Postgame Quotes

Nov. 14, 2012

Head Coach Sherri Coale

Opening statement:
"I'm disappointed with our effort and our response to the physical play. If that's the way they're going to play then we have to adjust to it, and we have to fight back and be just as physical as they're being. I didn't think we responded in the right way. You don't beat anybody when you give up 24 offensive rebounds; it's just a number that's unheard of. At halftime, 23 of their points were from offensive rebounds, that is us beating ourselves. All of this stems from the physicality, on the ball and away from the ball. We couldn't make a pass; we couldn't enter to the post. We just didn't adapt very well and it affected every phase of the game."

On the minus-22 rebounding margin:
"I felt like it was not responding to the physical play."

On the offensive play:
"Again, when were able to get out and transition that's when Vegas (Aaryn Ellenberg) got out and got most of her shots. If you can't get out in transition, it's just a circle you chase yourself in. I'm just disappointed in our response."

On the up-tempo play of the second half:
"We were trying to put it on the floor. They had a kid in foul trouble that we thought we could attack. Also, the recipe to alleviate all that pressure is to put the ball on the floor and get to the rim. The problem was when we missed, we couldn't get an offensive rebound, we only had eight. We didn't shoot it that poorly we just didn't get any second chance attempts. Our posts have to be tons tougher."

Senior Guard Whitney Hand

On UCLA's physical play:
"As a team, we didn't get ourselves ready for that, and that's on us. We were just soft. We've played teams before like Texas A&M who are 20 times more physical than they are. We just didn't respond well.

"There's no excuse for it. We weren't in the right state of mind and that's evident in how the game went. Had Aaryn [Ellenberg]seven 3s, we would have been down by 40. It's not even that we were playing great in the first half, it's just that she was on fire. In the second half she cooled off a little bit and they took her transition away."

Junior Guard Aaryn Ellenberg

On how she felt while hitting 6-for-6 3-pointers in the first half:
"I don't really know the exact words for it. When we're out running and I get the ball, I'm going to try to shoot it. I was making them and just feeling good, I guess."

On the second half comeback:
"Obviously, we felt like we were going to get there. We started making some baskets and we start playing a little tougher; driving the baskets and getting fouls."

UCLA Head Coach Cori Close

Opening statement:
"I want to give a tremendous compliment. I am proud of this win because of the respect that we have for Coach Coale and her team. They showed so much resolve to come back in the second half. I have so much respect for their offensive efficiency and for the purpose which they play with. I wanted to play some other defenses, but I just respected their versatility too much. This means a lot to us because Oklahoma is such a great program. They're a tremendous team, and they will be a NCAA Regional team or higher this year. Obviously, it means a lot to us because we earned a good win against a very, very good team."

On rebounding:
"As much as I'm thrilled about out-rebounding them by 22, I love the mentality that it showed in our team. They weren't just rebounds that were easy. They were on free-throw box outs that are what we call out-of-area rebounds where we had to chase down a far loose ball. It was how the rebounds came about that I thought were just tremendous in terms of our mentality. Whitney Hand's a great rebounder -- all their posts -- [Joanna] McFarland -- they have so many great rebounders, so we knew it had to be about will. Relentlessness and will are what rebounding's all about. I think it showed a lot about our heart and mentality."

On being able to score inside:
"That was one of our three keys to the game was to attack them inside. We have so many different weapons, and we played big for a long time with [Atonye] Nyingifa, [Markel] Walker, [Jasmine] Dixon and [Alyssia] Brewer. I just thought we had so many opportunities to get inside touches that that had to be a major priority for us. I thought our attacks off the dribble in some very key moments were huge. Against San Diego State, in our home opener, I thought we settled for jumpers a lot. We took the quick and easy ones. I thought tonight we were really in the hunt for that attack shot. We wanted to have that attack mentality inside. We are tough to match up with on that front line."

Players Mentioned

Aaryn Ellenberg

Whitney Hand

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Aaryn Ellenberg

Whitney Hand

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