Postgame Quotes: Alabama vs. Jacksonville State
11/18/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Alabama Head Coach Kristy Curry
Opening Statement:
"I just want to credit Jacksonville State for doing such a good job. I've had a lot of respect for them over the years, and I have a lot of respect for those guys. They have some older kids who really made big, big shots. You look at (Leah) Strain, their transfer; the kid from Kentucky…those kids can really shoot the basketball. That's what we want to continue to recruit, those kinds of kids who can make plays and shoot the ball. My hats off for those kids, and to Rick, they did a great job tonight."
On Hannah Cook's three-pointers in the second half:
"She was just very passive in the first half and did a much better job being aggressive. I really liked the way she responded in the second half. The biggest adjustment is that she is a freshman. For these kids to develop, they are going to have to play through moments like the first half, and it's good to see her respond in the second half. It's great to see Hannah and Ashley (Williams) step up. I've been disappointed in our older kids finding ways to score and making plays. We need more help, and those kids are experienced. I thought our bench play in the first half was very, very poor, which is disappointing. We just got to have the patience and the virtues to continue to grow."
On the residual effect of the Duke game:
"I think as a competitor certainly, I think that's hard to answer because we are so inexperienced. From my point of view, our style, absolutely not. Again, that schedule was what it was when we got here. I have no excuses for tonight, you credit Jacksonville State. As disappointed as we were on Sunday, this hurts twice as bad. As a competitor, when you lose, it has to bother you a little bit."
#20 Ashley Williams, Forward
On the difference between the first and second half:
"We just had to step it up. We can't keep missing those free throws. It just shows that we really need to get into the gym and shoot."
On how she will adjust for this weekend's series:
"This incoming weekend is going to be a tough matchup. There will be tough teams in Kansas. We need to get in the gym and start making shots. We need to go out there, forget what just happened and do our best."
#11 Hannah Cook, Guard
On her performance in the second half:
"I should have played hard in the first half, but Coach Curry got in my grill and helped me. I need to score."
On the confidence Coach Curry has in her:
"Coach wanted me to score a three to tie the game, and that was my job. I had to relax, it was a good feeling."
Jacksonville State Head Coach Rick Pietri
Opening Statement:
"It's a special occasion when a team that isn't in a power five conference can come into a game facing a power five conference team and get the win. This is the 15th year that I've been a head coach in Division I women's basketball. It's only the second time that I've had the fortune to beat a power five conference team on the road. It's a very hard thing to do, and I'm proud of our kids that we were able to accomplish that tonight.
"I've got a tremendous amount of respect for Coach Curry and what Alabama does here. I knew coming into the game that we didn't have an answer for Ashley Williams, and we didn't have an answer for Ashley Williams. She's a special player. Having said that, I am very grateful that our kids were able to respond. I knew that at halftime when we were up 10 that Alabama was going to punch back. We just had to find a way to withstand it, and we did. I'm proud of our team and our group for finding a way to win."
On overcoming the adversity on the court:
"When Alabama took the lead, Courtney Strain hit a big shot. Obviously, she's been in a power five situation, so she's used to this environment. She was able to step up and make a huge play for us to give us some more energy because we were waning. We needed someone to step up and do something, and she did; that was the lift we needed to get back into the game. We were allowing ourselves to be pushed around before that. We had to find some resolve and that shot energized us."
On the game-winning shot:
"Here's the thing with Destiny McLin: whenever she has the ball in her hands she basically has the ball to take off. She plays the four position for us. Obviously, she's an undersized four in Division I college basketball, but she's so athletic and she's so long that she can manage it. She understands what we want defensively out of that four position as well. She has the green light, whenever she gets the rebound, to take off, and she made the play. I could have drawn up whatever; she made the play. That specific play had nothing to do with coaching, that's just McLin making a play."
#22 Destiny McLin, Forward
On making the game-winning shot:
"I didn't even realize what the clock situation was. I was just happy that Candace (Morton) threw the ball back to me. Nothing was going through my head really."
On what it means to beat an SEC team:
"It can only boost our confidence level. Our confidence came up a tremendous amount from this win. We just lost to Texas Tech, but we could have won that. This game definitely helps us."
#4 Candace Morton, Guard
On withstanding the Alabama comeback:
"We started off solid. We got outrebounded the majority of the game, but we were trying to make up for that on other areas of the floor, which was the reason we were able to stay in the game. Alabama did punch us in the face during the second half, but we just had to stand our ground and keep pushing and not giving up throughout the whole game to get the win."
On what this win means:
"It's one of the best memories I have with this program. It's a really big confidence booster because sometimes, throughout the preseason and everything, we were wondering if we had a lot of pieces to our puzzle. Our poise and maturity, it's all blossoming big time this year."
