University of Connecticut Athletics
UConn vs. Georgetown Post Game Quotes
2/27/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 27, 2010
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Senior Center Tina Charles What does it mean for you to play like you did today in the final home game? "It definitely means a lot. I know it's not my final home game because the BIG EAST Tournament is here. I think that's probably when it is really going to hit me. I was just going out and leaving everything on the court." Did it have it in your mind that you wanted to have a bigger game tonight because it is your senior game? "It was just the way the game was going. We were just trying to get a run. They were up. It was a great game. Coach said after the game that he wished we had more games like this. It was physical; they were out hustling. That's just the way the game was going and somebody had to step up." Georgetown likes to run and push the pace. How much do you enjoy a game like that? "I definitely do. The key to it was us trying to break the press that was put on us. It was hard but we got through it. Things that we practiced in practice carried over into the game and that was just amazing." There is a good chance on Monday that you could become the all-time leading scorer and rebounder for UConn. What does that mean to you? "It would definitely be great after I leave and I look back at my career at UConn. But, right now I'm just doing whatever it takes for us to win, one game at a time." Does the win streak become motivation as you move forward? "Coach always says that we are playing to make history, but in the back of our minds we know what our goals are. Those are to win the championship and every championship that is thrown our way. We just take it one game at a time and we don't pay attention to that (the win streak). We definitely feel respected by it, but we are just taking it one game at a time." What were you thinking of during the "Senior Day" festivities? "For me I knew that I wasn't going to cry because it was the last game. I started tearing up because of the position that I'm in right now, how hard I had to work, what I went through and how it all paid off. I just said, `Thank God, Thank you Jesus, for everything.' What I had to do to get here, that's what was going through my mind. It wasn't the fact that it's the last game; it's what I had to go through these past years." Sophomore Guard Caroline Doty UConn is only one game away from having another undefeated regular season. What does that mean to you? "It is rewarding after all we have gone through preseason and through the season alone. With the competition we've played and the results we've had, it's rewarding for it to be like this. We are excited for it."
On her three-point shooting this game "It was definitely nice. The emotions were flowing. I sat down with Coach and was talking to him. He helped get my head straight and said, `If your shots aren't going in, do other things. Make the right pass. Get however many assists a game. Get a couple steals here and there. And, just control the offense.' He said, `Once you do that, shots will flow.' Having these guys (Tina Charles and Kalana Greene) getting open shots, helped my flow tonight." Senior Guard Kalana Greene On winning the BIG EAST Regular Season Championship "This was one of our goals. Every year that is the first goal, you go out there and win the BIG EAST Regular Season and put yourself in a good position to win the BIG EAST Tournament and have the momentum built to go to the BIG EAST Tournament. So this is important for us. People think we don't appreciate it, but we are excited. It is hard to do. It is kind of easy to win the tournament, win three games, four or five games, it is easy. But to win the regular season, you have to win 16 games, like us, win 16 games, and get the majority of them. We feel good, and excited!" How hard is it to go through two consecutive undefeated regular seasons? "It is hard, because they don't know the work that is put into it. Every day we are getting beat up in practice, competing every day, is really hard. It is rewarding for us, with how hard we are working to come out there and try to be perfect, we can't be, but we are trying and striving to be. Anybody who watches practice every day knows how hard it is. The games are fun and easy, practices are the hard part." How do you keep your concentration and mental edge for six months, when everyone you play wants to be the one to beat you? "I think is easy because we don't look at the games. We don't say `let's go into a game and win it.' We don't think like that. We just think about executing each play, we take it possession by possession and winning each possession and that is a challenge within itself. We know we are going to lose some possessions, but if we win the majority of them we can always win the game. The games are always still competitive with us because we look at the small things, all the small things that build up into the big things, and we pretty much get the win after that."
Head Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy On what makes playing against Tina Charles such a challenge: She's big, and we're not. We always struggle with post players because we're not, we're small.
On the team's quick start: We came out and played the way we play. We come out pressing. We weren't going to make any changes or adjustments for this game. We pushed in transition. We did have some shots that fell for us, but that's the way we play.
On the challenge of playing against UConn: Well, it's hard. They don't call fouls. They can score quickly in transition. Next thing you know, you're down by 6, next thing you know they go and score three offensive possessions and then you're back down too far.
Junior Monica McNutt On the beginning of the game and what they wanted to do: Obviously everybody knows about UConn Women's Basketball, it's no secret. We knew that we had to come out and play extremely hard. We had to execute, we had to do all the little things that we work on everyday in practice, so we were pumped and ready to go. We were really focused and really locked in.
