University of Connecticut Athletics
UConn-Towson Post Game Quotes
11/30/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 30, 2011
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Connecticut Head Coach Geno Auriemma
Full court pressure:
"[Full court pressure] is the strength of our team. Right now our guards all have certain skills that translate pretty well into full court defense. They're also good with the ball and we're a pretty good shooting team."
Will three-point shooting be a factor in every game for you this year?
"If you don't use it then you're not taking advantage of the rules. There is a line out there so we've got to use it. We've got some players that are pretty good at knocking [three-pointers] down. It certainly gives you an advantage over teams that don't shoot it. I've said one-third of our shots should be threes and tonight was exactly that"
How do you handle a change in pace of the schedule over the next few weeks?
"When there are a lot of games [in a short period of time] it isn't bad because we're getting game stuff done. Between now and exams we want to get a little better at everything."
Sophomore Guard Bria Hartley
On style of play:
"I think we have a lot of scorers and really good players. Every time we go out there we try to get a lot of shots for everyone. We want to make our defense become our offense. We go out there with high intensity on defense and get a lot of steals. I think we came out really strong doing that today."
On team's 3-point shooting:
"We have a ton of 3-point shooters. Kaleena makes shots, you have Tiffany, Kelly and Caroline. It's a big thing for us. We have multiple threats and it's hard for people to defend it."
On ability to force turnovers:
"We came out with high intensity and got our hands in passing lanes. Kelly, Tiffany, they all do a good job of rotating and getting those steals."
On Texas A&M games:
"We are going to go into practice, be really focused and get ready for our next opponent."
Freshman Guard Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis
What do you guys get out of this stretch of games?
"We get to see how we play when we are tired. We get to see how we are when we see teams that maybe aren't as good as the Stanford's or the Texas A&M's. We just learned that we have to be consistent all the time."
When you have yourself and Bria (Hartley) and Tiffany (Hayes) all hitting from the outside, how much fun is it to be out there?
"It's a lot of fun. It's a lot easier when your teammates are hitting shots and you don't really have to worry about, ok Tiffany's having an off day or I'm having an off day so we gotta focus more on getting it inside to Stefanie (Dolson). Everybody's hitting you don't really have to worry about anything, you just play."
After these last four games are you getting a little bit anxious to see the competition level step up?
"Definitely. I'm anxious to play teams like Texas A&M and get to Duke and all those other team's we're gonna be playing later on. Right now, we're just trying to focus on us getting better as a team in practice."
Coach commented on your background with USA hoops. How much has that helped you to make this transition seem so easy so far?
"It's given me a lot of experience being to play with a lot of different players and play with some older players -Bria (Hartley) Stephanie (Dolson). Being able to play with girls like Ariel Massengale from Tennessee. It's just a lot of exposure and being able to put myself in different situations.
Do you feel like a freshman?
"I do. I still make freshman mistakes. Definitely freshman classes. I mean, Kiah Stokes isn't in any of my classes. Me and Bria (Hartley) are in a lot of the same classes. We're all in the same boat trying to deal with being new and in college.
Towson Head Coach Joe Mathews
You have played two top-10 teams in the non-conference schedule. How has that prepared you for the CAA?
"Hopefully it's done exactly what we planned on it doing. Our conference is very strong and very tough and challenging every night. You have to play better competition to be prepared for it. I don't think you can play much better than UConn and
Can you compare UConn to Maryland?
"They have some similarities. I think UConn may have the potential to shoot the ball better more consistently, but
What can your team learn from a game like tonight's?
"You've got to learn about yourself and what things you can control. There are only so many things that you could control. I'm not convinced we controlled everything that we should have controlled. You learn about teamwork, you learn about working hard and trying to achieve something. We talked about how this game wasn't going to make our season but it wasn't going to break our season either."
What areas surprised you about your team's performance?
"I thought the underclassmen played well. We put some freshmen out there together for a while there at the end and I like what they did. They competed, they tried hard. They aren't ready in a lot of areas but they worked really hard. I'm pleased with their effort."
