Kansas State Head Coach Jeff Mittie
Opening statement….
“Well, the obvious is the start was a big problem for us. The turnovers early were problematic. UConn did an excellent job early in the game of really getting their hands on a lot of our post entry stuff. We came into the game wanting to get as many post touches as we possibly could. We felt like that, obviously, [Breanna Lewis] is a player we need to get the ball to early. That was the gameplan. They were excellent. They are an excellent defensive team and we struggled with that length – struggled early. I was proud of our group. We fought back hard. We battled back. I thought we got it back to a number where we had opportunities to get it, in the third quarter, back to single digits and we just could not make enough plays.”
On UConn’s offensive efficiency …
“Well, 24 assists on 30 field goals is a pretty good number. They move the ball better than anybody in the country. Samuelson moves without the ball and they do a great job of getting the basketball to her. She has a good high release and she is a great shooter.”
On UConn scoring off K-State turnovers…
“I think one of the things they do best is their transition offense is so good. They are so aggressive when they get those plays. They were outrunning outrunning our four’s and five’s in that stretch. We felt like they had some 3’s that came off of transition and they had some 3’s that came off of offensive rebounding, but certainly, we caused our own problems with turning the ball over and then we had trouble getting back and making plays.”
On Breanna Lewis’ performance…
“The breakout part of that – I do not think one game necessarily makes that. I would have said last year, if you went with some of the games in league play – Baylor, Texas – I think you go to the NCAA Tournament against Jonquel Jones and then go to South Carolina. So, I think the continuation of her becoming a better player. I think today the thing that sticks out to me is no turnovers. She finished at a high level, four blocks and four steals. What I think she has most improved is that people are playing her a variety of ways and she is much more patient down there and able to play against a variety of things. Before, as a younger player, she would struggle with double teams, triple teams, traffic around her feet. That has gotten so much better.”
On takeaways from the game…
“I thought our execution was pretty good in the second half. We were executing a lot of things and we were getting the ball in the right spots. Now, the disappointing part of that is that we missed some opportunities in there. The process of executing the play was much, much better. I do think there were some jitters for our group, but that is to be expected. Obviously, we tried to turn it into positive energy and we tried to turn it up on the defensive end, but you know what, let us give UConn credit. They are where they are at because they step on you right away. They come in to this environment – I am not saying 12,500 strong because this is the largest crowd of the year in women’s basketball – but they go on the road a lot each year against quality teams and step on them right away. We contributed to some of that, but they are very good. I was really proud of our group because we really played well. I think it ended up 50-50 over the last three quarters. There were a lot of positives out of today. You are right. There is not a good loss. I wanted to win this game. I wanted to find a way and I believed that we could find a way to pull the upset. I believed in the plan we put together to do that, but there was also a part of me that said, you know what, we won a lot of things before this. Selling this game out nine days in advance – doing those types of things for our program and women’s college basketball, I think that is pretty good. The last three quarters, the way we competed was much, much better.”
Senior Center Breanna Lewis
On playing in that atmosphere…
“I loved it and I appreciate our fans supporting us like that. It was very exciting and hopefully we can continue to get that support.”
On missed chances…
“It gets frustrating but at the same time you have to just have confidence in what you are doing as well as your teammates. The coaches always say play the next play and we really did not get too down on ourselves or frustrated.”
On playing as a team…
“I see so much potential as a team. Each game we are willing to learn from our mistakes and just come in and play hard. I am really proud of our team and I am excited for the season.”
Junior Guard Karyla Middlebrook
On playing in that atmosphere…
“It was a great atmosphere and months ago they said it was going to be sold out. We just knew it was going to be that type of game with that type of atmosphere and we are thankful for the support our fans have showed us tonight. Sticking through the fourth quarter was big for me and I appreciated that.”
On pregame jitters…
“I definitely had jitters early on. I have never had the opportunity to play in front of that many people. I do not use that as an excuse for the two early turnovers that I had. We just have to be able to handle those and turn those jitters into positive energy for the team.”
On scoring…
“I’m used to getting double and triple teamed so I did what I had to do to score. It is exciting but at the same time I am used to it.”
