to the game. We are definitely undersized and for us to win the battle of the boards, I think that was a big key for us.”
On the final minutes of play:
“I’m glad there was no more time left. I’m glad the clock ran out when it did because we were definitely starting to get a little tight. Inbounding the ball, it didn’t matter what set we put in, who was inbounding. I will say we have not been in that position that many times this year and I think that has a lot to do with it. We are kind of inexperienced in that situation so for us to actually be able to hang on and to pull out the win, that’s big for us because we haven’t been in that situation a lot and I think we got a little too tight.
“Give credit to Wisconsin, they brought the heat when they needed to. To their credit, they created our tightness so that’s to their credit.”
On the technical foul call being the turning point:
“We hit our free throws and we got another possession. I don’t know if that was the turning point. Emily Hanley’s three for us might have been the turning point on our end of the floor. I'm glad we hit our free throws but again, I didn't feel that it was exactly a turning point for us. I felt like Emily's three was more of a turning point.”
On the importance of beating a team from a major conference in a postseason game:
“I think it's big for Illinois State. When you're in a mid-major conference and Illinois State has a strong tradition and history – that was what attracted to me when I came to Illinois State. I think that speaks to the tradition that came long before this year and what Illinois State has been able to do in the last couple of years. I think that it really speaks well for how competitive Illinois State really is, and the fact that this will be our second Big Ten win on the road this season (is a credit to the overall program). To me, it just speaks to the overall quality of the program at Illinois State.”
