March 25, 2003
Notre Dame Head Coach Muffet McGraw
Opening statement…
“When we came to the arena tonight and the NCAA pins were green, I thought that was a good omen for us, especially because they matched my nails so perfectly.
Coming into the game, I thought we got off to a great start. We tried to take the crowd out of the game early on and tried to limit their three’s. I thought we did a really good job of that in the first half. I was so pleased with our defense. I thought that’s how we won the game, a great defensive effort.
I thought Le’Tania Severe came out and got us out to a great start. I thought she played the best game of her career. She did so many good things, attacked and was aggressive.
We beat a great basketball team. I think Kansas State is a terrific basketball team. Laurie Koehn was unstoppable for about a five-minute stretch in the second half. We couldn’t seem to guard her. I thought she played a great game. I knew they would go inside to (Nicole) Ohlde down the stretch because she was their go-to player and I thought she responded well, also.
I am just so pleased for our freshmen at the end of the game. They made all of their free throws, took care of the ball and, in this type of environment, I think this is a great win.”
On defensive effort, particularly at the start of the second half …
“We were worried coming in that we would have to play a lot of man-to-man and we’re really not a man-to-man team. We started out playing some man and playing some zone. I really liked the zone a little bit better. In the second half, when we were on that good defensive run and forced them to miss some shots, we were in the zone most of the time. I was really pleased with that because we hadn’t played that zone in a couple of months. We worked on it in the past week I think it was probably something that they hadn’t seen very much lately.”
On handling the pressure …
“I was just so pleased with the poise of our freshmen. I thought Le’Tania (Severe) did a great job, but, as a junior, I kind of expect her to do that from the free-throw line. We really try to get the ball to Alicia Ratay in that situation normally but the freshmen were so confident, they kept it and did a great job at the free-throw line. I thought Megan Duffy just played a sensational game and to have her on the free-throw line in that kind of environment, with the crowd yelling, the game on the line and for her to go 4-for-4 down the stretch was incredible. I’m really impressed with the poise of our young team.”
Duffy’s 3-point shot …
“It was big for a lot of reasons. She’s not one of our main 3-point shooting threats and I think the clock was running down at that time, also. She had great presence of mind to know how much time was on the clock and step back and hit the three. I was a little surprised that she took the shot and really glad that it went in.”
On the “the storm” zone defense …
“We played it at the beginning of the year and then we went to the 1-3-1, I guess, in the middle of January and stayed with that for the remainder of the year. So, we hadn’t played the zone we played today since maybe early January or maybe back in December. It was a good change of pace for us. It enabled us to get out a little better on their shooters and also to be able to double-team inside. We call it ‘the storm’ because we put a lot of pressure on the ball and try to be real aggressive in it. It’s a little bit more of a matchup than the other one.”
On the No. 3 seeds all losing …
“We were thinking about that today on the way in and somebody mentioned that the three No. 3 seeds had gone down and we wanted to make it a clean sweep. That’s pretty amazing that all three of them lost.”
Notre Dame Players
Junior, Guard, Le’Tania Severe
On K-State not having a field goal in the first 10 minutes of the second half…
“We knew that defense was what helped us win the game against Arizona, and this was what we have been mainly focused on this whole entire season. To go 10 minutes and hold them like that was a great stride for our team on the defensive end. It also gave us confidence on the offensive end to go out and do what we had to do in the game.”
On Notre Dame’s defense confusing K-State…
“Regardless of what we were in we knew we just had to get out on the shooters and make sure we didn’t give them any easy shots. I didn’t realize we confused them, but I thought we did a great job on defense. We did what we practiced and it worked out for us.”
Freshman, Forward, Courtney LaVere
On the game coming down to the last few minutes…
“They are a great team, and we knew no matter what the lead that they could come back because they are a great 3-point shooting team. But, we just knew we had to stay poised the whole game, especially down the stretch when they started pressing us and putting a lot more pressure on us. I thought we handled it very well.”
On putting pressure on K-State’s Nicole Ohlde…
“Nicole is a great player, and it was our goal to double team her and make it difficult for her to shoot or even pass out. We did some great things with that, even though we doubled down sometimes and left some shooters open. She is a great player and we knew we had to double down on her to stop her and control her.”
