Head Coach Nancy Winstel

On defeating Missouri-St. Louis…
“I felt we had a very sloppy first half. UMSL had everything to gain, so you knew they were going to come after us, and they did and we were sloppy. I didn’t think we played very good defense. We weren’t executing, and sometimes on a senior day everybody wants to play well and it is real emotional. But, we just stunk it up in the first half to be honest with you. I hate to say that but we did.”

“I was not happy at halftime, and I let them know exactly how I felt. We came out, and we did a much better job in the second half. We established our defensive intensity. We moved the ball on offense. We put the press on. Elizabeth (Burrows) thought it would be a good idea to press. As far as I’m concerned, I wasn’t so sure if we were going to guard anybody let alone press. But she convinced me that the press would probably be a good thing. When (Burrows) tells me something, I usually listen, especially when it works.”

“It was a nice opportunity in the second half to give a chance to everybody to play. On a day like this, you want everybody to play and everybody wants to play and wants to play well. I thought that everybody played well in spots.”

On halftime changes…
“We just talked about guarding some people because if we didn’t guard anybody, we were going to get beat. And, we just talked about executing. I told them. The three things we try to do every game is play solid defense, take care of the ball and not get outrebounded. In the first half, we didn’t play any defense, didn’t take care of the ball and we got outrebounded, and that’s why we were losing by ten. When those things happen, we’re in trouble. If you look at our losses, that is why they’ve happened. This team, I love them, but they frustrate me because of our lack of consistent intensity.”

On the conference tournament…
“I think we are two different teams. I think if the team that gets after it like they did against Quincy shows up, then we have a chance to win it. If the team that showed up in the first half today of this game shows up, we’ll be headed home real fast. It’s a challenge that we have. How bad do you want it? You’ve got to want it more than the next team. I think some days we want it really, really bad. Then, some days I don’t know if we are so sure. It’s not that we don’t want it, but I’m just don’t know if we are so sure. It’s just a challenge that we have every day.”

Connie Myers

On the team’s second half performance…
“I really think when we came out in the press, it kind of helped us pick up our defense.”

On how teams have adjusted to her recent free-throw shooting…
“I don’t think it really makes a difference. I mean, maybe they aren’t going to go foul me in a critical situation in a close game.”

On her four assists…
“I think today I really felt like our post-to-post was working well. I was finding our open post player down there. I know I found Karmen a couple of times, and I think it was just staying in our plays and reversing the ball and then looking at the basket at the right time.”

On the team’s recent slow starts…
“We’re going to have to figure that out.”

Elizabeth Burrows

On the team’s slow start…
“It’s just a struggle for us to get that far back, and we have to work so much harder to get back into it. It’s a big struggle. For the tournament, we are going to have to figure out how to get the intensity from the start of the game. We want to. It’s not a matter of want, it’s matter of making it happen.”

On everyone getting to play…
“It’s unbelievable. They players we have can play, and we’re a team. When everyone is out there and everyone is playing that just makes us so much stronger and we have that many more weapons.”

On the turning point in the second half…
“We started pressing. We’ve been flat-footed, but the whole first half our defensive intensity didn’t get us started and it should have. Our defense just wasn’t there. Then, when we turn up our defense, then our offense starts to come up. I think that’s what happened. We just turned up our intensity on defense.”