Post Game Quotes vs. Georgia
1/3/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 3, 2010
Alabama Head Coach Wendell Hudson
Opening statement:
"It was a tale of two halves for us. We played a good basketball team in Georgia today. They came in here undefeated, but we certainly had our chances. We missed way too many open looks in the second half. Georgia did a good job of pressuring us, but like I said, we missed way too many shots that we usually make."
On whether or not nerves played a factor at the start of the second half:
"We are in conference play which means the games are tougher and it means a little more, but we've had these types of nights before. We are a jump-shooting team, and when the jump shots don't fall it is going to be awful tough to win."
On positives that could come out of this game:
"We played hard, competed well and really got the shots we wanted, which makes this loss even tougher. We've got to learn how to finish basketball games."
Junior Guard Varisia Raffington
On not having enough offense to finish after playing such a great first half:
"It is very frustrating for each and every one of us, and I know especially for our coaches, but I guess we came out and didn't have the fire in our eyes we had in the first half. We missed a couple of shots and let them get the momentum. They are a great basketball team, and we can't just have those types of mental breakdowns when playing a team like that."
On going ten minutes without scoring in the second half:
"I think I finally noticed when I saw that we only had scored about 15 points in the second half. It took us a while to get our offense working and then to execute it. Like I said, our shots that we were feeling very confident about the first half and knocking down easily were rimming out and they were able to get the momentum. We have to be able to counter those runs because we are going to play teams like that with momentum. We have to be able to handle it, settle down our offense, and be confident in what we do."
On taking the way we played the first half as a positive:
"We have a lot of positive things that happened in the game. We put together a great half of basketball. In the first half we went for every little play and we were taking charges, blocking shots, and getting the easy baskets. I definitely think that any team can be the right team when they are doing those little things and are hustling and shots are falling."
Georgia Head Coach Andy Landers
On the defense in the second half:
"It was a good win. It didn't look good at halftime and a lot of the damage in the first half was self-inflicted. We were able to rectify that in the second half and right the ship. That was pretty convincing in the second half."
On starting 1-0 in league play:
"A 1-0 start was all we were after today. It was a great win, the kids showed a lot of character and courage. We had a good conversation at halftime that challenged us in the right ways. I told them we were exactly where we needed to be. We needed to be down to someone that was more aggressive than we were and we were going to have to find a response for it, or not. They responded."
On the difference between the two halves:
"I thought in the first half we got discouraged, which really bothered me. I thought we started to separate as a basketball team. They pulled it back together when it got down to business in the second half and played really, really well."
