CLEVELAND ROCKERS | CHARLOTTE STING

Hughes

Head Coach Dan Hughes
"I thought the game, from our standpoint, was what we expected it to be. I thought the key moment was when they went to the zone and our inability to score efficiently at that point put a little pressure on our defense. We couldn't get any kind of regularity after that point. I thought we had shots we didn't make. The adjustments we have to make are with how we attack their zone. I won't be disappointed if we get some of the same looks in Game Two.

It's real important for us that Charlotte not play in transition, that we're able to defend in half court. When we're not converting offensively, they're playing for long rebounds and putting a lot of pressure on our transition defense."

Jones

Guard Merlakia Jones
"We fought all year for home court advantage and tonight, like coach Hughes said, we didn't knock down the shots and we needed to. We have to go back home and regroup. We came in with a good game plan. We played great defense down the stretch. We just didn't knock down the shots."

Melvin

Forward Chasity Melvin
"The zone created open shots for us. We didn't really knock down shots that we normally do. We needed to knock those shots down and that put a lot of pressure on our defense. The post player has to keep moving also in the zone. Our perimeter players normally knock down those shots. Charlotte played a great game. We have to get back home and get focused."

CHARLOTTE STING

Head Coach Anne Donovan
"You saw a little bit about what we've been about all season, which is never quit, never say die. We got ourselves in a hole down 10 points, and then played strong and confident to get ourselves back out of the hole, and then, pretty much, control the end of that game. I think (it was) a great effort, great leadership by these two young ladies next to me (Stinson and Staley) that set the tone from a leadership standpoint. It was a good win for us."

"We didn't want to let them shoot from the inside any longer. That was kicking our tales pretty good. We made the adjustment and went to a zone. We weren't giving up the threes. We were there on it when they caught it. I thought we did a good job getting a hand in their face, and obviously it affected them somewhat."

"It was very tight defense (by Cleveland in the first half). These guys (Stinson and Staley) can address it more than I think I can, but they certainly took us out of the flow of our offense. I think a number of things, we didn't start off very steady. As the game went, I think we picked up our confidence and our comfort level and settled down a little bit. In the second half, you saw what we were really more about."

"We talked with our post players about really needing to step up in the second half. Charlotte (Smith) came to play the last 20 for sure. She did a great job. I thought she played very hard, rebounded the ball very well, and offensively, gave us a lift when we had to have it."

"At that point (down 10), we went from our man-to-man to our zone. We really felt like we had to do something to shut the inside game down a little bit, make them find ways to score. They came at us second half. They kept attacking our post, and we had difficulty stopping them. We went to our zone at that point in time, and it definitely made a difference. We kept them off the free throw line in the second half, that made a difference also."

"(Machanguana) hit some big shots. Her free throw line jump shot is not a shot, normally, that she's taken. Knocking it down at a critical time, that was big. It also speaks to the nature of this team, which is a team. We had other players that weren't stepping up. Clarisse came off the bench in the second half and really stepped up big. We had different people that filled in the gaps when we needed them. As Dawn talked about, our defense, 18 points in the second half for Cleveland, this is a team that gets it done together."

"Any time you have a team that has a winning streak that Cleveland had, I think Indiana upset them at home one time this season, to go in there recently and get a good, solid win just gives us all the more confidence to go on the road, play well on the road and get that next win."

Stinson

Guard Andrea Stinson
"When you have a group of veteran players, they know that certain games are going to go down to the wire. You have to stay strong and you have to stay positive. You can get down 10, 12, but still not give up. That's what veteran players are all about. You have the rookies who are going to learn from this experience. The next game, they'll know. We're down 10, but we're going to hang in there and we're not going to give up."

Staley

Guard Dawn Staley
"I just thought we started the game out like it was the playoffs. It was the beginning of the playoffs, we were a little jittery, and Cleveland, they pounced on us. They disrupted our offense, but at the same time, I felt like we did a pretty good job defensively also. Twenty-eighty points, that isn't bad."

"We felt that we played the percentages. If you put a hand in their face, the percentages go down when you're shooting. That's a true test of Allison (Feaster), Stinson, myself just working hard trying to keep a hand in their face. We did an excellent job all the way around. We gave up 46 points, and that is true team defense."

"I think we get more and more confident with each win. I think we're not overly confident, because we know that we were 1-10. Everybody will continue to remind us that we were 1-10. At the same time, we're just hoping it snowballs into something special. A lot of people counted us out when we were 1-10. The people that wear the Charlotte Sting uniform and the paraphernalia really believe in this team and stuck with it. We're going to continue to ride it until we can't."

"I looked at it like, whoever wins this game, wins this series. We needed to win this game. It would be very difficult to go to Cleveland and win two games, but at the same time, we won a game, we put them back on their heels, and the pressure is off of us, and it's on them now. Hopefully, they'll feel the effect of being down 1-0."

Postgame Notes