Lady Mocs Basketball Postgame Quotes vs. College of Charleston - Jan. 31, 2011
1/31/2011 7:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Postgame Quotes
College of Charleston vs. Chattanooga
Chattanooga, Tenn. - McKenzie Arena
Jan. 31, 2011
Head Coach Wes Moore
Opening statement on the game:
"Everybody is talking about 500, but I am excited just to get ten. Wins are hard to come by this year. We've had to work for them, claw for them and fight for them. I am just glad to see us get a win, and we need to try to keep holding serve at home."
On the slow start, but strong finish:
"We can hopefully say the first half was due to the fact that we haven't played in nine or ten days and we're a little rusty. We'll put it on that, but in the second half we done a really good job of taking care of the ball. We ended up with 19 assists and nine turnovers, which is always nice. We won the boards, which again, that's got to be critical for us the rest of the way in. We played good team defense. I thought we did a good job rotating. Tonia Gerty came out and scored eight right off the bat, and we had to adjust a little bit on how we played pick on the ball. Plus, we hit some shots and we needed that. Tenisha Townsend had three big 3's, Kayla Christopher had three 3's, and of course Whitney Hood was Whitney Hood. The College of Charleston played us a little differently this time and I thought Whitney did a nice job against it."
On making improvements:
"We're making strides, but we're not there yet. We've got to play team defense. We don't have the lockdown-defenders with great speed and quickness, so we have to be smart, fundamental, and know the scouting report. We've got to take away what the person they're guarding does best, and we have to rotate over and help each other. In one-on-one, we're probably not going to win that battle, but we worked hard all week on that and hopefully this will be the start of something we can build on."
On earning his 500th win:
"I haven't made a basket and I haven't grabbed a rebound in any of those 500 wins. I have been fortunate to have some great players, and not only great players, but great people that I am very proud of. They are why we're here tonight. It's just the coaches that help recruit them and help them develop their game. I have been fortunate to have some really good coaches here on our staff. I get the bobble head and the players get the win."
On the upcoming game against Samford:
"Samford is picked to win the league, and they've dropped a couple of games here and there, but they're still going to be one of the teams to be reckoned with. We have one day to prepare for the Princeton Offense so that is a big challenge for us. Fortunately, we did play them a couple of weeks ago so maybe it'll be a little fresher on our minds. They've got five or six kids that shoot 40-something percent from the three point line. They have a lot of weapons so we're going to have to do a great job again defensively. They beat us pretty bad on the boards down there, and we've got to try to change that if we hope to have any chance."
Junior Whitney Hood
On the slow start:
"We were a little rusty in the first half. Coach Moore just reiterated to us to come out in the second half and keep fighting and the shots will fall. He told us to get into better position and move our feet and the defense will come too."
On the first half defense:
"Yes definitely. We held them to 24 points at half. It was important to hold them under 30 points."
On Coach Moore:
"He is a flat out great coach. He can coach great offense and defense. It is very special to be a part of."
On what he talked leading up to tonight:
"I tried to bring it up in the weight room, but it is like he got mad and said I am worried about getting the win, not the 500th win. I was a little surprised at that, but that is coach for you."
Junior Kayla Christopher
On what coach Moore said after the game:
"He did not say much. He just was looking forward to the next game."
On the good second half performance:
"We were able to knock down some shots. We got looks in the first half, but the rust showed after being off for 10 days. In the second half we played much better, especially defensively. Our shots started to fall too."
On the defensive effort:
It was important to play good defense today and I think we really improved from last game. We had each other's backs today. The time off allowed us to work on some things."
On Coach Moore getting 500 wins:
"Not many coaches can get to 500 wins so it is pretty special. It is pretty cool to be a part of not only for us, but for all the past players as well. "