Senior, Guard, Alicia Ratay
On the play of Courtney LaVere and Le’Tania Severe…
“Le’Tania really picked it up, and Courtney really picked it up too. They got a lot of drives to the basket and it was really good to see.”
Kansas State Head Coach Head Coach Deb Patterson
Opening comment…
“We want to congratulate Notre Dame on a great basketball game. I thought they did a tremendous job of competing in a very hostile environment. The brought great character to the floor. I thought particularly in the second half THEY continued to establish how the game was going to be played and were very effective in dictating tempo and style. We did not respond well to that. That is a sign of a great deal of character again in a very hostile environment.”
On the Notre Dame defense…
“I thought they really looked a lot the same. It had the same effect, I think. It don’t know the Arizona team like I know ours. For some reason, in the second half we just again mentally were frozen. The same TEAM that played us in the first half played us in the second half, but the personalities were revealed at the critical juncture in the second half. We really, I thought froze up. We were our own worst enemies on a lot of possessions and we made some uncharacteristic turnovers. (We took) some shots that we didn’t finish fundamentally. I thought that was venture of pressing, trying too hard, expecting too much, losing a little bit of focus. It’s hard to put your finger on it, but you’re watching players make plays that are not as fundamental as usual. Again, I thought we got a lot of very good looks, but we weren’t unnecessarily making fundamental plays to lead to that look or finishing fundamentally. We’re not the kind of basketball team that can afford to do that. I thought it caught up with us during that 10- or 11-minute stretch with one basket or one point – that played right into Notre Dame’s hands. I have not seen our team perform at that level at all this year, but it got us tonight in the second half.”
On the string of non-conference wins in Bramlage…
“I think the most disappointing thing, whether this is a conference or non-conference game, is the magnitude of what’s on the line when you’re competing in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. When you’ve worked all season to earn a No. 3 seed, that’s a good deal of work. You compete in a very challenging league. You’re at home. You’re really, I think, hopeful you will bring your very best to this 40 minutes. I think the most disappointing thing for us is that we will leave the floor after this game knowing we didn’t necessarily play to the character we have demonstrated all season long. We didn’t play to our character physically or mentally. You look at 29 games which you hope will prepare you for this moment and you realize that these young people achieved a great deal. They have a lot to be proud of. We’re very proud of them and the marks and achievements they have been able to establish. At the same time, the disappointment of how you competed in this final game is very extreme, particularly at home. The first 20 minutes I’m ok with. The second 20 minutes, those will be tough to let go. I think they demonstrate the need for us to continue to rise to a higher level and in competitive situations at this magnitude. The only way I know for that to happen is to continue to put us in that position. When you win 29 games in the season like we’ve just had, you do put yourself in that kind of situation. Hopefully, we will be able to use this season to learn and grow from, but that seems very far off at this time. I am very proud of our basketball team. I am certainly extremely disappointed for them that we will not have the opportunity to continue to play this season.”
Kansas State Players
Sophomore, Guard, Laurie Koehn
On her offensive performance…
“It’s kind of hard to recall things right now. We were trying to get out there and keep competing and trying to plug away when we were having trouble scoring.”
On how she feels…
“I’m extremely disappointed. It’s devastating and not a good feeling. It’s not a way you ever want to feel.”
On their poor shooting…
“I don’t think anyone got really tight. You’ve got to give a lot of credit to their defense. We were getting good looks. We just had a hard time finishing.”
Junior, Forward, Nicole Ohlde
On Notre Dame’s defense…
“A lot of it was not getting to our spots and not doing the things we are capable of. But you have to give a lot of credit to Notre Dame. They came out and were fired up.”
On what Notre Dame did to limit her…
“They were being big. They were being aggressive with their hands up all over the place. They were working their zone really well.”
On looking to next season…
“Right now, we’re really disappointed just because we didn’t want it to end like this. We’re looking forward to next year. We have everybody coming back and we have lots of good people coming in. We’re just going to go get back on the hardwood and keep working.”