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Wisconsin Coach Postgame Quotes
Wisconsin vs. Minnesota
Jan. 4, 2015
Kohl Center- Madison, Wis.

Bobbie Kelsey
On her opening statement:
"Tough one today. We obviously didn't hit enough shots in the game. They hit some nice threes, even when we were right up on them. They got loose a couple of times, but that's the problem with playing a team that can shoot, and has a big girl on the inside. If you help somewhere, she can make that pass out and it's hard. If they're not hitting today, it might be a different story, but I'm proud of our kids… they fought. Nicole (Bauman) had a good game, I thought Malayna (Johnson) helped us a lot. We just needed a couple more people to get going, and that didn't happen for us."

On how they neutralized Amanda Zahui B.:
"She's averaging I think 17 rebounds in conference or something like that. Again, when you're making shots then it's hard. You're picking folks to come off of, but if you come off on one, the other one gets going, then you come off of somebody else and they hit. You've got to take away something, and she's a key to their team.

"I thought (Shae) Kelley did a good job. She hit some shots, but you've got to hit shots. When you take them, you've got to make them. We had our chances, we had our shots… but we didn't hit them. Maybe another day we are, but we've got to hit them all the time. So we're encouraging the kids to get in the gym, that's the only way you're going to get it. You can't become a better shooter wishing and hoping that you do, or waiting for the game to then try to manufacture something. Being a good shooter is time. Nicole (Bauman) puts in the time, that's why she can shoot the same shot every single time and make it… that's the way she practices. If some people would follow her lead and get in the gym, and say Nicole, when are you going to the gym? This is the person I would be getting in the gym with. We can't make them. It's a thing where anybody can be a good shooter."

On if she's surprised that Minnesota has been this successful after losing a player like Rachel Banham:
"No, because when you've got an aggressive, mean player in there like (Amanda) Zahui, and then the transfer in (Shae) Kelley, who can play right away. They don't have her... maybe it's a different story, I don't know. They're fortunate enough to get her to come in. The other kids can shoot. They might not be able to do other things, but if you leave them, they're going to knock it down. Period. And that's the difference. That's why they're 14-1. Because they can shoot."


Wisconsin Player Postgame Quotes
Wisconsin vs. Minnesota
Jan. 4, 2015
Kohl Center- Madison, Wis.

Nicole Bauman
On how Minnesota is different without Rachel Banham:
"I think that they play more as a team than they did in the past, because obviously (Rachel) Banham is one of the best players in the entire NCAA. They did a great job of sharing the ball, and like coach said, they hit almost all of their shots."

On the majority of her points being in the last six minutes of the game:
"I'd say yes, it was a lot of sense of urgency. Just as a whole, our team needs to be more aggressive the entire game, and we can't just wait until the last few minutes of the game to finally bring energy in. We need to start the game strong."

Cassie Rochel
On her take on Rachel Banham's absence and the effect of Amanda Zahui B.:
"I would just say, like Nicole (Bauman) said, when a great player goes out, that's a lot of shots that other people have to take. With Shae Kelley coming in as a transfer, I think she's doing a phenomenal job. All of the players kind of stepping up for her… Rachel Banham being out.

"(Amanda) Zahui is a great player. I kind of got in foul trouble earlier today trying to guard her. I thought Malayna came in and did a great job with her shot blocking. I know coach was talking about that… she's come such a long way with her timing, and that was key today in minimizing (Zahui's) points. I know we tried to hold our rebounds. It's hard… she only had one offensive rebound, so that's good. Like coach said, their guards were lights-out shooting today, so if you shut down one person, you can't let three other people go off. I think that's where we struggled today."

Minnesota Coach Postgame Quotes
Wisconsin vs. Minnesota
Jan. 4, 2015
Kohl Center- Madison, Wis. 

Head Coach Marlene Stollings 

On the loss of Rachel Banham due to her injury: 
"The loss of Rachel is devastating to our team, and our kids are really close to her and I think they've been really inspired and motivated to really perform at a high level for her. We've challenged each of them with a couple of realistic individual goals because she (Banham) accounted for almost 35 of our points a night, including her assists and so forth. So we knew it would take an army pretty much our entire team to step up in certain areas to account for her loss. They've really bought into that and really just stepped up in different areas. We've had different players step up it seems each and every night. They're really motivated to win for Rachel right now."

On their zone defense:
"It's something we do; it's our primary defense. We do a lot of stuff like Syracuse with Jim Boeheim and so forth. We've pretty much been a zone match-up for most of my head coaching career thus far. So it is our primary defense and we knew (the Badgers) were able to shoot the ball pretty well, especially from the 3-point line from time to time. So we knew we had to be very alert, and they got five (3-pointers), which was okay with us. We just didn't want them going off for eight or 10. I felt we guarded the 3-point line fairly well."

On the competitive level of the Big Ten and being 3-0 in the conference:  
"This arena is beautiful compared to when I played here in 1993 (in the Field House.) Definitely a nice upgrade. We know the Big Ten is a top-ranked women's basketball conference in the nation, and it's an unforgiving league in conference. We know every night that we have to bring our A game so to speak. It also has a lot of high-caliber coaches so you're tested every single night, but that's exciting. It's exciting for our players and obviously it's exciting to us as a coaching staff to be challenged on that level. We hope to just keep it going here."

On Shae Kelley stepping in as a veteran player:
"We're very lucky to have signed her as a fifth-year transfer. We're very familiar with her having been over in the East Coast area, having played against her for two years for VCU. She brings an element to our team that we didn't really have. She brings athleticism, ability to score inside and out- although I don't think she called bank on that 3-point shot. She just brings versatility, athleticism, the ability to rebound, and really get out in the open floor. It makes it a little bit hard for people at times to double in on Amanda (Zahui) although Wisconsin did a pretty good job of that today."