University of Connecticut Athletics
UConn-Seton Hall Postgame Quotes
12/8/2018 4:17:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Head Coach Geno Auriemma
On Katie Lou's play:
It's obvious that Lou is really evolving her game, she is involved in so many plays and is really thriving in this role that she has. She has become a really good rebounder and helps us get out on fast breaks.
On the team's plan for the exam break:
For the coaching staff, this is a really important recruiting time for us. There are a lot of tournaments going on around the country that we need to be at. For the players, they just need a little time away from the game. Mentally you get a little bit drained from all of this basketball.
On the current state of the team:
I think our team is in a good spot right now. We know what we have to do going forward and we are starting to play a lot better defensively. Ever since that Notre Dame game we have been playing really well defensively. Our ball movement could use some work but I am very happy with where this team is at.
Senior Guard/Forward Katie Lou Samuelson
On ranking second in career three pointers:
It's something as a shooter, as a player that I'm pretty proud of, and I'm excited to have gotten that opportunity to play here.
Junior Forward Kyla Irwin
On her teammates' confidence in her starting:
It's definitely nice to know that my teammates do have that trust and confidence in me. I just try to make sure I do everything that I can, every play, and stay consistent.
Freshman Guard Christyn Williams
On the team's transition game:
I just come out and go with the flow of the game. It always starts like that, get out and transition. Crystal does a really good job of getting the ball up the floor.
On Katie Lou Samuelson's versatility:
Her and Phee have done a really good job of leading this team, they can do a lot of things. She encourages me and Liv, so that helps a lot.
Seton Hall Coach Anthony Bozzella
Opening statement:
First of all, congratulations to Connecticut obviously. When we scheduled them, we wanted to play the best and again they showed why they are. Just the way they play, the unselfishness, the togetherness, are all things that we saw firsthand, but we can also utilize for us to continue to grow our program. I'm so thankful for Coach Auriemma and his staff for all the help they do outside, helping Seton Hall, because they are very, very helpful. And for agreeing to play us and giving us that opportunity. For us, it was a great learning experience. I was proud of our girls, we scored the third most points against them, which is very important for us. I thought we shared the ball, we played unselfishly. We were just outmanned, and that's okay. We still played the way we wanted to play the entire game, and that was important to us and what we're trying to establish.
On their two losses to UConn and UCLA, and how he sees the program going into finals week:
Obviously you don't ever want to lose by thirty-eight, but I thought we lost by thirty-eight trying to play our way, and that's the important thing. UCLA we didn't play our way at all. I thought we played tentative and scared, some of that is UCLA, but some of that is the new system and this is the first year we've tried this. I think after that game we really regrouped, played a lot better, against not the same level of opponent, but came in here and at least played with some toughness to us and that was important. I'm happy and hope to get everyone back healthy because we were missing a couple key players today. The kids who played, played fantastic in terms of the way we wanted them to play. Some kids have to play better, that's no question, but in the way we wanted to play, nobody didn't want to play that way.
On UConn's transition game:
The people look at Katie Lou [Samuelson] and their size, and [Napheesa] Collier and obviously all their great players, [Crystal] Dangerfield. But the way UConn's staff gets them to play transitionally really accentuates all their abilities. And that's coaching to get them to do that. It's easy to just say, 'Oh, they're the best players.' Their players play best because of the way they are coached. And their transition is fantastic. It's things we look at and we study. They're unselfish, they run their spots correctly. Really something we're going to show on tape is how hard they run all the time. They play transitionally exceptionally well because they run exceptionally hard and correctly, and that's attributed to their staff.
