TCU-Dayton Postgame Quotes
3/20/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 20, 2010
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POSTGAME QUOTES
#8 Dayton 67, #9 TCU 66
Knoxville, Tenn. (Thompson-Boling Arena)
NCAA Tournament First Round
March 20, 2010
Attendance: 10,922
Head Coach Jeff Mittie
Opening statement:
"I thought it was obviously a hard-fought basketball game by both teams. I'm really proud of our kids - I thought they fought really hard. I'm proud of our effort today. This is a special tournament to play in - 64 teams get this opportunity and, quite frankly, I hope it remains that way. On my side of the deal, I believe it ought to be special, it ought to hurt like this. It's an elite situation for the elite teams in the country and I thought this was a game played between two elite teams in the country. It was a game that had a bunch of runs in it. We did not shoot particularly well all day, but we made some big shots. The last 12 minutes, they [Dayton] made some big plays. The biggest event for our game and I couldn't be prouder was that TK [LaFleur] made huge shots in the first half. I thought our group fought hard. It came down to 1.7 seconds and, in an 8-9 game, that's how it should be."
On Dayton's late-game run over the last four minutes:
"I thought we took some ill-advised shots in that stretch. It was a challenge for us - we knew their match-up was very good. When they hit big shots to get within 10-11, their comeback got sped up a bit. I saw some ill-advised shots there. That is something that is part of growth. We had a couple of freshmen on the floor who battled like crazy. You have to be able to live with a few of those mistakes as a coach. I'm real proud of our effort. We didn't get the best of shots, but for only shooting 30 percent and for it to be a 1-point game for us, we did a lot of really good things defensively. Dayton did some good things down the stretch, so you have to give them credit. With their transition defense, I would have liked to have seen them have to run their offense against us. That got them back quicker and you could see their confidence grow."
On Dayton's Kendel Ross:
"She was a big part of their lift. We got Ross in foul trouble. She is a good player and an aggressive player. I don't think she shot the 3 as well today, but we sure liked her as a player on film. She had a big game in limited minutes today. You could she was determined to make big plays down the stretch."
On TCU's defensive plan in the last minute of the game:
"I think part of what you're looking at as a coach is what defense you run. We play multiple defenses and we went 23 defense on one possession, which is our 2-3 zone. We came back down the second time, in particular, on that last play in our silver defense, which is switching ball screens to try to shut down penetration. We did a good job on the initial shot, but it came off and there were 10 players fighting like hell for the basketball. Sometimes the other team gets it. I am just really proud of our group - they responded today."
On what he told his team in the locker room after the game:
"In the locker room, I told them that if you're going to lose a basketball game, while it hurts a lot more, you want to lose a game where you can look in the mirror and know you threw everything at them and just came up one play short. Defensively, we could have done things better, but we can always say we could have done this or that better. I thought we defended them pretty well for most of the day. They hit some huge shots and the credit goes to them for hitting those shots."
G, Sr. TK LaFleur
On Dayton coming back from an 18-point deficit:
"I think once we got a lead, we kind of relaxed. They made a push. Our transition defense wasn't as good. We sped things up at the end instead of working the ball around. They carried on the rest of the game. They never stopped."
F, Jr. Helena Sverrisdottir
On Dayton coming back from an 18-point deficit:
"They went with a matchup zone, and we didn't have an answer. They made some big shots at the end of the game. Everything was going in for them."
Players Mentioned
