Kansas State vs. Middle Tennessee State
Dec 06, 2002 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 6, 2002
KANSAS STATE HEAD COACH DEB PATTERSON
On the game...
"I think Middle Tennessee played a real high quality game. They stayed in the game, they didn't allow themselves to get rattled, and I thought dictated the tempo of the game tonight. It was very subtle, but I felt like they were controlling tempo. I really give them a lot of credit. I thought they did a very nice job at that and in many ways in spite of the score controlled the game in a lot of aspects. I felt that they asserted themselves as a stronger and more aggressive presence on the boards in the first half than we did. Even throughout the game I was very impressed by their aggressiveness. I thought we were by-and-large passive and maybe not as fundamental on the boards as we need to be to be successful."
On defense...
"They did a nice job of dictating tempo and getting layup opportunities against a defense that I thought played very passive tonight, and not in character with the level I believe we're capable of defending. Our second half defense is certainly better, but our first half defense is so poor, in terms of what we allowed Middle Tennessee there and on the boards."
On being disappointed with parts of the game...
"I'm more disappointed with certain aspects of it. I'm disappointed with our lack of aggressiveness on the boards and our lack of fundamental play on the boards. I'm disappointed with our casualness with the ball. Our turnover number tonight was just ridiculous, I think that is symbolic of a sign that you're really not playing with the intelligence and aggressiveness, and the rhythm, and the pop that you need to compete against a team that is deceptively quick. They play good containment, they were in good help position, nothing extraordinary with respect to pressure, but just good, solid, smart play, and yet we threw the ball away indiscriminately. I was disappointed in those three aspects of the game. The win is an important win, every win is a good win. I thought we did a lot of nice things with mixed personnel particularly in the second half. We shot the ball fairly well tonight. I think we are capable of better. I was very pleased with our three-point shooting tonight and our ability to get our three-point shooters open, so there was good and bad."
Kansas State center Nicole Ohlde
On Middle Tennessee's defense...
"It was very scrappy. They came out right from the get go. They were very aggressive and they were all over the place. They're really quick and pretty talented. They just knew the right time and were very smart on the defensive end. They just came out really aggressive and got a lot of hands on the ball."
Kansas State guard/forward Megan Mahoney
On whether Kansas State had a good idea of what they would see after playing them last year...
"I don't really remember details of that game. We just knew they were very athletic and they had a lot of quick girls. We knew they would come out aggressive on us and we just prepared to handle that pressure."
On whether the team is relying on her more for the three-pointer...
"We had Kristen Rethman last year who was a great three-point shooter. I don't know. I have just had some good looks and people are getting me the ball and I have just been able to hit shots. But, I don't think the team is relying on me. It is just another addition to our offense. We have a lot of good scorers, so we don't have to rely on one person."
Kansas State forward Kendra Wecker
On whether they were a little rattled early...
"I don't think so really. We just need to focus if we do get down at the beginning of the game and keep our composure. Just keep playing and not get worried about it or rattled in any way. We have to keep executing on offense and when teams jump out on us we have to do our jobs on the defensive end to try to make stops."
On the intensity in the second half...
"I think we did better on the offensive end, just getting to the spots quicker. We rebounded a little better in the second half, but that isn't saying a whole lot because we stunk in the first half. I think we came out with a little more intensity, but we still have to play hard for 40 minutes and not have segments in the game where only a few players are playing hard, while other players are slacking. We just need to be fired up to play hard and play hard for the entire game."
Kansas State guard Laurie Koehn
On whether she was feeling it from the field tonight...
"I think we just wanted to come out and take what they were giving us, like always. Everyone was passing the ball well and moving it well and finding open people in their zones."
On whether they played Kansas State basketball tonight...
"We definitely need to get better, individually and as a whole team. We didn't come out with the intensity that we needed to come out with tonight. I guess that effected the way we played and it wasn't necessarily the way we wanted to win, but it was still a win."
MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE HEAD COACH STEPHANY SMITH
On the atmosphere in Bramlage...
"Was that fun? What a fun place to play, I'll tell you that. That was a lot of fun. Now, the outcome wasn't necessarily fun, but..."
On K-State's advantages...
"Deb (Patterson) and company do a tremendous job and have a lot of talent here, a product you all are obviously very proud of because a lot of people show up and support it. I thought our shot at giving ourselves a shot was going to be on the defensive end of the floor. Our goal was to pressure the ball as heavily as we could. I thought we did that well and caused them some problems in the first half. I guess probably the number one thing is, in the second half, we got a little winded at times and Kansas State started making an awful lot of shots from somewhere that it's hard to have our 5-foot-10 front their 6-foot-4. Therefore our help-side shows help and Laurie Koehn spots at half-court. It's hard to show help and defend that half-court three point shot all at the same time. They did a really good job of spacing the floor and took advantage of what is obviously their strength and obviously a mismatch for us."
On K-State's improvement from last year...
"They are very experienced. They are eight games into their season at this point. Last year when we saw them, it was probably a little earlier than this and they were much younger than this. They grew up a lot last season, not that they needed a lot to grow up, but they will continue to get better and better. They are just very talented players. We have a talented team as well, but I'm looking for sleepers; Deb (Patterson) has all-Americans."
On Laurie Koehn's influence...
"She is a great shooter and yes, we wanted to be aware of where she was. Not that didn't want to pressure her and not that we didn't want to recognize where she was but I didn't want you all to score 40 points from one foot from the basket."
