March 30, 2003
Notre Dame Head Coach Muffet McGraw
“I thought that Erika Valek was an All-American today. She was the difference in this game. We felt that going in and I felt that after the game. She played an outstanding floor game. She scored and she distributed the ball, and really made that team go. She did a lot of damage.”
“There was a five-minute stretch where we got on our heels a little bit and they just took advantage of it. We simply could not score. We worked hard to get the ball inside and just couldn?t score. Defensively, they really stepped it up. I thought we played pretty good defense ? 66 points is not a lot to give up. If we could have just put the ball in the hole a little bit more?”
“The last three pointer of the half was an important momentum switch for them. We felt like we were right back in the game and then going in [to halftime down four]. It just puts more pressure on you when they score a couple of baskets and then we?re down nine.”
Notre Dame Senior Guard Alicia Ratay
“Ever since the NCAA Tournament started, I’ve been trying to be more aggressive. It?s really hard to lose a game like that for your last game.”
Notre Dame Sophomore Forward Jacqueline Batteast
“Playing with Alicia has been a great opportunity for me and the team. We got to know one of the best players in the country. And for next year, we know we have a lot of people coming back who knows what it takes to do well in the NCAA Tournament.”
“I kept trying to shoot, and it didn?t go in. So I tried to be more aggressive on the other end of the court. I thought I could contribute more if I rebounded and went after the loose balls and made those hustle plays. We got to the Sweet Sixteen without me being offensive, so I didn?t worry about that.”