Baylor, Texas Postgame Quotes
1/19/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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3/3 BAYLOR 75 (17-1/6-0), 8/5 TEXAS 58 (15-2/3-3)
Monday, Jan. 19, 2015
Ferrell Center (Waco, Texas)
Attendance: 8,894
BAYLOR POSTGAME QUOTES
Baylor Head Coach Kim Mulkey
On the run at the end of the half:
"Yes, I thought it was a game of runs in the first half and I thought after Nneka Enemkpali was injured they just out played us. I thought they hustled us. I thought they had a sense of urgency and we had to re-group a little bit there. I just thought we played a solid game. I didn't think we turned the ball over much. I thought we took some quick shots in certain parts of the game, but I thought Imani (Wright) and (Alexis) Prince came out and were very fluid with what they were trying to do coming off on both screens. I'll say two things would be key to the game and I said rebounding will be one. They hadn't been out rebounded all year. The second thing I thought - eliminating as many as their transition baskets as we could and make them execute a half-court offense. I thought that run you are talking about, they got a lot of fast break transition baskets and we needed to get back to doing what we have talked about on the scouting report. "
On Niya Johnson's performance:
"Niya is just having a phenomenal year. In our only lose to Kentucky, I got on her pretty hard, but I also told her in the middle of their run in Kentucky that she is one of the best point guard in the country and she probably doesn't remember that, but I told her that in a timeout and I haven't changed my mind about it. She leads the country in assists. She leads in assist-turnover ratio. She makes the extra pass, but she can score if she needs to. She got fatigued a little bit there at the end and I got aggravated at her because I still wanted the ball there in her hands. You know she is just having a great year, because she is having a great year we are having a good year."
On the difference between coaching Baylor in the past and coaching Baylor today:
"I go back to the '05 team that won the national championship. They were a team that kind of flew under the radar the year they lost on the two tenths of a second shot in Oklahoma against Tennessee, and that team just came back to work and they won the national championship the next year. All of them could score. All of them knew what they roles were. All of them had a tendency and a chemistry and a bond that just came together throughout the year. This team reminds me of that team, but they are still young. That team had some seniors on it and some juniors. This team is too young to know they are not very good, so keep playing is just what I tell them, so we just go play. I think the sign of a good coaching staff is making adjustments depending on what your team weaknesses are. We were very fortunate to have Brittney Griner and Odyssey Sims, and certainly we used them. But this team has several very good and outstanding players that now are getting their opportunity to play. It starts with Niya. She just shares the ball with everybody. She knows where the ball needs to go. She can execute in offense when you need her to. She can get you rebounds. I go back to Kansas the other day, Niya picked up two quick fouls. We weren't the same team, because we just need her on the floor for that calming effect."
Sophomore Post Nina Davis
On the difference between her performance early and having a good finish of the game:
"Just being more aggressive, changing my mind. Sometimes I have the tendency to stand up there and watch the game going, but I just have to keep remembering that my team needs me, so in the second half I just came with a more aggressive mind set."
On Baylor's rebounding game:
"It was just outstanding the way my teammates and I kept fighting to the very end. They had a huge advantage over us, but size does not really matter when you have heart and we just grinded from the beginning to the end."
Junior Guard Niya Johnson
On Texas's defense at the start of the game:
"Kansas did the same thing by leaving me open and I knew I had to hit the shot, because they were leaving me open. We spread the offense and our team likes to get open shots, so me shooting the ball, like I said was to spread the offense and we got more open shots."
On Baylor getting rebounds
"Texas is a great rebounding team, we knew heading into the game we needed to contribute to the rebounding even the guards. I tried to get the loose balls and find the open spots to get the rebound on offense and defense as well."
TEXAS POSTGAME QUOTES
Texas Head Coach Karen Aston
Opening Statement:
"Obviously a tough evening for our team. I thought we played the game the way we have probably been playing it for two or three weeks now, which is in waves and that's not good enough against Baylor or most of the teams in our league. We just seemed to be going in spurts too much, no consistency, and they were a team that seemed a little hungrier for the basketball and did more of the little things. Again, I thought we had some spurts where we were pretty good, but then the next four minutes we would make too many mistakes, and you can't make as many mistakes as we did tonight against a team like Baylor. Credit to Baylor, early in the game I thought their guards came out aggressive and made some jump shots and opened some things up with them. That changed the way we had to defend, which in the second half opened some things up for the post players. So again credit to their guards for playing really well. "
On the impact of Nneka Enemkpali's injury:
"I've been telling them (Texas) for weeks now that another person needed to get on the rebounding game. When you look at the box score and she has as many rebounds as anyone else on our team and played 12 minutes, then that's a problem that we haven't been able to fix with our basketball team. That was very glaring after she went out that they started to get more hustle plays and more rebounds, and we started standing around, because I think our teams has gotten to the point where they do stand around and watch Nneka go get the ball."
On not being able to get Kelsey Lang more shots:
"Well I thought we got her the ball. I'll look at the film and see how many more times we could have gotten her the ball. Some of it is that she in the second half didn't have as good of a position and we got her the ball and she has got to get a different mindset. I think she could have shot the ball more, which is what I'm trying to say. I don't think she was doubled as much in the second half, but I think there were times she was doubled and made the right decision to kick it back out. That's been part of our issue for a couple weeks now is not seeing the post players when they're open. It's two fold - I'm not sure they are sealing and working the way they need to, but I also think we're not getting the ball in at the time that it needs to."
Sophomore Center Kelsey Lang
On if she was pushed away from the rim in the second half:
"I think that after the first few baskets they definitely tried to push me out of the paint more to try and keep me from getting position and to keep any of our post players from getting position right under the basket. I know that is something I need to work on - adjust when the defense adjusts."
On how the team reacts to Nneka's injury:
"Nneka is obviously a huge part of our team and like coach said she has been telling us that someone else needs to get in the rebounding game, and I think that, that would be the most significant thing that we lose. That's something I need to work on and something all of our post players and even guards need to work on. We will definitely have to spend time on that in practice."
