Postgame Quotes - WBB SoCon Finals
3/8/2010 9:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Chattanooga Women's Basketball - Postgame Quotes
(1) Chattanooga vs. (2) Samford
Southern Conference Championship - Time Warner Cable Arena - Charlotte, N.C.
Jan. 30, 2010
Chattanooga Lady Mocs
Head Coach Wes Moore
Opening statement... "Like I told Nate after the game, this is all about the players. I was kind of lost over there. Samford was hitting on all cylinders. Mike Morris does an unbelievable job, and his kids play hard. What can I say? Our players stepped up and turned the momentum around. We are very fortunate to have the talent that we have. We had the three ladies beside me making big plays (Shanara Hollinquest, Michelle Davis and Kayla Christopher). Obviously, our seniors, Shanara and Jenaya (Wade-Fray) have been doing this for a while. I'm extremely happy for them, and they have another opportunity for NCAA trip."
On big plays at the end of the game... "Tenisha (Townsend), I was on her most of game to take the three. She seemed to be a little hesitant to take the shot. She put it on the floor a little bit too much. As far as Michelle Davis goes, I was disappointed in her defense. I thought Erin Helton was playing well."
On going undefeated in championship games... "I hadn't made a shot or grabbed a rebound yet. I've been very fortunate to have some very good players."
Redshirt-Freshman Forward Michelle Davis
On hitting big three's... "It's a championship game. You come to play and leave it all out there, and it doesn't matter how tired you are. At end of the game, your adrenaline is flowing and you can't really feel anything. You just have to play your heart out."
Freshman Guard Kayla Christopher
On emotions during the game... "We came out really strong, but then we let them back in the game. We didn't get our heads down. I knew we had one more run in us. Shanara (Hollinquest) and Jenaya wouldn't let us go down that easy."
On first experience in SoCon tournament... "I was just trying to take it all in. It was an awesome experience. I was having so much fun the whole time. And getting to the championship made it that much better. It's tournament time; you gotta step up and do what you gotta do; no matter how tired you are, you have to step up."
Senior Forward Shanara Hollinquest
On difference between halves... "I just got the mentality of I just have to get it done; along with my teammates. I got to the free throw line more and that was a big difference."
On big free throws at end of the game... "The main thing going through my mind was elbow in and Coach Nikki's (Blassingame) voice in the back of my head. I was just praying for the first one to go in and I knew the second one would fall."
Samford Bulldogs
Head Coach Mike Morris
Opening statement ... "It's definitely not the way we wanted to go but I was very pleased with our team's effort. It was new territory playing in the conference finals. I'm very pleased with the way we came out and competed. You have to give credit to Chattanooga. They have the experience. They've been here before and that kind of showed up toward the end. I thought our team got beat by a good team. I'm very pleased with our teams in terms of getting here. I thought we had a chance to win the basketball game. We approached it the right way, but we just fell a little short. That's what championship games are about."
On tonight's game... "We missed some free throws down the stretch we normally don't miss and missed some shots around the goals we usually don't miss down the stretch. I think just from that standpoint the comfort of what you can do and what's at stake sometimes creeps in toward the end of the game. I thought we had some pretty good looks that we missed including our free throws we missed and then we would make some tough shots. It wasn't necessary our players doing anything wrong, It's just their players stepping up and hitting big three's down the stretch which I thought was key for them."
Junior forward Savannah Hill
On the team's performance changing down the stretch ... "I really don't know. I was taking the same shots I took at the beginning. They just weren't falling for me."
Junior guard Emily London
On a first half timeout significance after a big run ... "It was the same as usual. Just be energetic. Be there for your teammates and get after it. We just went out there and fought and it went our way for a little while."
