University of Connecticut Athletics
UConn-Creighton Postgame Quotes
12/17/2020 9:53:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Head Coach Geno Auriemma
On Olivia Nelson-Ododa's performance:
"I thought Liv was very patient today. She was able to see what the defense was doing, she wasn't in a rush to get to the next thing. When Liv is calm and patient, she can do a lot."
On Creighton:
"It was good for us to play a team like Creighton because they forced us to communicate. What our defense did well was rush Creighton's threes. Creighton has a great tempo, and once you disrupt that, their shots are rushed."
On Anna Makurat:
"She threw a couple of great passes, she made a couple of threes, and she facilitates things for us from the 4-spot."
On Evina Westbrook:
"She took the ball to the basket. She got herself involved defensively, and I think that's what she can bring to our team on a regular basis.
On Aaliyah Edwards:
"She's aggressive, she's tough, she can guard people on the perimeter, and we expect that from her."
Redshirt Junior Evina Westbrook
On her role on team:
"Just knowing what I'm doing, making sure everyone knows what they're doing, really being a great energy source on defense and keeping my man on front of me. It's what my team needs from me at this moment…I'm really just letting the game come to me."
On team defense:
"I think we're starting to take a lot more pride in our defense. We score a lot on teams but take downs teams by not letting them score on us. I think we did a really good job this game.
"I've always enjoyed playing defense, but it's really another level when you have the UConn jersey on. Just having that mentality overall is going to be huge this year."
Â
Junior Olivia Nelson-Ododa
On her performance:
"I think the coaches put the emphasis on playing more relaxed, more calm. Just slowing down helps us a lot."
On outside shooting:
"Just not being limited to the paint or down low, getting into that outside range not only helps me but the whole team."
On different mentality this year and this game:
"I think this year I'm playing a different position and with that comes a different mentality. The key factors we had tonight was stopping them from 3 and watching their penetration. I think we did that really well tonight as a team."
On Evina:
"She plays super aggressive and it brings a lot of energy on the defensive end. She just gets after it and it really helps us, on the offensive end, getting those turnovers, getting those steals, really helps us a lot."
Sophomore Anna Makurat
On her comfort level this season:
"I definitely feel more comfortable in the system. I changed my spot a little bit but there's still room to grow. Everything starts with defense and playing aggressive."
On passing:
"I think our offensive flow is way better. We really understand each other and have fun playing with each other. We have a lot of great passers and unselfish players so it's fun to play with them."
On second half performance:
"For me, everything starts with defense. I had a couple mistakes in the first quarter and I wasn't pleased. In the second half I just played hard and helped my teammates and offense came naturally."
