Feb. 8, 2009

Recap | Box Score

2008-09 Notre Dame Women’s Basketball Post-Game Quotes
Notre Dame vs. DePaul
Sunday, February 8, 2009*Joyce Center*Notre Dame Indiana
Notre Dame Quotes

Head Coach Muffet McGraw

On winning the game…
“I was thrilled to get a win today over a great team. We haven’t been playing as well as we would like defensively, and today we came out and played defensively and really guarded their players. I was really pleased with out defense.”

On playing the PinkZone game…
“It seemed like a special day when we went out to play. Every game I’m a little nervous before going out, I have my game face out, but walking out and seeing all that pink helped calm me down. Seeing all that those women go through…allows us to see there are so many more important things than basketball.”

On DePaul’s last second shot…
“I didn’t think it was close. I was holding my breath. I was a little nervous when the shot went up. I thought she had a pretty open shot. I was saying some prayers as that one went up.”

Ashley Barlow, G, Jr.

On going down with a sprained ankle…
“It was a little shock and a little painful right when it happened, but once I got back in the game it was alright.”

On her play today…
“In the last couple of games I felt like I was just standing there and not helping out on the offensive end, so I just got the ball and attacked today.”

On the importance of winning this game…
“This game gives us a huge confidence boost. We’ve been struggling the last couple of games, and we finally got a win and banded together as a team to fight until the end of the game.”

Melissa Lechlitner, G, Jr.

On playing defense on their guards…
“We’ve really been focusing [on playing defense on their guards] the last couple of days… so we focused on working over the top and making sure they didn’t get wide open looks.

On playing better defense…
“That’s really what we’ve been focusing on in practice: defense and rebounding”

Becca Bruszewski, F, So.

On recording her first double-double…
“It felt great. I got a new attitude going. I was just attacking and getting boards.”

DEPAUL QUOTES

Doug Bruno, DePaul Head Coach

On rebounding after a 24-point loss to Notre Dame earlier in the year…
“After Notre Dame took us to school on January 6, I think our team responded and played some very positive basketball. I’m really proud of our basketball team for bouncing back after that tough night in Chicago. We knew coming into this game that Notre Dame was going to see a different team than they saw at our gym. We came into a great environment. We gave it our best shot. My message to the team after the game was that I think this team has a chance to be very special this year.”

On China Threatt’s three-point attempt as time expired…
“When you get down to two or three seconds left in the game, you are going to have to get down the floor. China has our highest three-point shooting percentage since BIG EAST play started. She got a great look, and the ball missed by an inch.”

On adjusting after falling behind by 12 in the first half…
“Players make the adjustments. We just did a better job of hunkering down defensively. We rebounded better this game than we did the last game against Notre Dame. A lot of the adjustment was made before the game, when we decided that we had to put our big players on their big players, because they are just too physical and strong inside.”

On Notre Dame’s guard play…
“Notre Dame is a good basketball team because they have great guard play. Everyone on the floor has the ability to make “guard” plays. Even the big players make them. That’s what makes great basketball teams: the ability to share the ball and create tough matchups.”

Natasha Williams – Sr. – F

On her physical play in the post…
“I think I had more toughness inside today. I took it at them and I wasn’t really worried about the double team. The last time we played them I was more conscious of the double team coming and I was more hesitant. This game, I just took it at them and went in hard in the post.”