Senior Guard Kindred Wesemann
On playing in that atmosphere…
“It was just a bunch of high energy and we really appreciated that. I felt like that kept us in the game at some points. Off of our little plays that were really big plays, I felt like we fed off of their energy really well.”
On playing as a team…
“What I have learned is as a team we have pushed through a lot of adversity. We have the pieces and support to get through that adversity within our team.”
UConn Head Coach Geno Auriemma
On playing Breanna Lewis…
“We did not defend her well and there probably is a reason for that. She is not necessarily easy to defend. I think we defended her a lot better last year when we had Breanna Stewart guarding her than we did today. I think she just overpowered us a couple of times in the lane, but that gave us a chance we were willing to take to try to keep some of the other guys in check. I think she has gotten a lot better. She is much better at finishing around the basket. I know she did not make all of them but from last year, when we played them at our place, to this year I think she has improved tremendously. That is at both ends of the floor, I think offensively and defensively.”
On 17-0 run in the first quarter….
“We passed the ball to Lou [Katie Lou Samuelson] a lot, so that always helps when we pass it to her. That happened because we were able to get out in transition and get their defense moving before they had a chance to really settled into a defense. That was the game plan. In that first quarter, we forced some turnovers, we rebounded the ball and ran our transition game and our players are very good at finding Katie Lou and then once Katie Lou starts making some shots, everybody gets comfortable and that is something we have done a number of times this year.”
On crowd atmosphere…
“It was great. I was saying that I really love this building. It is really neat the way it is set up. It is the perfect basketball venue. I know they used to get a lot of fans here back in the day when Deb Patterson was coaching and I know things change and everything goes through cycles, but I could feel the excitement as we were walking in the building and seeing the line outside as we drove up. It is a great place to play basketball, it really is. I am sure it is a great place to watch a game as well. There were enough moments, I think, where K-State played well enough, so I am sure a bunch of this stuff will be on their highlight film for next year.”
On Napheesa Collier and Gabby Williams…
“They do give up a lot of height, both Gabby [Williams] and Napheesa [Collier] and I think they make up for it in other ways. They both feel really comfortable anywhere on the court. They both feel comfortable in the fact that they touch the ball. The thing that we have always tried to get our players to do is to be really good basketball players and Napheesa is becoming a really good basketball player. It is very difficult to defend her even at her size, even if you are three or four inches taller than she is. I do not know if she played great because she got some spasms in her neck in warmups before the game and it was bothering her the whole game. There are two things that are happening on our team. Every time Katie Lou [Samuelson] shoots the ball I think it is going in and every time Napheesa touches the ball I think we are going to score some way. I just do not always know how. That is a pretty comforting feeling to have for our team and it is even more comforting that they are only sophomores."
Sophomore Guard Katie Lou Samuelson
On success at the 3-point line…
“They were playing zone and I got a lot of 3s today, so I took them.”
On getting into a rhythm after having success….
“I definitely took a lot of 3s today. I was pretty confident in my shot even though I missed a lot. I made a lot too. I just felt confident taking that shot and they were giving it to me.”
On the team’s progress in the last month…
“It has been a lot. It feels like it has been three months, but it has only been a month. I think that we have come a long way since starting at Florida State when we were kind of iffy on everyone’s role. But as we have gone on people have stepped up and shown we are all in different roles and we have a lot of versatile people, so I think we have grown a lot. I think we will keep growing because I do not think we have reached our full potential yet.”
Junior Forward Gabby Williams
On embracing hectic crowd…
“I remember right before the game Lou (Katie Lou Samuelson) was sitting next to me and said ‘Wow, this is cool.’ We could feel the ground shaking. It is always cool that every team and its fans get so excited to play us. I think this is their first sold out game or something. Coach kind of said ‘the circus is in town,’ so it is cool that we get to put on a show for people.”
On K-State’s ability to come back…
“It is hard to play teams like that because they can come back so quickly by hitting 3s and they did. We had a 20-point lead in the first quarter and second quarter. They can come back so quickly hitting 3s like that.”
