University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Postgame Quotes
March 17, 2000 | Women's Basketball
First-Round Quotes
UCLA head coach Kathy Olivier
On the George Washington defense: "George Washington is a very good team. I have a lot of respect for Joe [McKeown]. He is a very good defensive coach. They were swarming us most of the night looking to trap and really packing it in. They were doing good things defensively, things that we struggled with all year."
On her team's play at the beginning of the game: "Early on we were a little nervous. We didn't really start playing until a good six minutes into the game. That obviously hurt us. Any time you give a team a big lead like that it is hard to come back and do what we did."
On her team's play in the second half: "I give our team a lot of credit. I think that we never said 'die'. We chipped away for a long, long time. I think we got it within four and kind of let it go after that."
On her admiration for her team: "I love this basketball team. I have said that through the whole year even though it has been an up and down year. We have had a lot of injuries but they really came through. They are a great, great group of women, who I have a lot of respect for. I hope that the underclassmen learned a lot , which I would think they did. I am sad that it had to end the way it did."
UCLA freshman guard Nicole Kaczmarski
On disappointment of not advancing: "I think it is disappointing because they are a great group of girls. I consider myself very lucky to have come into this situation and to get a chance ot play with Gomez, Janae, all of them. I think it stinks that we had to go out like this."
UCLA senior forward Marlana Martin
On tonight's game: "I think the first 17 minutes, we came out really flat and we were not really attacking on offense. I think at the end of the first half we got on a run. We went in at halftime down 13. We came out and played pretty much the same way we did at the end of the first half. They didn't get too far ahead of us. About half way through there we just started playing UCLA basketball again. We got to within two and then I don't know what happened. We gave up a couple buckets. I think [Elisa] Aguilar hit an open three."
On her team's problems in the first half: "I don't think it was so much stuff that they were doing as it was stuff that we weren't doing. We weren't attacking. We weren't rebounding very well. We weren't getting second attempts.We were stagnant offensely. Even if we played perfect defensively that is still going to mess us up if we are not scoring and they are scoring even half the time. That means that they are going to get ahead of us."
George Washington head coach Joe McKeown
Opening comments: "Just want to congratulate UCLA, when we had a good chance to put them away they battled hard in the second half and made it a great basketball game. I was really proud of our team, how we held up the last four minutes and made some big plays. I am a little concerned we put ourselves in that position after having an 18 or 19 point lead. As everyone knows, in this tournament you survive and move on. I am not going to worry about the turnovers and shots against UCLA. I am going to worry about figuring out how we can win the next game Sunday night. I am really excited for our team and very proud."
On the big plays Elisa Aguilar contributed late in the game: "She is a clutch player. In the tournament last year she scored 31 points and held Kelly Miller, who is a first-team All-American, to eight points. I was a little disappointed she didn't make some of the All-American teams that are out there. Tonight she showed what a great player she is. She is just now hitting her stride. She has been our leader and she is the one we want with the ball at the end."
On the way the team closed out the last few minutes of the game: "When you have seniors like Starr Jefferson who is a 60 percent free throw shooter during the game but 80 percent with the game on the line, or Elisa (Aguilar) hitting clutch threes when she had to, that helps. I thought we lost our composure at the end and that is not something we usually do. I am a little frustrated right now, because we are not that kind of team. I was proud of the way we held up. UCLA made a great run, knocking down threes, hitting them off the shot clock, you wouldn't want to play them in H-O-R-S-E tonight."
Senior guard Elisa Aguilar
On her momentum-changing three point field goal late in the second half: "We were barely ahead at this moment, I think four or five points up. I though number 34 (UCLA's Janae Hubbard) was a good player and I had to make the three, because if I went to the basket I would have a big problem. So I shot and made it."
Senior forward Starr Jefferson
On feeling any sympathy for the UCLA players in their last game: "I can definitely sympathize. All the seniors talked about this being our last game so we are happy to win. I can also imagine their (UCLA's) let-down right now."
On the effectiveness of GW's defense in the first half: "We have been working all week since we learned on Sunday we were going to play UCLA. Coaches were calling us and telling us what we had to do to beat UCLA. We knew we had to pressure them all over the place. Pressure (Maylana) Martin, pressure (Erica) Gomez to break up their tandem. They play very well together. We knew we had to be aggressive for 40 minutes. It was one of our keys to be all over the place."
Junior forward Kristeena Alexander
On the problems UCLA's defense forced: "They are probably one of the only teams that have pressured us and trapped us outside the three point line for more than two or three possessions. For awhile there, they were pressing us pretty hard."
On the feeling of her first NCAA tournament victory and continuing the streak of GW success in the first round: "I won't lie. I knew that GW has a history of winning the first game in the tournament. I really can't put it into words how I feel right now. I am excited, of course, that we won. I know this is not enough. One, two, three games is not enough, I want to go all the way."
