University of Connecticut Athletics
Quotes: UConn 98, Tulsa 60
1/7/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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UConn Head Coach Geno Auriemma
Thoughts on Kaleena matching Diana Taurasi's record:
"Those things are things that happen because you get a lot of opportunities to play with some great players and to work on your game… We share the ball so well, and we have so many assists every game, that if you're a great shooter and you come here, you're going to get a lot of opportunities to make shots… What K has done and what Diana did was something that's obviously very difficult to do. I know that everybody wants to be seen as more than just a shooter, they want to be seen as a basketball player, and I'm happy for K that she's become a much better basketball player in addition to being a great shooter."
On Gabby Williams' performance tonight:
"We've kind of seen this before from Gabby, we saw a little bit of it in the UCLA game. It's not that she doesn't have the ability to do that. With a lot of these kids, it's being able to sustain it over a period of time. Today was just another example of how good she can really be… It's something we don't see all the time, or enough times to make us happy or her happy, but the last couple days have been good for her, and today was great for her."
On whether Moriah has taken her game to the next level:
"I think the confidence level that she has right now is allowing her to be as good as her talent… Each and every year she's managed to grow as a player and do more things to help our team, and right now her confidence level is such that she thinks that there isn't anything she can't do. She's got great control of her environment, and that's the best way I can put it, she's in really good control of what's going on out on the floor. For a guard that handles the ball as much as she does, to have that is ideal."
Junior Guard Moriah Jefferson
On if she feels like if she's taken her game to a different level
"I think I'm at the level right now that I'm used to playing."
On if this is the best she has ever shot the ball
"I used to shoot this well in high school. It used to be second nature, but when I came to college I just took a step back and kind of got away from it."
On the state of UConn at this point in the season
"The vibe is good, but I wouldn't say we are where we want to be. We're definitely on the right track to getting there. I think we played well today, and we have to come to each game with the same mindset moving forward."
Senior Guard Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis
On how she came out against Tulsa tonight with the 3-point record on the line
"I just didn't force the issues. It's not something that's going to always be on my mind. I just want us to play well as a team and for everybody to play well."
On UConn's start to the game tonight
"I think we came out aggressive and played very well. That's what we've been working on. We want to start all our games like that."
On improvements UConn can make at this point in the season
"As far as the starters go, we want to make sure we start every game as aggressive as we did tonight. For the bench, we want to make sure they are consistent and people we can rely on and that once they come in we know there isn't going to be a dropoff."
Tulsa Head Coach Matilda Mossman
How prepared was your team for this atmosphere?
"I don't know that there is a lot that you can do to prepare for atmosphere. I thought after halftime our kids settled in a little bit. We didn't play very well in the first half and they (Connecticut) had a lot to do with that. They exploited our weaknesses in terms of getting layups and getting offensive rebounds. Early in the game it was like a shooting practice. They just hit every outside shot. Defensively we had to keep trying different things to shut them down and trying to have different people shut them down. Obviously they shot 65%, so we didn't get them shut down very well."
What (besides a win) did you want to get out of this game?
"I think we got out of it in the second half what we wanted and that was to feel good about ourselves and to out and played the No. 2 team in the country and not turn the ball over. We scored 60 points. They've had 10 opponents this year that haven't scored 60 points. We felt good about that. We felt good about the fact that they only out-scored us by 5 in the second half. Those two things right there can help us, and there are a lot of things that we can take out of it after watching film to help us against Memphis on Saturday."
UConn had a size advantage, but also was hitting its 3-pointers early. How do you decide what to guard?
"We didn't feel like we needed to guard a particular person. We watched St. John's try to face guard Kaleena (Mosqueda-Lewis) in their game on Sunday and Kaleena didn't score but Morgan Tuck went off. It's kind of pick your poison. I think you just have to play solid and know that they are going to get their points. You just don't want them to get more than what they are used to averaging."
Talk a little bit about the toughness of Ashley Hughes, getting part of her tooth knocked out and then coming back in the game and making a 3-pointer
"I was hoping that the rest of the team would feed off of that toughness. I think our freshman, Jordyn Holmes, did. When she sees Ashley Hughes go down like that and come back in the game, I think that tells Jordyn Holmes, hey I've got to go be better. So she had a career-high. It's the way she did it - going 3-for-5 from the 3-point line. I think our whole team needs to feed off of Ashley Hughes' toughness and they have to feed off of Jordyn Holmes' fearlessness."
