Oregon State-California Post-Game Quotes
January 22, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 22, 2009
Oregon State Head Coach LaVonda Wagner
Opening Statement…
“I felt tonight was a very good basketball game and it was entertaining to watch I'm sure. I felt like my team competed. Unfortunately, we came in on the short end of the stick. They took and made big shots and they got to the free throw line. When they needed to get a rebound, they got a rebound. When they needed to get a stop, they got a stop. That's why they are ranked in the top 10 in the country. We have to play hard, we have to play smart and together. We must be able to execute our offense under pressure.”
On what the team needs to do…
We need to take and make shots. The bottom line is that those baskets should have gone down. We should have made our free throws and we should have made our layups. That is the difference in the game. We have to finish.”
On what went well…
“We did everything well. We rebounded the basketball, we didn't turn it over unnecessarily, and we got to the free throw line. We have got to shoot free throws better in the second half. We had some great outside scoring.”
Oregon State Guard Brittney Davis
On becoming the scorer that she was last season…
“I credit it to my teammates, getting me open and hitting all of the open shots. It is not about me, it's about the team. It's a team effort.”
On the difference in the second half…
“I took my time and didn't force anything. And not altering my shot. I have had trouble this season with altering my shots and missing shots. It's all about being patient and taking it to the basket under control.”
Oregon State Guard Talisa Rhea
On if the loss was encouraging ...
“It is encouraging, but it is hard to be that close and not finish it out. We are excited to get another chance on Saturday. We get a day tomorrow to get ready for it, to work on executing on offense and cleaning that up.”
California head coach Joanne Boyle
On the coaching style of LaVonda Wagner ...
"Coach Wagner does a great job. She is a great coach and she does a lot of really good game planning. She changed things up, she pressed a lot, and we had to try and figure out what she was doing. That takes time which means you don't have as much of the shot clock. But she did a great job of changing her defense up. LaVonda did a great job and she has her kids going in the right direction."
On the Bears' second half performance ...
"Our team did a really good job in the second half, getting in rhythm and scoring. We were stuck a little bit in the first half, but I thought we did a good job changing our defenses up in the second half and pressing a little bit to get some easy baskets.
On Natasha Vital's impact down the stretch ...
"Big free throws down the stretch. That was huge for us and it allowed us to get into some pressing since we were making our free throws. We need to be able to do that."
On the improvement of Ashley Wagner in the second half ...
"She typically doesn't have bad games. Every now and then she will have a slow half, either the first or the second. But she hasn't had that many this year, to be honest. If she has a slow first half she will come out strong in the second and that's what she did."
California guard Natasha Vital
On getting motivated for the game ...
"We were really excited for this game. We are growing as a team and coming off of a big win, and it was exciting to come out and play after that. Coach Wagner has a really good team and they played well tonight."
On Oregon State staying close down the stretch ...
"They are a really good team. They get better every year."
