Post-Game Quotes
2/16/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 16, 2011
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
Pitt vs. Providence Quotes 2.15.11
Quoting Coach Agnus Berenato
On this game’s importance
“The game was a must-win for us. We played like it was a must-win. I said to the team yesterday that we and Providence were tied, but the end of forty minutes we would have to separate . I asked them, “Who was going to do it,” and it came down to the forty minutes. I felt like the first six to seven minutes of the game we were so anxious. We were throwing the ball away and missing layups. I haven’t seen us play like that in a long time, but I thought that it was nerves.
On the comeback
I think the team understands now that they can play. It’s the second time we came back from eleven down to win. For us, this was a really big win. We had to have this win.
On the play of Chelsea Cole and Taneisha Harrison
I can’t say enough about Chelsea Cole. She had another double-double. I just thought she was amazing tonight. She was everywhere. She did a great job offensively and defensively. Taneisha Harrison was again terrific. In the first half she really was struggling with her shot. A lot of time that gets her down, but I said to her ‘we have a lot of freshmen playing. You’re our Energizer bunny. You have to take us through this.’ For her to get twenty points and nine rebounds in thirty-nine minutes is amazing. She also had four assists. You look at Chelsea’s stats – thirteen points, thirteen rebounds, one turnover, two blocks and four steals – in forty minutes.
On the roles of the freshmen
I can’t say enough about our freshmen. I thought Yazmin [Fuller] and Marquel [Davis] were terrific. It’s the second game in a row when Yazmin has drew a foul and made two three throws with under seven seconds left – she also did it against South Florida. They’re the future. [As a coach], I think you have to have the courage to play your future.
On finally playing like a team
We had to play for February. It’s not a secret that we had a really tough schedule. For us, we had to weather the storm in December and January and make it here. We had a lot of adversity , but I feel like [the players] are all taking each other under their wings. Jania didn’t have the greatest game tonight, but Yazmin stepped up under her guidance at the point. Everyone was confident with Yazmin. We used Marquel defensively, and everyone was confident with her. Shayla had a great defensive rebound at the end of the game. It was critical that she got that rebound. All in all, I think the team fired them up.
Quoting Chelsea Cole
On blowing the lead late
I think we had a few mental lapses. When we had the lead we got too excited and started turning the ball over, but then we weathered the storm by getting stops and scoring.
On the seniors being the leaders to the freshmen
That’s the big thing this year. As seniors, we have to be the leaders and show the freshmen what they have to do in order to be successful. We seniors have been to the Sweet Sixteen, so we know what it’s like to be in the tournament. We want to take them [there] so they know what it’s like and the success continues after we’re gone.