Jan. 18, 2010

Recap | Box Score | Notes

Oakland Head Coach Beckie Francis

Opening Statement
"That was exhausting. We are getting better and what I love about this team is that they are competitors and they knew this was going to be a good game tonight. They made a run at us, we kept our composure and we closed it out. Good teams do that and once again, it was our defense."

On how much of a confidence booster this game is going into a road trip
"We don't really get caught up in the league standings because it's too early. We don't worry about it and just take things one game at a time. We know they beat IPFW the night before and we lost to them, so that was a personal signal we could send to ourselves and the league. We have two more road trips and two more home stands and it's nice to see improvement in the team."

On whether they have learned what the team is made of
"We have so many new players and we are really addressing mental toughness and since we have a lot of travel in our league, I tell them how hard it is to get a road win in our league. We know North Dakota State right now is struggling and it might be a good time to be hitting them and South Dakota State will be a rematch of the championship game. We can't wait for these two games."

On defending their runs
"It always happens in basketball: you have a lead and you get in your heels a bit because you are playing not to lose and it happened in our offense and we weren't as aggressive. But I thought our defense did a great job in those last few possessions and we had just practiced two days ago out-of-bounds plays with seconds to go and running those plays. It was really ironic. We were totally prepared for this situation."

On points off turnovers
"I remember a defensive play where Melissa Jeltema pulled down a big rebound and threw a beautiful pass to Victoria Lipscomb that really sparked us. That was an indication of getting a stop, getting those steals and then converting them. They are running good plays right now and we want to take things one game at a time."

On whether UMKC took them off guard
"Not for me. I know their coach does a great job with them and they have a lot of their starters back. Chanzy Morris is one of the best players in the league and she has been first team all-league for four straight years. We beat them in the quarterfinals last year and whatever team you lose to in the postseason is the one you think about all summer long. We knew they would be coming after us hard. We respect every team that comes in."

Sophomore guard Sharise Calhoun

On her rebounding
"With the motion offense, you really can't worry about your shot. I knew I had to feed other people and a better way to get a shot is offensive rebounding. It's always been the key for us in practice and I think focusing on rebounding affected the game."

Freshman forward Bethany Watterworth

On having another 20-point game
"We just came out aggressive and looked to scored. Sharise had a lot of rebounds but she also had assists and had some good passes to the post. We never backed down as a team and we never backed down from the game. They made a little run, but we stepped it up and finished it off."

UMKC Head Coach Candace Whitaker

Opening Statement
"It was a hard fought game. Oakland is a good team and this is a tough place to play. I'm proud of my players for not quitting, and fighting back to make it a game. We didn't do a good enough job defensively in the first half and we didn't make the stops when we needed to."

On coming from behind
"I don't know if we have ever led a game from start to finish this season. We tend to be an up and down team; we go on runs and then allow our opponents to go on runs. We've come from b behind quite a bit so it wasn't something new for us."

On the difference between UMKC and Oakland
"Oakland runs a very different type of game. We can't scout them; we can't prepare our kids and say hey, they're going to go here and there. It's a true motion offense and they are very good at it. It's tough to guard them in man with how active they are and how hard they play."

On the play of the bench
"It was huge. I think it sends a message that our bench can play. It also sends a message to the kids that normally don't play as many minutes that we need them. I think we are really starting to become a team."