Fifth-year senior guard Susan King Borchardt
On playing with Candice Wiggins
“Candice is just a really special freshman, kind of in that she isn't one.
She's very intense, very competitive and a big part of our team. She
starts it all on defense. She's a very big part of our team.”
On playing Connecticut
“Obviously our team knows this is a great traditional program. They've had
a lot of success the past few years. But I think we are really focused on
ourselves. We want to play great Stanford basketball and do the things
we've done throughout the year to win games. We know it is going to be a
great matchup, but we're focused on ourselves.”
On Connecticut's mystique
“I think that we know that they've had a lot of success the past few years.
They've been doing all the hard work to make that happen. I don't think
that you could say that there isn't a mystique about them, but our team is
really focused on ourselves. We just really going to come out and play
hard. It will be exciting for women's basketball.”
Senior forward T'Nae Thiel
On the status of her foot
“I'm clear to play tomorrow. I've been doing scouting reports and
walk-through stuff at practice. It feels good. I'm excited to get
out there.”
On playing with hesitation
“It's hard not to have a little bit of hesitation about it because I haven't
played on it. I've only been doing limited things in practice.
There's not really any room for hesitation now - we're in the Sweet 16. I
feel very good, and I'm just going to trust my instincts and just go.”
On playing Connecticut
“I think we are just very excited because we do know how successful Connecticut
has been. It is just a really exciting game for us, and we just want to
come out and play well.”
Head Coach Tara VanDerveer
Opening Statement
“We had a great week of practice. We had a lot to work on for our very
important game tomorrow. We are looking forward to playing tomorrow
night.”
What are your points of practice this week?
“We were looking at what Connecticut does, and how its offense is set and what
they like to do. We were also looking at their strengths and how they
attack on offense. Our team has worked really hard to incorporate their
game plan.”
Update on injured senior forward T'Nae Thiel
“She does walk through and she will play tomorrow, and that is great news for
us.”
The play of freshman Candice Wiggins
“She is very talented and came out of a very strong high school program.
She had a lot of good things working for her. She played on the junior
national team, and they played the same style of offense we do. She came
into this season with a little bit of a head start.”
Connecticut junior forward Barbara Turner
On a constant in Connecticut's losses
“The one constant was turnovers. Every game that we have won this year we
haven't turned the ball over a lot. Our offense flowed better.
Something that is consistent is that our defense has always been there. It
has just been a matter of us clicking offensively. That is the obvious
difference.”
On any possible edge over Stanford
“Stanford is a really solid team. Everybody is capable of having a great
game. Our team is going to have to focus on the fact that we have to play
well, too. They are physical. They get a lot of things done and have
great post players.”
Connecticut junior guard/forward Ann Strother
“I think that if we are all on the same page, we will be tough to beat.
The last couple days of practice, we have all been really confident and been on
the same page.”
On being in an underdog role
“The first day you sign a Letter of Intent to Connecticut, I don't think you
ever look at yourself in an underdog position. I don't think we look too
much at what the rest of the world thinks about us. I think we want that
competition.”
Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma
Opening Statement
“As we were coming out here, we were thinking about how each and every year
these two games are probably the most difficult games that you need to win -
certainly this year when you think about the level of competition that's out
here. It's probably more difficult than any other time that we've
experienced in the last 10 years. I think we have our work cut out for us,
obviously, but we're also playing our best basketball of the year, and it
couldn't have come at a better time. I think everyone is pretty much
anxious to go.”
On facing a team like Stanford in the Sweet 16
“We've played some really interesting teams. One of them was Penn State a
couple of years ago, with the same group that ended up being really good as
seniors. I remember one regional semifinal we played North Carolina State
in 1991; they were the best team in the country and that was probably the best
game we played in the Tournament. In all the times I've been here, I don't
remember a lot of teams that were ranked number one in the country.”
On Willnett Crockett
“She started off the season playing really well this year; I think she spent a
lot of time over the summer getting ready. Then she struggled, and
traditionally when Willnett struggles, it tends to get the best of her for a
while. It's not one of those issues where she's able to bounce back after
a game or two. Generally speaking, and not just in March, in most of the
big games we play she seems to play her best basketball. She may only have
10 games in her tank all year long - four spread out throughout the course of
the season and six in the NCAA Tournament - and that's it. It's better
that we try to get the six in, in March, than the six in January. Right?”
On the physical game and the Sweet 16
“The reason I think these [games] are difficult is because the player
themselves, and the coaches too, put such a premium on getting to the Final
Four, and these are the games that get you to the Final Four. Kids get
crazy over this weekend. Sometimes they play their best basketball;
sometimes they play themselves out of it. How physical will it be? I
don't know. We played Arizona State the last two years and they are an
unbelievably physical team. So if that is the way they play in the Pac-10,
I would think it is going to be a very physical game.”
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