Pitt Women's Basketball Postgame Quotes
11/26/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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Head coach Suzie McConnell-Serio
On rough start in the first quarter:
“I thought we came out a little flat. I don’t know if that had anything to do with Thanksgiving day off, or if we don’t have enough players to even go live. It got out of sync in our preparation against Cornell. They are a very good team and usually their defense is good at causing turnovers. We got adjusted into their style of play and how they were going to defend us. Our decision making wasn’t where it needed to be with making shots and making the right passes. We needed to settle down and it took Cornell’s first punch for us to respond and to execute. A lot of times when we run quick hitters, they flow into our motion offense and we became very stagnant in our ball movement. We need to be more active.”
On Pitt’s scoring defense:
“I was pleased with our defense, mixing between our three defense and our man-to-man. I think we did a lot of good things. We threw a number of players at Nia Marshall and she found ways to score and get to the free throw line. She did better in person than what I anticipated from watching her on film. They are a good team and they made us work defensively. We did some good things on the defensive end. We have been able to create an offense from our defense. I don’t know if that has happened as much as I would like today, but we will take the win. We’re 6-0, so I’ll take it. I told the team that I feel like we lost with the way I feel right now. My expectations for the team are so much higher offensively than what they’ve done so far. I’ve seen them do it. Only putting 56 points on the board is disappointing to me because I know we are capable of more.”
On having the best season start since 2009:
“We’ve been comfortable at home. We have a couple more games at home before we hit the road. That’s what we need to do is learn to protect our home court. It feels good to win. Our players are enjoying winning. I hope that is what they expect when they walk onto the floor. That’s what we prepare for, is to be successful. We know that we have to give our best every single time we step on the court. We are not a team that can take a night off. When certain players struggle the team as a whole struggles. We need contribution from everybody.”
On upcoming game Wednesday against Purdue:
“It will be our biggest challenge. Purdue has kind of been up-and-down so far. It is a rivalry anytime you are playing to represent your conference. We have to be ready to play. Purdue is a very good team. We need to play our game and we will prepare the same way. Mentally and physically we need to have ourselves ready for that game. There is a lot of excitement in the ACC vs. Big Ten Challenge; hopefully we are ready and confident when we come out to play on Wednesday night.”
Pitt Guard Aysia Bugg
On resilience from a slow start:
“With Cornell, that was probably the toughest team we’ve seen so far. I knew that in order to produce as a team, I have to make an aggressive and conscious effort to really score for my team.”
On settling down after early turnovers:
“Just calming our team down and knowing what we’re capable of doing. It was just realizing that it was just the first quarter and we needed to get the jitters out and do what we know how to do.”
On her buzzer beater at the end of the third quarter:
“I didn’t think I had enough time to even get it off, so I rushed it. But, thankful it went in.”
On how it feels to be 6-0:
“It feels great. It was a tough one today but I’m hoping we can build off of this and get ready for Purdue next.”