20070105 Arizona vs. Washington: Postgame Quotes

<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Arizona</st1:place></st1:State> Women’s Basketball<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p> <st1:State w:st="on">Arizona</st1:State> vs. <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:State><o:p></o:p> January 4, 2007<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Arizona Head Coach Joan Bonvicini<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Opening statement:<o:p></o:p> “I thought first of all we played much harder tonight. We needed to play a lot harder and we did that tonight. Joy (Hollingsworth) had an amazing game. Malia (O’Neil) did a great job playing a lot of minutes tonight.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> On <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:State>:<o:p></o:p> “<st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:State> is a great team. You can see how they have won nine games in a row. They have a lot of different weapons.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> On Malia O’Neil:<o:p></o:p> “She played pretty good executing our offense. She was a good leader on the floor.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> On Ashley Whisonant’s knee injury:<o:p></o:p> “We are hopeful Ashley will be back (on Saturday). She will come off the bench, but it will be good for Malia to keep getting more minutes.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> On cutting a 16-point UW lead down to six in the second half:<o:p></o:p> “Joy started hitting some shots and Suzy (Bofia) hit some shots, and Whitney (Fields) got some rebounds. [Whitney] didn’t play long, but she got the right rebounds and hit some shots in a short period.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> On the team’s 33.3 percent field goal shooting:<o:p></o:p> “We didn’t shoot the ball well. Part of that was bad shot selection. We need more patience. We didn’t get the ball into the post very well in the first half; we were much better in the second half.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> On out-rebounding UW 36-34:<o:p></o:p> “We did much better on the boards. That was a real positive.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> On the progress of the team:<o:p></o:p> “The biggest thing is to get our confidence back. Even though we lost tonight, we are getting back on track.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> On the early Pac-10 schedule:<o:p></o:p> “We haven’t been home in what seems like a month. We have played the top four teams in the conference now with three of those games on the road and this one at home.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Arizona</st1:place></st1:State> Player Quotes<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Junior G Jessica Arnold<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> “I have to be more consistent, and my shot selection was not very good tonight. I’m aware of it, and I just have to be more consistent.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Senior G Joy Hollingsworth<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> On her career high tonight:<o:p></o:p> “It means nothing. If I score zero points and we win, then I’m happy.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> “Tonight I just tried to incorporate my teammates into the offense with penetration dribbles and by getting the post involved.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> “Coach [Bonvicini] called me before the game and told me to have fun. It’s always good to be back here at McKale.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:State> Head Coach June Daugherty Quotes:<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> “<st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Arizona</st1:place></st1:State> has had a very challenging preseason; they have one of the toughest schedules, but when they play they play well. They are a very young team and have improved a lot. At times (during this game) I think that they gave us all that we could handle.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> “We are lucky that we hit our shots; honestly I think that was the biggest difference in this game. (<st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Arizona</st1:place></st1:State>) is a dangerous team that can go on major scoring runs and they are rapidly improving. It feels good to come out with a win.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> (On their 5-0 record) <o:p></o:p> “We are happy to have wins, but I think we can play better. We have a lot of hard work ahead of us, but in the Pac-10 race, I think we have a chance to be pretty special.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:State> Senior Guard, Cameo Hicks:<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> “We are a veteran team and we have faced situations like this before, so we knew how to handle (<st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Arizona</st1:place></st1:State> coming back on us). <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Arizona</st1:place></st1:State> has a great team.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> “All of our players stepped up and hit the shots we needed to hit tonight. Joy (Hollingsworth) played great; she is a great player, but I didn’t think that there was a battle between us. I just took the open shots and so did she. I thought it was two players trying to help their teams.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p>

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20070105 Arizona vs. Washington: Postgame Quotes