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Penn State Women's Basketball
Postgame Quotes vs. Rutgers
1/10/15
Coquese Washington
Penn State Head Coach
Q: How critical were the turnovers in this ballgame?
CW: That's the game. The game was the turnovers. We outrebounded them. I thought we did a pretty good job in the zone and forcing them to take the shots that we wanted them to take. Thirty-eight turnovers, I think that is a number that is probably insurmountable.
Q: Does it become epidemic when you start turning the ball over?
CW: No, I don't think it becomes epidemic. Honestly, I think it has been an Achilles heel for us all season long. We have turned the ball over against teams that have sat in a two-three zone for 40 minutes. Sometimes it is just - I sound like a broken record - the speed of which you recognize things and certainly, this is the most athletic team we have played all season and the most aggressive team we have played defensively. Passing lanes close quickly, what you think you maybe there; you don't have so those are experience things. These kids, Tori [Waldner] aside, obviously haven't played against a team this athletic and this quick and aggressive defensively. It is just another experience that they have had that we can draw on.
Q: We heard Candice Agee's answer on the slow second half start, do you agree with what she said?
CW: No, I don't agree with what she said. I think it doesn't matter whether it is the first half or the second; we go on scoring droughts and a lot of times those scoring droughts are directly correlated to our turnovers. When we turn the ball over and they go down and they get layups, especially when we are going a pretty good job in the zone and we're making them take shots and they're missing shots and we're rebounding and we're coming down in transition and we don't convert those, those four-point swings, when you have four-, five-, six-point swings, those things seem to happen to us. Sometimes it has happened to us in the first half and it happened in the first half, I think we sat on eight points for a long time. Then we kind of got going. In the second half, same thing, we had a stretch where we turned the ball over and when you're turning the ball over against a team that is really good in transition, like Rutgers is, it can create a lead. I thought we did a really good job of staying the game and hanging in the game, even with our turnover problems and even with the fact that they got a third more shot attempts than we did. I thought we did a pretty good job of fighting and staying in the game. We got some production defensively off the bench with Alex Harris and Peyton Whitted. They came in and they were big and got us some extra possessions with rebounds so we just have to keep grinding and keep working. Keep putting things together.
Q: How were you able to stay in the game even with all of those things?
CW: I think it was our defense. They really hurt us in transition. Our half court defense, obviously I haven't watched the film yet but when I do, I'm hopeful and optimistic that it is going to show a lot that their scoring percentage against our set defense was relatively low. Their scoring percentage against our transition defense is probably relatively high because a lot of those transition points are coming off of turnovers and they are getting advantage breaks. When we were able to have stretches where we took care of the ball and we were actually getting shots and running offense and able to get back set in defense, that's how we were able to stay in the game. Unfortunately, one of those stretches of turning the ball over came in the last four minutes of the game. So, the game goes from an eight- or 10-point game, which you know if you're at an eight-point deficit, four possessions with four or five minutes to go, you like those odds and you think you can do something there. But then we have a stretch of turning the ball over and they convert on those and an eight or 10 point game turns into a 20-point game.
Q: Inbounds place, you have a few turnovers on that, is there anything in particular they are not doing?
CW: This is the first team that we have played this year that has really pressed us like that. I thought we didn't handle it great. We didn't have the kind of poise that we needed against it. We played too fast and again when you have kids out there who aren't quite comfortable in that position yet, it looks like it. I think it another one of those experiences that, hopefully, when we see it again, we'll be a lot more adept at handling it.
Q: How is the team taking this? Do they feel like they let one slip away?
CW: I think they are ticked off because they lost and they're competitors. They played hard and they competed against people they know. They know these kids. They compete in AAU and they are familiar with each other. So, they are ticked off. We expected to win. We came into this game expecting to win and when you're expectation is to win and you don't, you're not happy. So yeah, we are ticked off. We are disappointed. We feel like we let one slip away. We feel like we could have won this game and we should have won this game. We didn't earn it. We didn't perform that way that we expected to perform and that is disappointing and frustrating. I'm glad to see them feeling this way and dejected because it shows that they care. It shows that they are invested. It shows that they are giving everything that they have to be the best that they can on game day and when it doesn't go that way it is frustrating and disappointing.
#1 Candice Agee
Junior â- Center
Q: Why do you think you turned the ball over so much in this game?
CA: They did a good job of pressuring the ball, they are really athletic and they are a very good defensive team. It was kind of hard for us to find a rhythm.
Q: You guys have struggled the past few games in the second half; can you talk a little about that?
CA: Right now we are working on putting two halves together, and that's the focus for us. We have to be focused and disciplined in doing that. We are going to keep working on that and hopefully be able to put two halves together.
Q: Do you think you let an opportunity get away from you today?
CA: It's upsetting and disappointing. We have worked really hard the past couple of days preparing. The things that we focused on, I think we executed really well. We didn't take care of the ball and we let the defensive pressure get to us and it's very disappointing.
Q: How do you feel you played defensively in this game?
CA: I think our defense was fine. Of course there are things we can fix, but they didn't get all the shots that they wanted. We just had a lot of turnovers and allowed them second opportunities.
Q: How physical was it inside?
CA: It was very physical and we knew that going in. They are known for being very physical, so it wasn't a surprise to any of us. You just have to go in and adjust your game accordingly.
C. Vivian Stringer
Rutgers Head Coach
Q: How important was the turnover margin in this ballgame?
CVS: It spoke to the defensive intensity, and we had to do that because they are obviously much bigger and they were going to pass it to the inside. It was important that we put a lot more pressure on the guards and looked to double down as much as we possibly could. Our posts weren't handling the big people. We needed to do what we needed to do to win. I thought that Penn State actually did a great job. I thought that they could have had more turnovers, but they didn't. I thought Coach [Washington] did a great job of keeping spacing. They continued to keep their poise. It wasn't bad. It wasn't bad for them.
Q: What type of leadership qualities do you see from Coquese Washington?
CVS: First of all, she is very detailed. She communicates really well. She understands the game. This just happened to be a down year with her not being able to have a legitimate shooter like [Maggie] Lucas, who was consistent for her. She will build this program. I think that you see the makings of what can be a great team. They have tremendous size. You can see that they conceptually understand what they have to do. She has played professionally at the highest levels. She's coached as an assistant coach at the highest levels, and she has done a great job here. She's a leader. I'm really always impressed with her ability to communicate with the players as a coach and as a mom. She does a great job teaching both the offensive and defensive side of things. She's patient. You'll have her for a while, I guess.
Q: You look down at the box and Syessence Davis only had one point, but what do you feel like her impact was?
CVS: She's our player of the game. I was just telling [the team]. Katelynn Flaherty of Michigan may have been averaging 20 points per game. We put [Syessence] on her and she may have gotten three. We have to find a name for her. She's like your worst nightmare. She's just relentless. She takes great pride in that. It doesn't matter what the point total is. She had eight assists. So, that's 16 points and the fact that she kept the opposing player she was guarding quiet. She's not confused about the value system that we place. She might not have been the one who was interviewed after the game, but our player of the game was [Syessence]. Without her I don't know where we would be and if we would win.