RELATED CONTENT | ||
|
|
ANNE DONOVAN:
Lauren (Jackson) and 
JB (Janell Burse).
I think there are plenty of positives, with individuals stepping up. 
Doneeka (Hodges-Lewis) did a great job off of the bench. I thought 
KG (Katie Gearlds) was aggressive again, which is what we need from her. I thought 
Betty (Lennox) did a good job fighting all of the way through. So there are definitely positives to take away.
Just defensively, 
Izzy (Iziane Castro Marques) had a difficult time in that (third quarter) stretch for sure. (Svetlana) Abrosimova in particular really had her way with us in that stretch. That really was... 37 points in the quarter is not playing very smart defense.
(Astou Ndiaye-Diatta) did great... I'm not sure (about lineup changes). We're going to look at a lot of things.
|
SUE BIRD:
We're going to have Lauren back hopefully at the end of the week, and we know we're not going to have JB. And that's a huge part of our team. Regardless of her numbers, what she brings every night is a huge part and we're going to have to make some adjustments. But mostly I think people are just going to have to step up and fill that void. It's not going to be just one player that will be able to do it. 
Wendy (Palmer) is not going to come in and start and be JB. Everyone is going to have to pick up the slack.
Maybe not having those two for these two games, that will be beneficial for us if we do make the playoffs. Experience is valuable, and for those players that got in tonight, there's nothing like game experience. You can't get it any other way, and I'm sure they'll get more in Detroit.
|
(The postseason) is on our minds but it's in the back. We know we didn't play and perform tonight like we know how and how we're capable. It's hard. We want to be in the playoffs but we can't focus on that just yet. We have to focus on each game, and right now we have to focus on Detroit.
We have players on this team, and we know those two (Jackson and Burse) are missing. We can't beat that, but we can't use that as an excuse. Other teams find ways when their key players are out, so that's what we have to do is just find ways. I think we have the answers right here in the locker room. I think the only thing lacking is our confidence. The ability and the talent is here. We just have to get their confidence going.
|
DON ZIERDEN:
Lindsey (Harding) got hurt, we were going through that stretch there where at one point we were the best team in the league at taking care of the ball. So it's nice to see that we can do that tonight and I could see we were on our way. At halftime it was good, it was something like 9-to-2... Any time you can have that, we will definitely take it.
When AJ (Amber Jacobs) went down yesterday, we just had to kind of smile and shake our heads because it's just been that kind of a year. You fight through all the adversity. We called Megan (Duffy) in, and you know the one thing that impressed me with Megan when we released her, I thought she handled it really professionally. She said she really liked what we were doing here and if she ever had an opportunity to come back, she would love it. And so we thought we'd take her up on that.
I'd like to say that I drew up ever play in that (third) quarter and everything went as we scripted it. I will say that it's nice to be part of a franchise record in a positive way, but you give all the credit to the ladies. I thought we were aggressive, I thought we moved the basketball. I haven't seen the stats for the third quarter, but I'm willing to bet that a lot of our baskets came off of assists.
At halftime (Abrosimova) and I had talked, and we talked before the game. This is a year of learning, when you have so many young players, and we talked at shootaround today and we talked before the game. This is another learning experience. What I mean by that is that this is the first time all year when we've caught a break with the star player of the other team being injured or not playing. At halftime only up 10, I felt like we should have been up more. So I challenged Seimone (Augustus) and Svet to come out and play with some energy and I thought that they both did that. I thought those two in particular got us going.
|
NICOLE OHLDE:
Over the course of the game things continued to go our way. We continued to move the ball well on offense. We got some good stops on defense. We rebounded the ball. So overall things were going our way. There was not just one point that we knew.
Any time we know that we are playing for our spot. We all know that this is a business. So obviously we know that it's important (to play well). As far as us, we are trying to take one game at a time. We are trying to get that next win. We are trying to get win number nine. It is just us staying together and rallying together. Whatever happens, happens.
|
NOELLE QUINN:
Initially, (Zierden) always specified that he wanted a certain relationship with his point guards because of the way that we have to dictate the game. We have to control the tempo and know what plays to run. I am always talking to Z during free throws. He tells me what I do wrong and what I do right. It is very helpful.
