MOCS WOMEN'S BASKETBALL QUOTES
Game No. 23 | Chattanooga vs. Samford | McKenzie Arena | Jan. 26, 2015
Head Coach Jim Foster
Were you pleased with the defensive effort?
“I thought we played great defense. They are a team that you can't let shoot the 3-pointer and you can't let them back-cut you. I thought we defended those two things fairly well and made them have to take the kind of shot they are not comfortable with. If they get the back-cut layups and get the good looks at three, they are hard team to beat.”
What's it say about your team that they didn't panic when they weren't making shots?
“There are a couple of things technically we could have done a bit differently that we are still working on with a couple of the players, but I use Moses [Johnson] as an example. Moses is a player that has a lot of talent but what she does for us or what she needs to do for us is what she did tonight. She needs to be our best rebounding guard because she is our best rebounding guard and she needs to be a player who lets other people create plays,and she will find baskets. She doesn't need to go looking for baskets. When she does that, there she is 4-for-6 with five rebounds, pretty good night off the bench. On a night when Chelsey [Shumpert] doesn't play that well or make shots and gets into foul trouble which she unaccustomed to. But Destiny's [Bramblett] stat sheet doesn't look good but her low post defense was maybe the best she has played in her career.”
How do you feel about the top 25 ranking?
“I think it's great for grade school kids all over the country because they will learn how to spell Chattanooga because it will be in their local paper. That's the best thing about it. There are Chattanooga graduates all over the place and they can pick up and go to the agate page and see if Sportscenter knows how to spell.”
Again on the defensive play:
“We did a great job at the 3-point line against this team. The three 3-pointers they did make we did something that we shouldn't have done. We talked about it at halftime and it didn't happen again which is a good sign with a young group.”
Junior Guard Alicia Payne
Thoughts on being in the top 25…
“It's a good accomplishment. We're very excited that it happened. It's a team effort so we're really excited for our team. I guess it's a big accomplishment but we'll still focus on each game one at a time and about the SoCon.”
Did that provide any extra energy in tonight's game?
“I don't think it provided extra energy. I mean we try to go out every game, give our best and play hard no matter what. I don't think we thought too much about it but we just went out and played hard.”
What did you see from the defense today?
“We just came out with a lot of energy. We tried to pressure the ball, make them start their offense further out then they would like. We just had a lot of energy and tried to play tough defense.”
Freshman Guard Keiana Gilbert
How did you find out about the team's national ranking?
“One of the girls sent a group text to everyone on the team and told us about it.”
Thoughts on tonight's game.
“I think that really our main focus is defense. If our shots aren't falling and if we're not getting the looks that we want then we have to depend on our defense to help us out.”
Do you feel like you know what SoCon defenses are going to do against you?
“Yes, in practice we basically go over what the other team's going to do. I just have to get my shots off of how they are going to defend me so I look for my shots that way.”
