Jan. 5, 2008

Recap |  Box Score

Q: On preparation for the game...
A: I thought it was critical coming into the game. Coming into this game, we talked about it a lot. We really wanted to push ten-fold. We wanted to get out and score in transition. We played four guards, and one way we can get the easy shots is to score transition. So that was definitely a focal point of our preparation.

Q: On playing Allyssa DeHaan...
A: It is almost a cliché. I look at the stats and she has a double-double. I felt like she hit some really big baskets and it is really tough to guard her, and you spend so much time in practice preparing for her. She is a really good player but I felt we did a good job of making her shoot tough shots. She scored 14 points, but I felt she had to work pretty hard to get them.

Q: On your first season in the Big Ten...
A: I think it's a very competitive conference and I think this year in particular, only six coaches have been in the conference for the past two years or so. Every night I think we are going to have games like this where it is just nip and tuck, where it is going to come down to the last four or five minutes of the game. At Notre Dame we played a lot of Big Ten teams so I felt fairly familiar with the conference and coming into some of these different arenas. I've been here before as an assistant coach so it's not as new of an experience as if I had gone into a different conference where I hadn't played as many teams as I have coming into the Big Ten.

Q: On there not being any favorite teams this year...
A: I just think that we are three games into the conference season and no one is undefeated. I think that speaks loudly about the competitiveness. The ability to go on the road is going to be key for the team that rises to the top. For us to be able to come in here and get this win this early in the season is a really good thing for us.