UCLA-Montana Postgame Quotes
March 19, 2011 | Women's Basketball
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Press Conference Quotes
Head Coach Nikki Caldwell
Opening Statement:
"Montana did an exceptional job of executing their game plan. They did a great job of exploiting us when we broke down and making key shots. But their will and resilience spirit is something I will obviously take from them. I think you can always learn from your opponents and we definitely will learn from this game today. But this team hung tough. We didn't have our go-to's step up in a big way when you need to down stretch or during the game. But down the stetch I thought (Doreena Campbell and Rebekah Gardner) did a great job of knocking down jump shots for us and really making big time plays when we need them."
On Gonzaga versus Iowa earlier Saturday:
"I thought that was a hard-fought game by Iowa. They were swapping baskets back-and-forth. Their guard play for both teams really stood out. Their go-tos played well and I think that is something there in this time of year you have to have your `Batman and Robin' in sync. When they are not and when you are missing opportunities to do so you're going to struggle. But I thought they really did a good job of not only knocking the three-ball but making big stops when they needed them."
"It's going to be a great atmosphere to play in on Monday and we're looking forward to still be able to play. We understand that. But this team also understands they have a tough opponent ahead of them and they cannot come out and play flat. We have to not only be hungry but starving to advance. I think today this team didn't take it as a moral victory. They knew we missed some opportunities to be better today. That's all we ever asked of our kids is to do their best for 40 minutes and we are definitely going to have to put that type of intensity and effort into the game on Monday."
On the contrast of styles between UCLA and Gonzaga:
"This team is familiar with teams who like to run the basketball. Look at playing against Stanford or even Oregon, who was leading the nation in scoring. There are some things we do defensively to counteract that because we definitely don't want to have our opponents running the ball right at us because that is what we like to do. But when you reach an opponent like Gonzaga, you have to be creative with your defensive scheme but most importantly you have to have ball security. You don't want to give them the opportunities to run the ball with a live ball."
Senior Guard Doreena Campbell
On the team's performance:
"I think we played well enough to win. We didn't too much that we could have put into it. I think we were lacking in a lot of spots, and we have tomorrow for Gonzaga."
On if she was worried if Montana would catch up in the second half:
"This is tournament time. Going in and even watching a lot of men's games going on I think whatever amount of points you have really doesn't make a difference. I think it depends on who's ahead at the end of the buzzer. There is no reason to take a team for granted."
Junior Guard Rebekah Gardner
On Gonzaga:
"We're definitely going to have to play with a lot of intensity and heart for this next game because we know Gonzaga is a really good team. We have to come out from the start and carry that out for 40 minutes."
On Montana's offense:
"They definitely did do a good job on defense. We missed a lot of opportunities to knock down shots. They played a good defensive game, but we could have done more on offense to counteract that.
