Texas Tech University Athletics
Postgame Quotes
March 15, 2003 | Women's Basketball
2003 Phillips 66 Big 12 Women's Basketball Tournament
March 11-15, Dallas, Texas (Reunion Arena)
Game 11 Quotes
Texas Tech Quotes
Coach Marsha Sharp
Opening Comments:
"I thought it was a great atmosphere. I want to thank the people from both sides for coming out and giving us such a great crowd. That will be great for basketball and the state of Texas. I thought it was a really competitive game for a long period of time. Texas has a great team, and along with all the other teams in the Big 12, I hope we all have a great post-season. I think the most important thing for us this week was to come out and be able to generate the same type of look that we will have in the NCAA tournament, as far as playing a game, having a day off, and then playing another important game. I think we played two teams in the last two rounds of the tournament that are similar to what you usually play at the Elite 8 or Final 4 level. I hope that it will be great for us over the next few weeks to have that experience. I hope it will help us to understand how hard it is make you play through and have gained some experience doing that, so we can handle it better at a regional level, which would be a good thing for us."
On the loss:
"I don't think there is any secret here about the game. We got out-rebounded and we only scored nineteen points the second half. We didn't generate enough offense to make anything happen. We generated two points from the wing position tonight in the second half. We had one post position that we tried three different players in that we were combined one for sixteen. When you do that, you aren't going to beat a team that is ranked in the top five in the country. That is as simple as it gets, and that is what happened to us, in the second half tonight."
Jia Perkins, Junior Guard
On how Texas defended her differently the second half:
"Well, I don't think they let me touch the ball as much as I wanted. They denied me the ball alot and it was hard for me to score that way."
On the combined scoring in the second half:
"They forced us to force shots offensively and send the ball to players we don't normally look to get it to when we want the shots."
Plenette Pierson, Senior Forward-Center
On their defense against Stacy Stevens:
"We knew if she got deep in the paint she could do whatever she wanted to us, so we tried to keep her outside and make her shoot over us."
On the combined scoring in the second half:
"I think most of it had to do with our mentality. We stopped waiting on the offense to work and started forcing shots."
Texas Quotes
Head Coach Jody Conradt
Opening remarks...
"Texas Tech came out really playing well. I had my doubts as to whether we were going to be able to stay on the floor with them. They were much more aggressive and more ready to play than we were. We struggled through most of the game just to try and keep it close. Stacy Stephens' three or four straight baskets gave us some momentum and we believed we could win. I think it is pretty evident for those who follow this team that they have a will to win. There have been many times when they have just managed to win this season. To beat a team like Texas Tech three times in one season is quite an accomplishment."
On Stacy Stephens...
"Stacy (Stephens) is one of those rare players that is strong physically. She bounced back very well. There were a couple of players on our team that I didn't feel like had their legs. Stacy always manages because she is so strong. I think that she can battle on the boards as well as anybody in the country. I think she takes pride in that."
Stacy Stephens, Forward, Soph.
On her performance...
"In the first half Jolee (Ayers) did a good job of keeping me off the block. She was holding me close to the three-point line. In the second half the coaches told me to just go up strong."
On their rebounding...
"Going into the game the coaches stressed how important rebounds would be. They won the hustle plays in the first half, but at half time we decided that we better get after it. Our team did a great job of stepping up to that challenge."
Kala Bowers, Guard/Forward, Soph.
On Stacy Stephens second half performance...
"I think that we needed Stacy's baskets, especially right in the paint. The shots that she took were really good. I knew that we needed to try to get the ball in to her because she was feeling it. We got a run going and everything else seemed to fall in place."
Tai Dillard, Guard, Sr.
On the Texas Tech start...
"They came out really aggressive and pushing the ball. We just needed to weather the storm and take it one basket at a time and do what we need to do to catch up."
On their defense...
"We had to contain the outside and help out on the post because they have a big game in the post area. We just had to keep Jia (Perkins) from penetrating and help out a lot in the post area."
