Postgame Quotes: Alabama vs. UT Martin
12/4/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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Alabama Head Coach Kristy Curry
Opening statement:
"I was very pleased with our team's energy tonight and finding a way to win. It was certainly a better feeling in the locker room than it was a year ago. It's a good win for us. It's that seventh win and that's as many as we had in non-conference play a year ago. There were a lot of positives as we head into the weekend. We're excited about playing the Nebraska team on Sunday."
On getting big points from different people tonight:
"Sometimes we get caught standing and wanting Ashley (Williams) to do everything, so it's great to see more balance; that's something in practice that we really emphasize. We can't be a one man show, so it's about balance. The thing with Ashley is that she did much better the second half, she got on the floor for a loose ball and she found ways to get open. It was her energy the second half, she responded well and the kids around her responded well. There is a lot more to us than just Ashley."
On if the team is getting a bigger confidence level:
"Definitely. It's such a great group of kids - I know that most coaches say that - but it's a really neat group of kids that work extremely hard. They want to do well, they are low-maintenance, and we have not had any trouble away from the gym. They are really committed to trying to do the right thing every day, with or without the ball. It's been refreshing, it's a different culture. I would say that our culture is improved from a year ago, our work ethic is improved, our poise is improved, and our commitment is improved. It is something that is important as we build a program."
#11 Hannah Cook, Guard
On if she felt early on that she would have a good game:
"I did, but I owe that to my team. Getting open from the kick-out, I have to do my job and make a shot."
#13 Nikki Hegstetter, Forward
On the composure and balance of the team:
"The balance, first of all, is one of our key strengths, especially with four players in double-figures. That's really going to help us in the SEC when it comes to conference games. As far as answering their runs, that's through maturity. We are a young team, and we are more mature than we sometimes act off the court. We take one stop at a time, with a defensive stop and convert with our offensive stops. Our defense really runs our offense, so I think by having that mindset - 'next play, next step, next shot' - that helps us get back in the game."
On feeling pressure to help Ashley Williams:
"We got her back, she knows we do. Some nights they are on, some nights they aren't. Like Coach Curry said, she really stepped up in the second half. She was getting rebounds, and she takes charge really well. It's just if one player isn't on, we have her back. That's just how it is."
UT Martin Head Coach Kevin McMillan
Opening statement:
"(It was) ugly. That was a college basketball game with 47 turnovers. I thought (Hannah) Cook played well for them. (Karyla) Middlebrook has been playing better than she's been playing. I thought we did a really good job (guarding) Ashley Williams. We kept turning the ball over. On offense, we couldn't find anybody. Nobody could do anything consistently, and we couldn't get the job done. We had three kids foul out. That's kind of what I saw."
On stopping Ashley Williams:
"That's what we prepared to do. We wanted to take two things away. One was (stopping) Williams. The other was Cook. We did a good job at one and an awful job on the other. She (Williams) is so good at the basket. We just had to take away her angles and opportunities off the dribble. So, all the good things in the first half were our efforts to stop her. I thought by and large (that we did) good. We had a chance to take control. We had control of the game late in the first half. Every time I called something, we turned the ball over. Maybe I should just sit down and shut my mouth. Yeah, mostly everything we did was to stop her (Williams)."
On the back and forth game:
"We weren't scoring. We didn't score enough. It was feast or famine. Either you're going to win the game, or you're going to make it look worse than it was. We're not in this for moral victories. We're not going somewhere and saying 'Hey we played someone to seven (points).' The game was in that mode. We decided that something has to give. We decided to speed up play. We tried to create scoring opportunities, but it didn't work out very well."
On the turnovers:
"We would just turn the ball over in weird, weird ways. Nobody would be guarding us, and we would just throw the ball away. We played the ball, turned to a wing then dribbled out of the sideline. We did stuff that you can't do. We can't overcome 31 points to 12 on turnovers. There is the game for you. We can't overcome 33 free throws to 12. We can't overcome a 21-point deficit at the foul line. Pick a key stat and we didn't win it. We won the bench 10 to one. That was the positive we can take from the game."
