Postgame Quotes/Notes - Storm 79, Houston 69
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TONIGHT'S NOTES | |||
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ANNE DONOVAN:
On the game:
That was fun. I just liked our energy and how charged up they were in the second half. That was our focus at halftime - to come out and just get after it and not leave anything in the locker room. The second half we played very, very well. (In the first half) we looked so tense. No passion was coming through because we were very uptight. That was what halftime was about, just get out and play. Do what you love to do and get after it. Show your passion, show your heart. That is what this team is built on. We got mired in the pressure and the second half we let it go. It’s a natural tendency. You get tight when things don’t go well.
On Lauren Jackson's play in the second half:
With four minutes left in the first half, we talked about her having just one shot. We needed to get the ball to her inside. Against zone or their man-to-man she’s unstoppable. We just had to focus to get it to her.
On the spark in the second half:
I think defensively we were able to stay in our man-to-man, which sparked a lot of transition. We were getting down the floor before they were able to set up their zone. That really gave us some transition buckets.
On offensive struggles in the first half:
I think, more than anything else, we were just uptight. Oh no, it’s another zone again, here we go. And just not having the confidence to push through it, and we did that in the first half. We needed this. The girls needed this. As pressured as they appeared in the first 20 minutes, they needed this to just after it and play. Don’t think so much and worry so much, just play
On 
Betty Lennox's play:
Betty certainly led the way with her energy. She made some big buckets off the dribble, through the seams of their zone.
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SUE BIRD:
On the halftime speech:
Anne came in here and woke us up and we needed that. She did a great job of motivating us. We’re at our best when we play with heart. We can’t worry about if we’re going to win or we’re going to lose, just play and have fun. We did that in the second half and you saw the result.
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LAUREN JACKSON:
On the second half:
We just came out more passionate (in the second half). We played with heart. We’re just happy that we got the win tonight. Finally in the second half, they found out they couldn’t play zone against us; we found a way to break it. Our game just came again.
On Lennox:
She’s unbelievable. She made some amazing shots. She’s just wonderful. I’ve got a lot of praise for her. She’s going to have a very big year.
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VAN CHANCELLOR:
On what changed in the second half:
I thought Seattle came out in the second half and really brought it. They showed a lot more intensity and played really, really well. We don’t usually give up 53 points in a half and that’s what we did. We were up six and, after that point, they just really dominated. They killed us on the boards in the second half and they shot really well. They did a good job defensively. Betty Lennox really hurt us with her dribble drives to the basket. They played really, really well.
On Sheryl Swoopes being limited to 16 points:
They got up on her really tight and we did a poor job of getting her open.
On his speech at halftime:
Yeah, we talked about it (at halftime) and how we needed to play better in the second half, but we just didn’t.
On playing at KeyArena:
I thought their crowd was outstanding and did a great job.
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On the difference between the halves:
I just don’t think we came out as aggressive in the second half as we did in the first half. Whenever you have a 14-point lead on the road and you’re playing a good team like Seattle, you have to go out in the second half and try putting them away. We knew they were going to make a run or two at us in the second half, but we just had to be ready for it. Not to take anything away from them, but I kind of felt like we beat ourselves. You don’t have a 14-point lead against a good team like that and give the game away in the second half, and I think that’s what we did.
On whether the Storm did anything different defensively against her in the second half:
No, nothing … offensively we didn’t execute the way we did in the first half. Defensively, we just weren’t aggressive at all. I think we all knew that Lauren was going to want to come out and have a big game considering how her home opener was. I felt like we focused on trying to stop her more than we did everybody else on the team. They are a good team and have more than just one player that is capable of beating you. Betty was on fire tonight and I thought Izzy (
Iziane Castro Marques) came in and gave them a lift.
On Castro Marques:
She’s a good player. She’s a young, athletic talent. I don’t think she was very intimidated at all. Once you’ve played international basketball, it gives you experience as far as going up against older players in this league. That’s an advantage she has over a lot of the rookies that have come into this league - she’s played international competition before, so she’s played against a lot of the veteran players in this league.
