March 21, 2010
2010 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship
First Round
Cleveland State vs. Notre Damev Sunday, March 21, 2010
Purcell Pavilion – Notre Dame, Ind.
Notre Dame Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Muffet McGraw
On the overall game performance…
“I was really pleased with the second half. We did a really nice job with the balance of the game. I thought different people stepped up at different times. I thought in the first half we were able to get out to a nice little jump. I also thought that Devereaux Peters, even though she only played for three minutes in the first half, impacted the game in the first half. Then in the second half, I thought Ashley Barlow’s defense stood out after Kailey Klein had a phenomenal first half. I have not seen a player have that kind of half this year, and we have played against some pretty good players. We haven’t seen anybody have that kind of performance in a half. She had 21 of their 25 points. She had just a spectacular game and she is a great player. So, I was really pleased with the defense in the second half.”
On how she thought Skylar Diggins played today…
“I think it is interesting that her perception was that she did not play well. After the game in the locker room I said ‘Leading rebounder, Skylar Diggins. Leader in assists, Skylar Diggins. Leader in steals, Skylar Diggins.” I think a lot of times players look at their offense, and she looks at her turnovers, which I think indicates that she was a little nervous to start the game. I tried to get her start to breath on defense, and we put her more in passing roles. That is part of the reason that she wound up with eight assists. I was really happy with her defensively and the rest of her game, but I am sure that she is not happy with her game today. I would like to see her shoot more though; she was only one for four. I think after getting one game under her belt, she is going to be ready for Tuesday.”
On how they were able to get the ball down low in the second half…
“We had a height advantage. They came in a little bigger in the first half when Devereaux Peters was in foul trouble, but in the second half I thought we did a better job of getting the ball down to Lindsay Schrader, Erica Williamson, Becca Bruszewski, and Devereaux. We just really wanted to get them some touches.”
Ashley Barlow – Sr – Guard
On how she was able to shoot down Kailey Klein in the second half…
“In the first half, Klein was constantly moving and we were not quite sure where she was. As Coach McGraw said, she is a great player and she was finding ways to score at will in the first half. In the second half, we tried to locate her and know where she was on the floor at all times. I tried to not let her touch the ball at all and tried hard to deny her in the second half.”
On what turned around for her offensively in the second half…
“I think I just let the game come to me in the second half. I did not force anything and my teammates were finding me. I was able to get open looks and we ran a couple of plays to get those open looks. I tried to take my time in the second half.”
On whether this win gives here a sense of relief going forward in the tournament…
“We are just taking it one game at a time. We got the first win and it feels pretty good. We have to win here again on Tuesday, so now we are going to focus on that game. We are just going to take it one game at a time from here on out.”
Becca Bruszewski – Jr – Forward
On what changed between the first and second halves for Notre Dame…
“We got a little more aggressive defensively. Ashley really locked down Klein, and that really helped because she was their leading scorer. Ashley really came in and did a great job. We also started pushing the ball more and got our transition game going in the second half, so that helped.”
Cleveland State Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Kate Peterson Abiad
On today’s performance …
“I would like to say that I am very proud of my team. Tonight was a tough matchup for us. Notre Dame is very good and played very well. We came into this tournament winning the Horizon Tournament by hitting a lot of shots. Tonight, Kailey carried us in the first half, and we were just not able to connect from an outside range or get to the basket to cut Notre Dame’s defense, and we turned the ball over way too many times. The game got away from us in the second half, but the girls did not quit fighting. I thought that we saw what we thought that we would see from Notre Dame. They put the ball inside that was very difficult for us, as small as we are. It was a tough matchup for us, and they took advantage of it. Again, I am very proud of these girls and the name they have made for Cleveland State.”
On the defense in the first half to keep Notre Dame in striking distance…
“I think we did a nice job in the first half, and they ran a lot of high post entries. We worked on trying to harass the ball handler and covering the ball screen on the post. I thought they took advantage of the handoffs in the second half, and we were not as able to defend that. They can either go right or left off the high-post entry, and we tend to jump to one side or the other. We play man-defense. We tried to scrap and scramble a few times, so we did not try a whole lot of different things, but relied on our bread and butter that has been our man-defense. They have so many weapons off of one play. Their kids off the bench are just as capable of scoring.”
On a sense of winning at halftime…
“We did have that sense. We turned the ball over 14 times, and I had told my players that if you want to win this game you have to be close to perfect. You have to take advantage of every offensive gain, (you) cannot turn it over and get every loose ball. I thought we didn’t in the first half, and we didn’t hit shots. Still the game was okay, and if Notre Dame did not hit those quick two baskets at the half then we would have been okay. I think we felt good about it. If we could have just taken a little better care of the ball and landed shots at that point, we had a chance.”
Kailey Klein – Sr – Guard
On Notre Dame’s defense in the second half…
“Barlow was face guarding me all over the floor, but I was kind of expecting that. I hoped that my teammates could get some shots, and I was just going to relax and take what came to me.”
On what you took advantage of in the first half…
I was really just reading their defense. If they were playing off of me a little, I’d pull up for the shot. If I saw a mismatch with a bigger girl, I always knew to drive and take advantage of the baseline a lot. I tried to take it up and down the floor a lot, and I took advantage of everything I could. I was not sure what would work against such a great team and a great defense. They were ready for me the second half so it was difficult to come back against their defense.”
On her final performance…
“It really hit me when I went off the floor that it was the end of my season. I really just went out there and gave it all I could. Notre Dame was my idol growing up, so I wanted to come in here and prove myself on the floor I always wanted to play on.”
Stephaine Crosley – Sr – Forward
On what the rest of the team was doing…
“We were playing around Kailey, trying to read what was open. I think the first play we scored on was a screen and switch. As one of the bigger kids, I like working with our motion offense. It’s all about the inside, who was open, and drawing the defenders out. Our goal was to get the ball inside, and we did not execute as well as we prepared.”