Postgame Quotes vs. Western Carolina
1/16/2010 2:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Chattanooga Lady Mocs Basketball - Postgame Notes
Western Carolina vs. Chattanooga
McKenzie Arena - Chattanooga, Tenn.
Jan. 16, 2010
Head Coach Wes Moore
Opening Statement:
"Well I'd like to holler at Larry Ward, the voice of the Lady Mocs. Last weekend, I realized he had some mini-strokes while we were on the road against Appalachian St. and Davidson. And if he's watching on tv today, they have probably wheeled him back into intensive care. We're not making anything easy. It's frustrating. I was worried about this game because if you look at their record you might not expect such a great team. But the film is what I look at and I knew they were very talented. I knew we would have our hands full. We were very fortunate. Our kids continue to find a way to pull it out at the end."
"I don't know if there was a certain point in the game. In the beginning, we may not have been quite as focused. They have a veteran team. I knew they would come in here with a little extra fire and incentive. I knew it was going to be one of those games that can jump out and bite you if you're not ready."
On the last possession:
"We want to make sure that we get the last shot, so the worst case would be overtime. We had a little handoff with an immediate pick on the ball. Fortunately, Shanara [Hollinquest] was able to get the rebound. Ten seconds is an eternity in basketball. You'd like to have time to get an offensive rebound. We were fortunate it fell in her hands and she was able to draw the foul. After the first free-throw, I was going to call a timeout and have her miss it. But, we put Megan Rollins in and they tried a long pass and she was able to come up with it."
On another close game:
"We have shown the ability to come from behind. That's what I reminded them in the huddle, 'You've done it all year long you can do it one more time, let's get this done.'
"Emily Clarke, we had no answer for her. She has become leader quickly, and she is a really tough matchup. You have to give her a lot of credit. "
On the team's young players:
"When you're counting on four freshman, it makes you a little less consistent than you'd like to be. This team, we are nowhere near the team we need to be six or seven weeks from now. We have a lot of cleaning up to do. You need to have your glass half full instead of half empty. I really am excited about this freshman class. We have a lot of kids that can do some things. We just have to find them on the same night."
On Shanara Hollinquest's leadership:
"Shanara is not very vocal. She is more of a leader by example. But I don't care what Shanara has shot from the foul line for the first 35 minutes, when it is crunch time, she seems to find a way to get it done. That's the mark of a winner."
On the next week:
"We'll take tomorrow off. The Cowboy's are on TV so that'll be nice. But we've got Monday and Tuesday, where we can focus on us and try to clean some things up. This could be a good week for us and hopefully we can get better."
Player Quotes
On the final offensive possession
"No, it wasn't exactly how we drew it up. Although, Jenya (Wade-Fray) said she had it all planned out from the start. When she shot it, I tried to get position and hope that the ball bounced my way. She passed it my way."
On the free throws at the end of the game
"I can't lie, I was super nervous. I just tried to put myself in practice, and blank everything out and make the free throws."
On mind set shooting the free throws
"I don't know. My mind set is probably different. I know I have to make these free throws. I tried to go textbook and the arm in and make sure everything is right."
On Western Carolina
"Not really, they have always been a good team. They have some good shooters, and would be playing hard because they were playing us."
On WCU playing well in the first half
"They came out hitting everything. I am sure we could have been tight on our defense, but they played really well."
On the recent close games
"We talked about, and we want to stretch the game out so coach Moore won't yell at us so much. And everybody can just relax. Hopefully it will prepare us for later on though."
On the game trying free throw
"I just knew it was a big free throw. I tried to hit both, but I knew if I hit one we would have a good chance. I tried to focus like we do in practice, and make them."
