University of Connecticut Athletics
UConn-Memphis Postgame Quotes
2/20/2019 9:45:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Head Coach Geno Auriemma
On Katie Lou-Samuelson's play tonight:
"You play every game the way it is being played. You have to deal with what is being dealt with that game. I'm not surprised. I am always pleasantly surprised when somebody makes that many field goals, especially that many consecutively like she did in the first half. I don't worry about when kids aren't making shots, I worry when my players aren't getting shots. That means I am not doing my job and getting them open shots. Like Memphis today made almost all their shots in the first quarter, but they only had 19 points in the first quarter. Lou will always revert back to who she is. After a bad shooting game, I know she will make a bunch the next game."Â
On Napheesa Collier's 100th consecutive start:
"We go down this road a lot after every game. There is nothing Napheesa does that surprises me. Shes got some of Asjha Jones in her. Asjha played a lot of games in a row, she did not miss hardly any games or practices that I can remember. She stands out to me. Kids who just show up, play and work hard with no nonsense and no drama stand out to me. They just show up and play. Napheesa reminds me of those old time guys. She spends no time in the training room, she just shows up and plays and gets herself ready, then does her thing every day. I am not surprised at all."Â
On Mikayla Coombs' play:
"Mikayla has been working really hard. I have been trying to get her to embrace a particular role on her team that she can really help us with. It doesn't need to always include scoring she made a couple great defensive plays tonight. She's athletic and can help us, I see her getting better every day. It is never about my confidence level with a particular kid, my confidence level on a kid is almost generally directly related to their confidence level they have themselves. Kids who are not confident in themselves I have no confidence in them, but a kid who is pretty confident because they worked hard and they believe in themselves, then I believe they are ready to go."
Senior Guard Katie Lou Samuelson
When asked about her coaching and if there's anything she can't do:
"I mean, according to Coach, play defense. Coach said, 'Go ahead, Lou', so I went and sat down and kind of talked to the team. I feel like with that group, I always try to get into the huddle at least once every game to just make sure they're all on the same page."
On if UConn executed the play she drew up:
"They did execute. Memphis played it a little differently, but they adjusted and went off of it. I thought they did really good."
On playing her last game at the XL Center:
"It's pretty crazy. It doesn't really feel real yet, but I definitely knew today that it was the last game. I'm glad we ended with such a good win - I thought the team played really well and I think we're in a good spot going forward."
On Olivia's recent play:
"It's really encouraging. I feel like she's gotten to a point where she just feels more free out there. I think there were times where she came into the game and you couldn't say much to her because she was just thinking, thinking, thinking and freaking out a little bit. I think now, she's as engaged as everyone else and we can change things up and still feel confident that we're going to be able to play."
Senior Forward Napheesa Collier
On the importance of leadership on the team:
"I think we've done our best to make sure that if [the younger players] have any questions, they can ask us and that we always know what we're doing and try to help them. It was kind of funny when [Samuelson] went in there because we had two timeouts so close together that she tried to put her piece in the second time."
On playing her last game at the XL Center:Â
"Â Yeah, it's really weird. We were talking about it in the locker room how this was our last one and it really does go by so fast. I can't believe that it's already this time. Everyone always says it goes by so fast and I remember hearing Gabby [Williams] say the same thing that it was her last XL game, and now it's our turn. It's really weird."
On the help of Nelson-Ododa and Samuelson's rebounds:
???????"It's really important for us. We need everyone to rebound and the way that Lou did it was amazing. We need more people to do that - we need her to do that. The way that Liv came in - we were getting really good minutes from her - she's a force inside, she can block shots so well, and she's so tall. It's really easy to get her the ball."
