Nov. 22, 2009
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
Wisconsin Head Coach Lisa Stone
On the final five minutes: “When you have a freshman in at a very stressful situation at the end of the game and you know it was a great match-up, Taylor (Wurtz) makes great plays. She knew to take (Kailey) Klein to the basket and she kept screaming, ‘Lisa run it again, run it again, run it again’ and it was effective for us and so was Lin’s (Zastrow) big rebound and the put back for us as well. My hat is off to Cleveland State. They really stretched and made us work and just did some awesome things offensively that we need to get better at. Again my hat is off to them they really had them ready to play and we did what we had to do down the stretch and we got a big stop and a storm at the end of the game. It really came down to just hanging in there and just doing what we had to do. When it came down to isolating and trying to get their best player on the bench, that’s the best place for her was to be fouled out because she’s a great player.”
On freshman Taylor Wurtz’s ability to isolate Cleveland State’s Kailey Klein: “The way Taylor works at her game, it’s really not a very difficult decision for me. Taylor has ice water veins. She’s in the gym all the time. She lives here and she sleeps here more than she is in her dorm room. The kid is a special player and her size shows good strength. At the end, I thought she was able to take the ball to the basket and she got fouled in the end. She did a nice job for us defensively so whatever it takes. Our team turned the ball over only three or four times in the second half and that was key. We had our hands full with Cleveland State, that’s a really good team.”
On Lin Zastrow: “Defensively she’s such a big key for us. She has pretty good vision, she’s generally in a stance and she’s big on the glass for us. We were down at halftime on the rebounds and we finished ahead in that category. You know we need Lin, we need her size, her length and her rebounding ability. It helps when you have that length inside if you need to come in the lane. I thought she did a good job on the double with Klein when she went inside as well as just deflecting and contesting shots.”
On Alyssa Karel’s ability to defend Kelin: “You know Alyssa came in and she said during the timeout, ‘I want to take her, I want to take 23’. I think we she was the best match-up. Alyssa was terrific for us defensively today. It is a short turnaround for her on Tuesday but she’ll be ready. I thought she did a good job. She bodied her up and she got some great looks, but Kailey is a good player and Alyssa really dug down defensively and there’s a reason that she suggested she take her.”
Cleveland State Head Coach Kate Peterson-Abiad Postgame Quotes
Opening Statement: “I want to start by saying that I’m very proud of the team I had on the floor today. I thought we did just about everything we needed to do to win. I wish I had the last four minutes back. I thought that we executed well offensively and defensively, and then in the last few minutes, Wisconsin exploited some of our weaknesses, which are very clear. Obviously, one of my former coaches is on the (Wisconsin) staff and is very well aware of what our offensive and defensive weaknesses are. I thought they took advantage of that and we hadn’t made enough adjustments in order to finish the game. So, although we didn’t play well enough to win the game, I think we have a lot of players that are very strong.”
On Wisconsin matching up against Kailey Klein: “You know, Kailey played almost 40 minutes, she played the entire first half and would have played probably the entire second half if she hadn’t gotten into foul trouble. I thought that she scored like she does: when she has opportunities, she scores. She works constantly to score the ball. I think she probably got a little bit tired. I think they started doubling her in the post where she was having a lot of success, and I think we had other options, like Shawnita Garland was shooting well for us. I didn’t really see it as if they found a match-up for her, I just think she kind of wore down a little bit.”
On capitalizing on Wisconsin’s turnovers in the first half, and the shift the other way in the second: “That’s a good question. I thought they were capitalizing on our turnovers actually. I don’t know that we forced that many turnovers in the second half. I came into the game knowing and telling my team that this team is kind of a mirror image of us—they want to play all man-to-man defense, we want to play all man-to-man defense, we like playing man offense, they like playing man offense. Neither of us played any gimmicks, and you know, I said to our team, ‘May the best team win. This is a game you are going to enjoy playing.’ And I thought we did well defensively, but I don’t know that we caused a lot of turnovers. I think we were trying to contain penetration, and when they turned the ball over, I don’t know that we forced the turnover, I think we were just in the right places and playing team defense. In the second half, I don’t think we played as well on defense. I thought they penetrated on us and got shots in the lane. Also, (Lin) Zastrow got going in the second half and we didn’t have an answer for her—we couldn’t box her out and she got too deep on the block and scored over us.”
