University of Connecticut Athletics
UConn-Xavier Postgame Quotes
1/15/2022 3:09:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Head Coach Geno Auriemma
On Olivia Nelson-Ododa's performance::
"When you're playing games like these, you have to have a game plan. You have to go in and say, 'What do I want to get done today? What do I want to accomplish?' And if you do that, I think you can be pretty successful. For Liv that's got to include, 'I got to make a couple shots, I got to score in the lane a little bit, I got to play good defense, I got to block a couple shots.' I just think you have to say that and make that plan. She's had a couple games now where she's done a good job with that and hopefully that's the start of something."
On coming back from a break and making adjustments:
"It's been a real struggle for everybody. Not just the players. And not just at UConn. It's been a national struggle for everybody. You just hope that you get to keep playing so that whatever rhythm you get into you can keep at it and then it's not stop and start, stop and start. So, we've played three games in a row and that's really helped us a lot. And now we have another game Monday and hopefully we are on the downside of this and we can start to look forward to a regularly scheduled game actually being played on those days. And our team is starting to understand that there is a lot of uncontrollable in their lives. And all the whining and all the complaining doesn't help. It doesn't help."
On Caroline Ducharme:
"Well, I don't know what was more impressive - the seven rebounds or the three offensive fouls. Ever since you guys anointed her the next John Havlicek, I think she's taken it to heart. Today she gave more hip checks than she did Havlicek's. Caroline tries to do everything really, really well. She puts a lot of pressure on herself, she takes a lot of pride in her performance - what she looks like, what people think about her performance. She's one of these kids that's not afraid to put it up. She's going to give you her best every night. And today she didn't exactly shoot the ball well. And that's one of the reasons we struggle too on offense. Cause we need her to shoot the ball great. And she played a lot of minutes, which is good. She rebounded the ball, which is good. She was in the passing lane a couple times, which is good. And there's times where you forget she's a freshman out there. She looks a little bit mature. A little bit more than a freshman. A typical freshman."
Senior Forward Olivia Nelson-Ododa
On improved defense:
"That's been a point of emphasis in practice. Just getting after it on defense and staying locked in. He's really made that huge point for us and making us realize that's what converts into good offense and gets us going. So that's really something we've been working on throughout the course of the season, really. But I think it's really clicking for us now."
On changes in the last two games:
"I think things are kind of clicking for us now, on the defensive end and offensively. Things are kind of running smoother, we have a better idea of our roles and where people are supposed to be at the right time."
On her role with the team:
"As cliché as it sounds, just trying to do what I can for my team. Whether it's getting a defensive stop or guarding someone in the post or passing well on offense, getting people open, setting screens, different things like that. Just trying to do as much as I can for my team and help us be successful."
Sophomore Guard Nika MühlÂ
on being back:
"It's definitely great to be back with my team and help them through games. I felt good physically, I felt good mentally. I'm still limited on time a little bit, especially during practice, so I'm just trying to get that over with. But overall I feel good."
On what she contributes to the team:
"It doesn't really matter to me if I'm starting or not. Every time I come in I'm trying to set a tone defensively, to bring the energy that we need. Whatever the team needs me to do, and I know they trust me to always bring stuff like that."
Freshman Guard Caroline Ducharme
On changes during last couple games:
"I think just being in the flow of having games has really helped us. We went through a stretch where we didn't play for a while, so we had a lot of time in practice, a lot of time to fine-tune things and look at specifics on the offensive end and on the defensive end. So to actually have games and being able to see it has really helped us."
On her confidence as a freshman:
"I think the confidence has definitely gone up the last couple games. Actually being able to have games has helped us to see all of what we're doing come together. Being able to focus on defense and have that turn into offense and seeing everything come together has helped us."
