What are your thoughts on tonight’s game?
“They’ve won nine out of ten and now ten out of eleven for a reason. They’re a good team. I don’t want to take anything away from them, but I know that we can do much better and I hope we can prove that the day after tomorrow. We are much better than that, much better, it was a very disappointing effort.”

Can you explain what happened going into the second half?
“I wasn’t sure that we knew that the half had started. That’s what it looked like and they jumped on us. You can’t lose your concentration with a team like that, that’s built on shooters. They will make you pay and we never really made them feel us and that’s not who we are.”

What does Sunday’s game mean to the team?
“It’s our pride I don’t care if we’re out on the playground. It’s about pride and about us being who we are and we weren’t. That wasn’t us, that’s not us right there, that’s not us. That was unacceptable for our team.”

It seemed that the three-point shooting and transition offensive were the big keys for them tonight…
“That’s their game, they shoot the ball very well. They have very good shooters, all the way down the roster. They like to get out and run and played to their strengths tonight.”

What are your thoughts on the game as far as effort goes?
“I don’t know if it’s making the effort, it’s being smart. Just because you’re playing hard doesn’t mean you’re going to get results. You have to work the right way, you have to be smart as a team. A couple of times we felt that there were things that we could have made adjustments tonight, that we shouldn’t have given up so easily. They’re a good team, a good scoring team. We felt that we didn’t make them work like we could have.”

What meaning does Sunday’s game have?
“We are going into the playoffs, this is not the end of the road for us. We have a lot on the line just as a team to get better and obviously some things to work on. It’s going to be a challenge for us. They [Phoenix] want to win they want to finish out, so it will be a good game.”

How big is it for the team to get a victory in Sunday’s game?
“Definitely, you want to have that momentum going into the playoffs. You don’t want to go into the playoffs off of a loss, especially a tough loss like this. It’s fortunate that we have another game before the playoffs start, but we are definitely looking for that momentum.”

What do you have to do in order to get a win?
“They have some good individual players but we have a great team defense when we put it to work. It’s going to take every individual in here, every player to come together to gel in and take responsibility for their roles, so that we can do the defense that we need to do collectively.”

Head Coach Paul Westh:
What are your thoughts on tonight’s game?
“We are just trying to keep a consistent level of play and it was just another game of that consistency we’ve had. When we find a break we shoot the ball, we try to get as many defensive rebounds as we can make, and just let the shots fly.”

How do feel about the team’s momentum going into the playoffs?
“To be honest, we’ve had momentum since the All-Star Break. We’ve been playing this well for almost a month.”

What is the difference in this year’s team than last year when they just missed the playoffs?
“I would say that the players who finished the season last year with the seven game winning streak brought that understanding with them this season. So it really started last year. We got through some rough times during the middle of the season and we started picking it up again. This year we’re a second half team. Who knows what kind of playoff team we are but we’re there.”

Diana Taurasi:
How do you feel about the team’s momentum going into the playoffs this year?
“Momentum is always good. People always talk about it, as a team we rely on it, and team chemistry has a lot to with it. I think it’s a big deal going into the playoffs feeling good about each other, and feeling good about our team.”

What did you think of the offensive play on your team?
“Tonight we were zoned in. We were getting each other open and that was probably the biggest thing.”

What do you think you need to focus on the most to be successful in the playoffs?
“All year we have just focused on our team and have become a better basketball team. We’re more efficient, consistent, and little by little we’ll get to where we need to be.”

Cappie Pondexter:
What are your thoughts on defeating the Monarchs twice at ARCO Arena?
“Winning on the road takes a lot more intensity and a lot more effort. We definitely gave them 40 minutes. We played great as a team on both ends and I think we were really focused on the game.”

How do you feel about the team’s momentum?
“It’s great. I think we had a great second half where we were able to come together as a team, we know each other and we know where we’re going to be on the court. It feels good to be going into a place where none of us has been. There’s been a lot of hard work and I think that’s helped us.”

What did you think of the offensive play tonight?
“We had great shots and we were able to create a lot of open shots. We were able to run the ball and we played the way we are capable of playing. If we do that it’s very hard to stop us.”