On Sacramento - “Sacramento is playing extremely well. They know they have to win all their games (to make the playoffs). You can see the determination in their eyes.”

On Gwen Jackson - “Sacramento is a team she had a good game against. She feels she can compete against them. She’s comfortable with the matchup.”

On the play of Sacramento – “They were embarrassed in Houston, so we knew they would play well. We’ve been losing, but not by big margins. I think we got content in the game and stopped fighting. It’s all about defense. They pushed it at us. It’s the strength of their game.”

On Motivation - "It meant more to us than them I think. We’re right in the thick of things and we’re going home to play Minnesota who is right above us is playing Seattle tomorrow who’s right above them. So we definitely needed the win tonight."

On Coaching Stars Change - “I have done a lot of coaching but I have never been in a situation where I came in, in the middle of the year. Their response to me has been tremendous--they give their greatest effort, respect and play as a team. All 11 played tonight and all 11 contributed.”

On Defense - “Defense is something I have been coaching for 30 years—it’s the same defense I have coached from AAU to college to now and it doesn’t allow reversal from side to side easily. Most offenses go from side to side so we push teams out of their normal offense and make them freelance it.”

On intensity - "From day one I knew we were a championship caliber team but we weren’t playing like it. Coach Whise has brought our intensity up but I’d give us credit for not throwing in the towel and playing like we should’ve from day one."