Texas Tech vs. Morgan State Postgame Quotes
November 24, 2014 | Women's Basketball
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
Texas Tech vs. Morgan State
Postgame Press Conference
Nov. 23, 2014
Candi Whitaker
Lady Raider Head Coach
Opening Statement:
"We struggled to get into any kind of rhythm, obviously when Kelsi gets in foul trouble that early its going to impact us greatly in the first half but I thought Minta did a great job in the first half of finding ways to make plays and keep us in the ball game. They're an unorthodox type of team, we had a difficult time matching up at times defensively and then our awareness offensively wasn't great when they would leave and double and leave some things open. So our execution needs to be better but obviously glad that we could finish and get a win and not have to learn this lesson from a loss."
On if it feels like you have a coach on the floor when Kelsi is out there:
"Yes, we do. You that's who she is. She's very smart, she communicates well she understands the game so there's just a presence and she passes it well. So there's just a presence that we try to run thins through her, I mean she's the center of what we do."
On how the team performed without Kelsi in the first half:
"I thought the post players that came in gave us some good minutes and hung in there and boarded it and Jocelyn had some good blocks coming over just their awareness but we didn't take advantage of the openness of high/low against their zone. We could get it high and we weren't turning and looking at the rim. So we missed her mostly in that aspect because she makes that go. She can make the play, she can make the pass, she knows its open, and she's not afraid of turn and face and make the play."
On team's defensive performance:
"I thought at times we were really good, I thought they were taking bad shots or contested jump shots which is what we wanted. We knew they were going to be a team that necessarily work the ball a lot. They were going to try and drive it and shoot over and at times I thought we did a great job of moving our feet making them shoot it over us and rebounding it. And then I think we were at times fouling unnecessarily and kind of bailing instead of making them make tough plays, so we weren't always smart in some of those areas and then when we went zone we didn't always recognize when a shooter was up top and (Braennan Farrar) got two threes back to back with just our unrecognition. So good and bad."
On if youth was a factor in the team's turnovers:
"I don't know if we can call juniors young, but maybe a little inexperienced yes. And yeah, we just haven't seen a lot of that we tried to simulate it yesterday in practice but we just threw it around way too much."
On the biggest positive from today's win:
"I thought that Kelsi came back with her situation and she was very, very smart and she gave us a great second half and found ways to get to the free-throw line. She's very good at that, very smart even just on a cut she does a great job of drawing fouls. So I think for her to come back play as minutes as she did in the second half without having to be subbed in and out as much is a huge thing to take away."
On fatigue playing a factor with two games in three days:
"Definitely. We're just not that deep to start with and they're tired. They played tired there was a lack of urgency, were not getting to loose balls like we need to, just I felt like a little big sluggish. And I know that takes a toll and we try to get after that in practice as well. So we'll try to rest up a little bit before we head to the Bahamas."
Sophomore Guard
On the other teams pressure defens:
"What was so different about it, is that you never knew when the trap was going to come and who it was going to come from. It wasn't a typical trapping defense it was kind of random. So that's what made it kind of awkward at times."
On leading the younger team when Kelsi had to go out so early:
"Yes, it's definitely difficult when Kelsi goes out because she is one of our best players. I think I had to start reading the zone a lot better and Dayo had wide-open layups a few times. We started to move the ball, stopped taking quick shots and started settling into our offensive a little bit better. As the first half progressed I felt like we did a better job."
On what made Tracey Carrington so tough:
"She's just really quick and if you leave your feet whenever you're guarding her, she's going to go into you. She was good at drawing fouls, too."
On the nine team blocks:
"I think the blocks were great but I think we need to go back and see if we got the ball after the block or did we let them get it again. We had a lot of loose balls that we didn't go after and we didn't dive on or get. So that's something we need to fix next game."
Freshman Wing
On her teams performance on the boards:
"In the beginning we started out really, really good. We out rebounded them in the first half but towards the end they started to get more offensive boards. At the end of the day we still try to work hard and box out to get as many as we can."
On how Kelsi helped open her up down low:
"Yes because Kelsi is a big player and she brings a lot of defense with her which makes it easier for our guards and I to get the ball. So yes I did."
