NEW YORK LIBERTY | MIAMI SOL

Adubato

Head Coach Richie Adubato
"I think you could see the energy and enthusiasm that both teams played with tonight. It was a very physical game. I just think we shot the ball really well tonight. They played great defense and we had to make a lot of tough shots. Vickie Johnson stepped up big; she was 8-for-12 and 2-or-3 on three-pointers. We were very lucky that Tamika (Whitmore) was knocking them in tonight. She started it off and that helped us a lot in trying to attack their tenacious defense."

"In the first half Ruth Riley was hurting us. She made some big shots. We came out in the second half and did a good job of defending their big three. Baranova and Brondello had off nights tonight and we were lucky tonight. We had a lot of determination because they beat us so handily a couple weeks ago in Madison Square Garden. We had fire in our eyes because of the embarrassment they gave us."

"Tonight we played good basketball. This is just one win. We just need to go home and protect home court. It's going to be nice to go home and play in front of your home fans. If you look at this year, we won here and they won in the Garden. We are going to need to play as hard as we played tonight if we are going to win on Sunday."

Johnson

Guard Vickie Johnson
"We really wanted to come out tonight and set the tone on the defensive end. That's the key to our success. Our post players did a great job setting screens and boxing out. We did a great time of making our shots."

"When I woke up this morning I felt like we were going to blow them out. I felt that in the last couple days of preparation that every one was focused and bringing their 'A' game to practice. I knew we were going to play well. It's going to be very tough for them to come into Madison Square Garden and beat us."

Weatherspoon

Guard Teresa Weatherspoon
"When you come into somebody's home you have to come in and really battle. This is a very good basketball team that we have to battle with. This was only one game and this is a series. The game is really all about runs. It's about who can stop the runs. Fortunately, we kept the run going. We thought if we could keep the crowd out we would be in pretty good shape."

"We're known for our aggressive defensive play. We just wanted to come out and be stifling. The one thing we really focused in on was playing defense. Defense definitely wins championships."

Whitmore

Forward Tamika Whitmore
"I think we executed our offense very well. We had a few defensive schemes that we also executed very well."

On her injury:
"As long as I could walk, I was going back in. I got up under my own power and I walked under my own power. Once I did that, I knew I was going back in. I got ran into and my knee got knocked in, but my foot stayed stuck to the floor. I probably twisted it a little bit. This isn't anytime to sit out. These games are very important right now."

MIAMI SOL

Rothstein

Head Coach Ron Rothstein
"We can't not rebound and not defend and then not be efficient offensively in the second half. You can't do those things and expect to beat good teams."

"I think they played harder and with more confidence. They ran their cuts harder and they killed us on the boards. Give them credit. They flat out whipped us, plain and simple. We need to get back our defensive intensity. It just wasn't there tonight. I think we got frustrated and we lost our focus defensively. Part of it stems from the fact that we couldn't make any shots."

"Vickie Johnson is a great shooter and you can't let her stand still and let her shoot. That's not us. We let Tari Phillips catch the ball anywhere she wanted to in the post. We can't do that, not at this level, not if you're going to win games. We didn't shoot the ball well, but give them some credit they played some really good defense."

On Tracy Reid:
"That's the best she's looked in a while. No question about it. She was really slashing. She had some life and that was encouraging."

On going to New York:
"I'm not worried about winning two, I'm worried about winning one. We need to win the game Sunday before we can worry about anything else."

Black

Guard Debbie Black
"I don't believe that we competed tonight. It surprised me. All the credit to them; they played great defense. We just didn't respond. They turned it up a notch and we just sort of fell flat."

On the SOL's first playoff game:
"I think we're an experienced team, but we haven't done this together as a unit."

Riley

Center Ruth Riley
"Whitmore really stuck out and she made the difference in the game. I felt pretty good but I need to do a better job defensively and rebounding. We are going to have to focus on rebounding going into the next game."

"Tari Phillips is a versatile player. She can take you and isolate you on the baseline. She moves around a lot in the post and it makes her hard to guard."

Sam

Forward Sheri Sam
"We just didn't show up. They were at another level and we weren't at that level. It was just little things: We didn't rebound and we didn't play excellent defense. Those are the things that got us to where we are right now. It's disappointing. We've been holding teams to 30 percent from the field. We can't let New York shoot 50 percent. We are not going to win that way."

"We have to play defense and raise our level of intensity and know that we are not going to win letting New York shoot 50 percent. We are not going to win getting 12 defensive rebounds. We have to play like we've been playing all year. We have to win that game on Sunday and that's what everybody should be thinking."