Game One Quotes - Northwestern State 96, Stephen F. Austin 82
Women's Bracket Game One
No. 7 Northwestern State 96
No. 2 Stephen F. Austin 82
Tuesday, March 9, Noon
Postgame Quotes
Northwestern State Head Coach Jennifer Graf
Opening Statement - "I just can't say enough about the effort
that we put forth. We played really hard, which was our game plan coming into
today. Just play hard and have fun. We knew we had to do a couple of things to
prepare for SFA's quick strike capabilities. They are a penetrating team and it
was key for us to be able to slow them down. We were able to control the ball,
add pressure and get some easy baskets. We stayed focused for 40 minutes and
that was the difference for us."
On Trudy Armstead's Double-double
performance -
"Coming from a freshman it was very impressive. Trudy is a unique kid. You
never can tell if were up by 30 or down by 30, she always gives 100 percent.
She really stepped up for us big today and was able to run our offense. She
stayed focused the entire game and you could see the confidence she had as the
game progressed."
On historic importance of this game (Northwestern State recorded their first win over SFA in
Southland tournament play) -
"It's great. Especially coming from taking a lot of these losses as a player
myself and as a coach. There is such a long rivalry with SFA. For a long time
in the tournament it was SFA and Northwestern in the finals so to finally come
out on top today is amazing. I'm really proud of our girls.
Northwestern State senior guard Lyndzee Greene
On stepping up today as a team after losing seven-of-nine to end
the regular season - "I
think as a team we were tired of losing. As a senior and with some of the older
players we wanted to go out with a bang. We were ready to play today. We forgot
about records and did what we had to do."
Northwestern State junior forward Jessica McPhail
On scoring inside agaisnt SFA - "We have a lot of people who can score down low and each one
tends to attract a lot of attention. When we move the ball properly there's
always a lot of us open.
Stephen F. Austin Head Coach Lee Ann Riley
Opening Statement - "First off I want to say congratulations
to Northwestern State. They came out with a lot of intensity, they moved the
ball extremely well and did what they needed to do to win.
On relying on outside shot to come back - "I can go back and look and see, but I
think early on in the first half we got in some foul trouble. Our bench has
normally been really good for us this year, but this was one of those nights
that nothing really came together for us. We got plenty of open looks but
weren't able to knock much down and our intensity was not at the level we are
use to playing at. We had won seven straight coming into the tournament and
then give up 96 points today. We are a running team and play fast, but it
doesn't work when you don't guard anyone."
On feeling game was still winable in the
second half -
"Yes. Even at the eight and seven minute mark, we have covered ground like that
before. We are a quick strike team and can score a lot of points really quick.
I felt the game wasn't over. We had a lot of possessions inside where we
fumbled the ball, missed easy shots, and give Northwestern credit, they didn't
give us a lot of second change points. We put on mulitple presses and weren't
able to slow down their ball movement which led to a lot of open three-point
baskets for them."
Stephen F. Austin senior guard Whitney Cormier
On the mindset of
the team coming into today. (SFA
had won seven in a row entering the tournament) - "Coming into the game we did have a lot of confidence. We had
put together seven wins, but we came out flat tonight. I'm not sure why, but
Northwestern just out hustled us. They forced us into some mistakes and got a
lot of lose balls and second chance points.