Lynx - Liberty Postgame

BOX SCORE

Minnesota Coach Don Zierdon
On tonight's game: "We've done that a couple of times. We've got a group of fighters. They fought the whole way through the game. We have had two games this year where we just could not get over the hump. We have lost two games by one point and one game by four points. For a young team, I am proud of the way we fought."

On four losses in five games: "I knew part of it was going to be scheduling. We just played five games in nine days. And I knew that was going to wear us down a little bit. We now get a chance to catch our breaths and regroup and we actually get a chance to practice. You are always disappointed when you lose, but if you do not stay the course over the 34 games, you are going to be a roller coaster team and you do not want to do that."

On Candice Wiggins' play: "We are very happy with the way she was playing and that is why we went to her at the end of the game. Normally we would go to Seimone in that situation, but we thought she might be able to turn the corner or create for someone else, but it just did not work out."

Minnesota Guard Seimone Augustus
On tonight's game: "All our mistakes, we put them on the free throw line. Hopefully we can work on situational basketball. It came down to forty-something seconds and we've got to work on the time management."

Minnesota Guard Candice Wiggins
On her individual performance: "You know I always look at things I could do better. I think I had a few bad turnovers that were unforced. Obviously some of the shots were good looks, I've got to knock those down. I also missed some free throws. At the end of the day, you've got to judge your game on the effort and I feel like I gave a good effort."

On learning from tonight's game: "We have got to move on to the next game. You can't sit and think about too much stuff. You've got to do it and it's about making no excuses. Not pointing fingers at anyone, it's about looking at yourself and figuring out what you can do better."

New York Coach Pat Coyle
On the team's defensive stop: "I think Seimone Augustus is one of the top 10 players in the league and definitely a terrific player. I think Essence stepped up to the challenge. Our plan was to challenge her shot. Wiggins had a great game. We are going to have to go back and look over the tape to make sure that doesn't happen again."

On the team being above .500: "I think playing with a rookie backcourt in a league that is very tough to win we are in a good position. With Leilani at the point guard position we are 3-1. That's not to say we don't miss Loree Moore, but playing with a rookie backcourt and having a record above .500 says a lot about this team."

New York Forward Cathrine Kraayeveld
On the Minnesota Lynx: "They are a good team, they have a lot of strong players, we did a good job of staying focused defensively. They are going to make their runs like they did, but we did a good job of sharing the basketball. We have a really unselfish team and did a good job of playing tonight."

New York Center Janel McCarville
On tonight's win: "In this league you have to take wins for wins. Unfortunately, we let them get back into the game and put ourselves in a bad situation, but we were able to get one last stop on defense."

On the Liberty's defense: "We tried to do different things for different players and keep them guessing. Seimone [Augustus] is going to get her points, but we want her to take as many shots as possible to get them, same thing with Candice [Wiggins]. We also wanted to limit the points inside to the post."