The first quote is taken out of context if you look at it on its' own. The sentence that came after needs to be included to get the entire meaning...
“Caroline was a Kelly Faris-type athlete,” Auriemma said. “But as time goes and you look back, and you realize that you really can’t do many of those things anymore, it’s pretty depressing and demoralizing. You need to be pretty strong [mentally] to change the way you play basketball after you have played it for so long [another way]. It’s been tough for her and I am proud of her."