Fresno State Athletics
Notre Dame vs. UC Santa Barbara - Postgame Quotes
3/19/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 19, 2005
NOTRE DAME HEAD COACH MUFFETT McGRAW: Santa Barbara is a great team in fact they should have been a much higher seed. This was a very difficult game for us, I was really worried about them. We really worked hard on defending Mann with our man and zone. We kept track of where she was and sometimes two-timed her. I think that was the key to the game. On the other hand Fisher stepped and did a great job. She stepped and played very well. I was pleased with our poise. We had a couple of calls go against us but we kept our poise. I think we did a great job with our zone and Jackie (Batteast) did a great job on the boards. Arizona State is big overall and they have a lot of players who contribute so we can't concentrate on one person.
Notre Dame Megan Duffy: Yes I did hit a shot right handed (she is left handed) I was just trying to throw it up to beat the shot clock. We stepped up our play in the second half. We just felt we could go as hard as we could and see what happens,
Notre Dame Brianna Gray: I think my steal towards the end of the game was very vital. I think that broke the point of what they were trying to attack. I think I did a good job, but my teammates helped me.
LaVere Courtney: With Mann she has such long arms we just tried to make sure she didn't get wide open shots. I got some good back door shots, that's what we were trying to do. I grew up playing in California so it was great to have my family here.
Jacqueline Batteast: Play was pretty physical but you expect that in tournament time. They let you play a little harder. First game I could go the basket and no one was blocking. I was so open was probably the reason I threw it over the basket a few times, We worked a lot this week on rebounding so our job was to get good position.
UCSB Head Coach Mark French: First of all, I would like to congratulate Notre Dame. They're a big, strong basketball team. They blocked a lot of shots. (Megan) Duffy saved all of her St. Patrick's Day karma for that (right-handed) shot she made. She's not shy about shooting the ball. That's what good leaders do. We wish the best of luck to Notre Dame as they move to the round of 32. It was one of those nights, Kristen wasn't playing well. We?ve seen her score so well for us. They did an excellent job of making her life miserable. We tried her everywhere: high post, low post. We didn't get other people to step up soon enough.
UCSB Mia Fisher: When she made that shot, I just keep on playing. It was a great shot. I credit her. If I could do it again, I'd want her to shoot the same shot. It wasn't that drastic (playing against Notre Dame). We've made it here before. It's a little more physical than the Big West, but it wasn't anything we couldn't handle.
UCSB Kristen Mann: They did a good job of double and
triple-teaming me. I struggled a lot. They did a good
job of collapsing on me. It wasn't my night. I thought
Kate and Mia played really well.
(About the traveling call that was made with 1:52 left in game) I can't say I was fouled. You can't rely on the refs. I tried to go up strong. If they call me for traveling, I can?t do anything about it.
