Postgame Quotes: Connecticut at Cincinnati

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Jan. 26, 2013

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Connecticut at Cincinnati
January 26, 2013

Fifth Third Arena

Postgame Quotes

University of Cincinnati Quotes
UC head coach Jamelle Elliott

On how she continued to keep her players motivated throughout the game:

“You just have to find ways. After our last game we’ve been dealing with small victories. I gave them some goals at halftime, and one of those goals was that I didn’t want us to give up more than four offensive rebounds. I think we gave up two or three. I also told them that I didn’t want us to have more than four turnovers and we turned it over exactly four times. You just try to simplify things as much as possible and allow them to still go out there and compete and play hard and achieve realistic goals; we did that tonight. To UConn’s credit, they’re a good team; they’re a really good team. We continue to struggle shooting the basketball. Obviously in the second half it’s no secret that he didn’t press us as much as he did in the first half. They played 20 minutes of zone which allowed us the time we needed for guys to knock down some shots, which hopefully will boost their confidence going into our next game Tuesday at Georgetown.“

On how to coach aggressiveness and confidence shooting:

“Things like repetition, confidence and form, not rushing and making sure that we’re under control. We’ve been shooting a lot in practice and I have no doubt in my mind that we’re going to bust out of this little shooting slump we’re in and make shots. The good thing is that we still have guys shooting the ball. A lot of times when shooters aren’t making shots they stop shooting. That’s one thing that I made sure to press upon my players. The only way that you’ll begin to make shots is if you continue to shoot. I think Kayla made a couple of threes, which she hadn’t done in a long time. Alyesha Lovett is shooting the ball with more confidence and then obviously Day. With shooting, you don’t always have control of whether you make or miss shots. All you can do is continue to make sure you’re working in practice.”

On her and Gino’s coaching relationship:

“We talked about that a little last night about how we’re not staying in touch the way we should. He wants to be there for me, but sometimes it’s hard. He’s busy and I’m trying to figure some things out, but we’ve talked about it a few times. He reassured me that he’s never too busy to hear what I have to say, or bounce ideas off of him, and I promised him I would do more of that because he’s someone who is important to me. If I can talk to anybody about anything I know that it’s him and I need to utilize and do more of that.”s busy and I

Cincinnati Player Quotes
No. 12 Alyesha Lovett, G

On the most difficult part going against UConn:

“We try not to think about it. They are the number three team in the country, but we played them like we were playing any other team. We learned from the mistakes that we made against them and that make us better when we play other teams”

On anything particular UConn did that gave UC problems:

“I think lob passes and not having help on the backside is what killed us the most.”

On getting more offensive mind:

“We work hard in practice on offense because we have struggled on offense. I just try to get shots even if they’re threes or pull-up jumpers, layups or just even getting open for my team. I think everybody shoots the same amount as I shoot. Kayla is getting shots, Dayeesha is getting shots and I think it’s better for all of us to get shots up.”

No. 10 Kayla Cook, G

On the most difficult part going against UConn:

“Adding to what [Alyesha] Lovett said, we go into each and every game like it’s just another game. They’re one of the top teams in the country, and yeah they are really good, but we still go in with the same mindset that it’s just another game. We haven’t had the opportunity to get better as individual players and as a team. Like Lovett said, we did learn from what we watched before and we’ll watch film and break down what they did and how they capitalized and how they work as a team; hopefully that carries on to us in the next game.”

On anything particular UConn did that gave UC problems:

“They’re an aggressive team on defense. They get to the ball, they screen and they get in passing lanes, but I think in the first half what killed us was not boxing out. We gave them, I think, 17 second chance points and that was just from us not boxing out. I think we handled the pressure pretty well. We had 14 turnovers, in comparison to our game against Louisville where we had about 30 turnovers. I just feel like not boxing out is what hurt us tonight.”

On looking to be more aggressive on offense:

“I am, but I’m in a slump. This whole season I haven’t been able to make a shot. I have been working on that, and even though I’m not making shots, I am still doing the little things like making the extra pass and helping my team on the defensive end. Going in to this season coach (Elliott) challenged me to become a better defensive player so I’m trying to become a better defensive player, like guarding the best player or the best shooter on the other team. I’m trying to be more aggressive. Today in the first half I was trying to get the moment going, and I was trying to make myself like the energizer bunny, trying to get my team started from the get go. I feel like I am the one who has that amount of energy.”

Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma
On tough games like this against his former assistant coach:

“They are struggling right now obviously. They have had some injuries and they are having trouble scoring points. We are probably not the team you want to play if you are having trouble scoring points. They were a really physical team and played hard. They tried to get some stuff done, but our defense was really good in the first half. It was the kind of game where neither team shot the ball particularly great from what I can see. We came out here to get a win and we got one. Now we have to go home and get ready for Villanova.”

On his advice to Jamelle:

“In the stage they are in, it can be really, really hard because sometimes players get really frustrated and they don’t see what you see as a coach. They don’t see the big picture down the road. They want to be rewarded right now for what they are doing right now. They have had a couple of games where they could have won, but they didn’t, which would have changed the complexion of a lot of things. When you take over a program like this, given the situation they were in when she got here, it is going to be really hard, especially in our league because there are not a lot of easy games, but Jamelle is one of the most positive people I know. I know she will figure out a way to get them to believe as people get healthier and she continues to recruit good players. They have some really good, young players. Initially it is going to be hard.”

On what he was looking for from his team tonight:

“I think what we were trying to do is hopefully get a little bit of a rhythm going and get some better ball movement. I didn’t think [our ball movement] was great today. We just have to keep getting better. We have to get better passing the ball and make better decisions. I do not think all of our guys played great tonight. Stefanie, for one, was tremendous. Tuesday is going to be difficult as well because of Villanova’s style of play. Cincinnati was like that tonight. They are very patient teams and test your patience. I thought defensively we got a lot better, but offensively we still have some work to do.”

Cincinnati Enquirer

GoBEARCATS.com

Rantsports.com

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The Herald-Independent

ESPN.com

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The New Jersey Herald

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FOXSportsOhio.com

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The Cincinnati Enquirer

The (Mich.) Times Herald

FOXSportsOhio.com (AP)

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The Cincinnati Enquirer

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Columbus Business Journal

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Suffolk News-Herald

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Sporting News

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SwimmingWorldMagazine.com

Omaha World-Herald

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WLWT.com

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San Francisco Chronicle

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