University of Connecticut Athletics
Quotes: UConn 96, SMU 45
12/27/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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UConn Head Coach Geno Auriemma
On Guard Moriah Jefferson's offensive performance:
"Obviously you want to see your guys play well…that's for everybody, all of the time. These last three games I don't know what has been the problem…it just hasn't been anything I expected or anyone else expected. Since we got back from Christmas, the last two practices have been really good for her, she got a lot of things done…spent some time in the gym. Today was a perfect example of all of the things she can provide to our team. As much as people want to play off of her or double inside a lot, she's got to be able to make some outside shots…and she obviously proved today that she can."
On Jefferson's aggressive play:
"Yeah, aggressive in a smart way and at the right time. You know we talk about this all of the time, how, one of the things we try to teach is that basketball is not necessarily a game of how to do things. The really good player in basketball know when do to do things. Everybody in basketball knows how to shoot a layup, or knows how to drive to the basket, or knows how to use a screen. Knowing when to do what, that's what makes really good basketball players out of just okay basketball players. Today, pretty much, except for the offensive foul, pretty much every decision that she made was a good decision."
On Jefferson's role as an upper-class guard:
"I think our offense, obviously, ran pretty smoothly last year. I don't know that we put a lot of demands on our guards. You know, Moriah and Bria Hartley, they really didn't have a lot of pressure on them last year because they always had a bail out. They could come down, throw the ball to Stefanie Dolson and then just go wherever, assuming that something good would happen after Stefanie touched the ball. Now, that option isn't there as much, so they have to make one of those decisions themselves and it's not as easy. She is not equipped like Bria was to do some things. Her challenges are a little bit different and I think that the game like today is the kind of game I'm sure she was planning on having a lot of these when the season started. Unfortunately, it has taken up until today and that's okay. We are not even a quarter of the way into the season.
UConn Senior Forward Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis
On Moriah Jefferson's emergence on offense:
"I think it makes us that much more un-guardable. You know, with all of the weapons that we have and now we have Moriah where we know what she can be every single game. When she is aggressive like she was tonight, I don't think there is a team that can beat us."
On the intensity during games with Duke [Monday, December 29]:
"It always intense with a team like Duke, whether its here or at the Cameron. I think that it is one of those rivalries where it is always going to be a tough game in the beginning. They are always going to come out aggressive, they are going to come out and try to hit us first. Its just a matter of how we respond, how we play the whole forty minutes."
Junior Guard Moriah Jefferson
On scoring eleven points in the last three games, then scoring twenty-four tonight with five steals:
"I think the defense started with Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis. Before the game she told me that she was beating me in steals; I thought there was no way I'm going to let here beat me in steals. So, we both came out, trying to challenge each other as to who get the most steals today. After that, I think offense came naturally."
On your early season struggles:
"It's frustrating, you know anytime that you don't play well its going to be tough. You try to think about the positives. I think about how good my teammates have been playing and how they've had my back. You try and come out and play better then your last game."
SMU Head Coach Rhonda Rompola
On how this stage affected her team
"Heck, it affected the whole team. We talked to the team about coming out and not being tentative and when a couple shots don't fall and you have turnovers that lead to easy transition buckets before you can blink an eye it's 10-2. Their ability to shoot the three, not just in the offense but in transition, that's what makes it difficult to guard this team."
On what they wanted to accomplish against UConn
"We talked about working on things for our game and things we need to improve on. There were certain things we wanted to be more patient with on offense and the first possession we go one pass and then a shot. Sometimes, you forget and I told them that once you step on the floor you can't forget what we discussed. We made some mental and physical mistakes that got our head down in the second half and allowed us to give up on some plays, you can't do that."
On how this tough stretch of games will help the team moving forward
"Hopefully they will learn that to play at a high-level that we have to pick up our game. I told them, the speed of this game will be faster than any other game we play this year. That's the difference when we play teams like [UConn] the speed is so much faster."
On closing the gap between UConn and the rest of The American
"I don't care what they say in the polls, I think they are the best darn team in college basketball. They are like playing a WNBA team. You look at their schedule and you look at who UConn plays and there aren't many teams that are playing that type of schedule in the top 10. South Florida has a heck of a team but it will take second for the rest of the conference to get there. It doesn't happen overnight and it's only the second year."
On how UConn affects recruiting
"I think it helps recruiting, I think players want to play against UConn. All of our freshmen that played in today's game wanted to have the opportunity to play UConn and they did. They got a little taste of it."
