Feb. 23, 2002
Arizona State Head Coach Charli Turner Thorne:
"I think it's hard when we had good looks in transition, but we just didn't finish. It's hard because we're the top defensive team in the conference and we didn't play like it. You have to know when you're on the road, you're not going to get calls. Especially in postseason play, nothing gets called. And we're going to be on the road."
"(It was a) disappointing game. Obviously, we got into some foul trouble and needed some people to step up."
"The biggest lesson is in the postseason we will not get calls. We'll have to do a better job at keeping our composure."
"The two keys to the game were rebounding and transition defense. We worked on that all week. It's very disappointing."
"We talked about this incessantly. We needed to make the extra pass. And we didn't get out there today and do that."
"I saw us letting up, not playing consistently. I do think UA played well, they had their backs against the wall. It says something about their team that they can play with some pressure on them."
"We've got to get back to what we do and playing to our strengths, which we didn't do today."
"We definitely play how we practice."
"We're hoping Alexis (Tate) can blossom a little bit down the stretch and in the postseason. She just needs to keep working on her defense. I think Alexis had a solid week of practice."
"We weren't the hungrier team. But I don't want to take too much away from our players. We need to get back to playing some tough defense for 40 minutes."
Arizona Head Coach Joan Bonvicini
"Our team really wanted to win today. Arizona State is a fine team and a good program that prides itself on defense. We made some adjustments today that really worked well for us."
"After our last game against them (ASU), one of their players made a comment that Arizona doesn't like to play defense. I took that comment personally, and we really worked hard on our defense in practice this week."
"We did a much better job running our offense today. We were able to get a few back door and lob plays in the paint."
"They (ASU) did a good job today on Elizabeth (Pickney), but LaKiesha (Taylor) and Krista (Warren) really stepped up their game and did an excellent job for us inside."
On match-up against Arizona State in the Pac-10 tournament...
"Records go out the window when we play ASU in the (Pac-10) tournament. It is all about putting it all on the line and winning."
"ASU will probably be favored coming into the game, but I feel we have a good team. Our goal now is to play consistent and get a few wins in the Pac-10 tournament."
"Our game at ASU was the worst game we played all year. They (ASU) put a lot of pressure on us and took us out of our game."
"We started to play better after that loss at ASU and the trip to Oregon. I'm very proud of our team. Our players have stuck together and have shown a lot of heart this year."
Player Quotes
Arizona State Senior Guard Amanda Levens:
"We should've had more energy. We played hard, but we were flat. We were just flat. The difference is that we had to pick it up and play aggressively, we have to learn from this and come out harder."
"We have had a few games like this one on the road. Every time we say we have to learn, but we are running out of time. We don't have the luxury of that, our season will be over."
"We had high expectations for this year. We feel that we are better this year and sometimes we don't play like that."
Arizona State Senior Center Melody Johnson:
"It's not frustrating when other things open up, and we can make shots from other areas. It is frustrating when they clog everything. It is difficult to position myself."
"Even with four fouls I try to be aggressive."
Arizona Senior Center LaKeisha Taylor:
"It made it really special because our families were here and we had our fans. We get great support and that made it more special."
"Before tip-off I was really emotional, but I had to compose myself. Then I played my game."
Arizona Sophomore Guard Aimee Gryzb:
"We had to play good defense. When they pressured us, we pressured them."
Arizona Junior Forward/Guard Krista Warren:
"ASU and SC (Southern California) are definitely challenging, physical games."