University of Connecticut Athletics
UConn-DePaul Postgame Quotes
11/28/2018 10:54:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Head Coach Geno Auriemma
On possibly overlooking DePaul:
Generally that's not going to happen. I thought we came out at halftime kind of immature. A lot of these kids don't understand that the way Doug [Bruno] coaches his team. They don't take any plays off. They play hard and compete and they're not going to stop just because they're down by whatever they were down by. So I think we showed some immaturity there, but for the most part our defense was good and our rebounding was good and those were the two things that we wanted to work on on that end. We wanted to make sure we kept the game at a pace that was comfortable for us, and I thought we did that as well.
On Christyn Williams and Megan Walker for the Notre Dame game:
We're going up there to win the game and we want Christyn and Megan to do whatever they have to do to help us win the game. I want them to play great. I want them to feel what it feels like to be in that environment against really good players. I want them to be in situations where they're guarding somebody they can't guard, and every defensive possession means a lot, and every offensive possession means a lot.
On preparation for DePaul:
You can't simulate what they do. Doug's come up with a really unique system that gets them to the NCAA Tournament every year. They just play every game and create as many possessions as they can and they figure since they play like that all the time and you don't they have a huge advantage in every game they play, because they're used to it. And you can't assimilate it in practice. They just want you to hurry up, and they're impossible to get ready for, because kids are competitive too. So that first five minutes of the game, it was a little bit crazy, and we had to calm it down a bit, because if it stayed like that we were going to run out of gas. And that's what they're hoping for.
Senior Guard Katie Lou Samuelson
On UConn's defensive performance:
They shoot a lot of threes and we knew they were going to get a lot of threes, but, we had to make sure they were contested and get out there and guard them when we could. The biggest key was when they shoot those shots making sure we got a rebound because they send a bunch of people to the boards. When we got that rebound we could get a score real quick on offense.
On if they were worried about overlooking DePaul:
I don't think there was any of that at all. We were really excited, part of playing on Sunday was playing today as well as we could to prepare ourselves. We really focused and worked a lot in practice on DePaul specifically so we didn't overlook them.
On being an underdog against Notre Dame:
I'm excited. I love playing away games with really good crowds and I know they're going to have a good crowd there. I don't know if we can say we're the underdogs but it's one of the first times we have that opportunity to prove ourselves and show what we can do.
Freshman Guard Christyn Williams
On Geno being tough on her:
He's going to always be tough on me and I love it. I learned a lot from him.
On her activity around the ball:
I was definitely more active today. I forget what game it was, but Coach made a comment asking if I even played in the game and that kind of stayed in my head. I don't want him to have to say that again so being active was a priority today.Â
Senior Forward Napheesa Collier
On what they did today defensively:
I think in the first half we knew they were going to shoot threes so we needed to make sure they were contested and go after the rebounds. I though coming out of halftime we lagged a little bit but we brought it back up.
On preparing for DePaul:
The past couple of days in practice we've tried to prepare. We knew they were good at trapping and shooting and we prepared the best we could to try and limit what they like to do.
DePaul Head Coach Doug Bruno
Opening statement:
Last time we were here it was 21-0, this time we waited to get 15 before we let UConn go on a 21-point run. We improved from two years ago, but this is a really good UConn team and is overall really talented. It does get frustrating to come out here and not be more consistently competitive possession to possession. The UConn team is just not talented but excellent at executing fundamentally, they are obviously really well coached and it was yet another tough night here.
On facing three ranked opponents early in the season:
I choose to do this. It is not the defeats that bother me. I just want to compete. There is something basic basketball functioning that irritates me. I get that UConn is talented and they are big and they are long and they run and they jump, but there are still basic things I try to prepare my team to do better. I believe in starting the season with tough games. This group at UConn is hard to be consistently competitive against.
On facing Napheesa Collier:
I think she is very intelligent about what she can and can't do. I think she plays to her strengths very well. She chooses not to play outside her strengths. She knows how to use her body, she knows how to play with her back to the basket. She is really well schooled, but she is also making really quality passing designs and extending her game. I think she is a tough matchup and can take you off the bounce, and then she knows how to utilize her body off the bounce as well.
On the UConn women's basketball program:
Once again the players we are facing are very talented, to begin with. One thing that operates the UConn program from all other programs is all the UConn players do get better. That is a tribute to Geno and his staff.
