20070210 Arizona vs. Oregon 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">Oregon</st1:State> vs. <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Arizona</st1:place></st1:State><o:p></o:p> Feb. 10, 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> “It was a game of tempo. Defensively I think we did a pretty good job. They just out willed us. This was not Joy’s (Hollingworth) night. We needed someone to step up and score. I thought Ashley (Whisonant) did a good job. We out-rebounded them but it came down to free throws, and we win if we make those. It’s not fun losing. We have got to get tougher. Mentally we weren’t as tough.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> On Ashley Whisonant’s play...<o:p></o:p> “Ashley is getting better. She is a great boost off of the bench. I want her to hit that pull up jumper instead of over penetrating. They are playing her for the drive.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> “A lot of credit goes to <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Oregon</st1:place></st1:State>. They are better defensively than they are given credit for. A lot of it is toughness. We need to will the rest of the team to fire up. We didn’t play bad defensively we just didn’t knock down shots.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> On Linda Pace’s play...<o:p></o:p> “Linda did well tonight. She hit some shots and was good defensively.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> “We weren’t intense enough to start. When I put Ashley in it changed the tempo of the game. When you lose like this a lot of it is mental and who wants it more.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> On wanting this win more than her 600th<o:p></o:p> “I wanted it more. I expect to win every game. Everyone has to want it so bad. It’s not how bad you want to win but how much you hate to lose.”<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> Senior Guard Linda Pace<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> “Our defensive pressure has really picked up the last few games. Coming into the game, we wanted to shut down their top scores and we did a good job of that. We just had issues scoring on the offensive end.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Junior Guard Ashley Whisonant<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> “You can’t blame missed free-throws or missed shots. You can’t say what if we did this and that. It all came down to being able to produce on the offensive end and we didn’t do that.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> On her second consecutive strong outing<o:p></o:p> “I just want to be there for my team, it’s not about me. A couple games back I thought I was being a little selfish, but I know its all about the team.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Oregon Head Coach Bev Smith<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> On picking up a victory in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Arizona</st1:place></st1:State>:<o:p></o:p> “It is great to get one down here. It wasn’t pretty, but we’ll take an ugly one any day.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> On holding off <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Arizona</st1:place></st1:State> late in the game:<o:p></o:p> “It came down to execution and defensive stops. <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Arizona</st1:place></st1:State> hurt us with their pressure in the first half. I thought we were able to stem that in the second half and execute our offense better.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> On rebounding from a loss to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Arizona</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">State</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> on Thursday:<o:p></o:p> “We showed great resolve after the ASU game. Our heads were up and we were making great eye contact. We came to get a win out of this trip. We didn’t get it on Thursday, but we got it today.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> On senior forward Jamie Hawkins:<o:p></o:p> “[She] was very good defensively. She used her quickness on defense and was aggressive on offense. She gave us a punch and became a go-to force.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> On free throw shooting:<o:p></o:p> “I think it is a real important aspect of our team. We talked about being aggressive against <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Arizona</st1:place></st1:State>, who is a very aggressive team themselves. We tried to use the screen and roll to get in the paint and draw some fouls.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> “When we can score more free throws than our opponents, I think we are 12-0.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> On playing consistently:<o:p></o:p> “Today, I thought we were consistently good on defense. Turnovers hurt us offensively in the first half.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> On scoring balance:<o:p></o:p> “It was really good. Our bench, although short, is complete. Our freshmen came in and got after it.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p>

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20070210 Arizona vs. Oregon Postgame Quotes