Head Coach Tina Thompson

Opening Statement:

“This was a tough one for us tonight. Especially coming off of two tough wins where we kind of grinded it out. We lacked discipline in this game tonight and American was just a lot more disciplined than we were. We have to have resistance and be able to kind of do the same things over and over again consistently, especially when you know a team is so specific about what it is that they do and what it is that they’re looking for offensively. We show up every night and we work hard, but sometimes it’s the intelligence that we’re lacking in our work and that’s just not on the shoulders of our kids, but us as well. We have to continue to work and be intentional about what it is that we’re doing when we’re out there on the floor and be consistent in that.”

On American’s success from the three point line:

“We knew coming into this game that they were a three point shooting team and they have a number of players, probably about seven or eight of them, that consistently shoot their three point shots. So it required us not to just guard their cuts, but also then get back up and guard the three point line. But that work, again, requires a certain level of work but also discipline and knowing personnel and just kind of understanding our schemes. Not just necessarily guarding your man individually, but being able to help your teammates and then have a second effort. It’s something that we talked about throughout the game, but it’s a matter of us being able to do so consistently.”

On her messages to the team heading into the fourth quarter:

“That we’re not gonna give in, we’re gonna fight as long as there’s time left on the clock. We just have to have that fight from the start at the beginning of the game and not dig ourselves a hole. It takes a lot of effort to come back from behind and then to build a lead or be consistent and just that kind of work and that extra effort you have to take to get back. When you start with that you put yourself in a better position in the game so little mistakes seem ginormous when you are trying to climb back into a game. Our starts have to be different not just in the first quarter but in the third quarter also.”

Guard, Amandine Toi:

On getting back in a flow when the team falls out of rhythm

“I think we try to stick together and start with defense. I think Defense for us is really important. I think we focus on the defense and try to get stop after stop to get the momentum on offense.”