Baylor, UCLA Postgame Quotes
11/14/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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2/4 BAYLOR 84 (2-0), 9/9 UCLA 70 (1-1)
Monday, Nov. 14, 2016
Ferrell Center (Waco, Texas)
Attendance: 5,995
BAYLOR POSTGAME QUOTES
Baylor Head Coach Kim Mulkey
On if that's what she expected from Kalani Brown...
"Yes. Kalani was one of the guys in the Oregon State game at the end of the year that wasn't afraid to get in there and bang with you. That's why she stayed on the floor."
On conditioning of the team with using only five players in the second half...
"I don't like to do that, but you go with the flow of a game. Let's start with Kalani. I think Kalani can see that twenty pounds she took off allow her to guard an athletic-type post player and allowed her to stay on the floor longer. Our kids looked good late in the game."
On Kristy Wallace playing all forty minutes and her defense...
"Well Kristy is your energizer bunny. She's always going to be bouncing around and moving. Look, we are big and I have got so many talented post players, but we're going to go as Kristy and Jones go."
Sophomore Center Kalani Brown
On feeling after losing twenty pounds...
"My game has elevated. I feel good conditioning wise, running up and down the floor, being able to take off."
On her game and the second half...
"Well, one of the things we did to slow them down was go to the offensive boards. I remember her saying that in practice so in my mind I thought, 'Just keep going to the offensive boards and then getting back in transition.' And it worked for us."
Senior Forward Nina Davis
On if Kalani's stats surprised her tonight...
"It doesn't. She's an incredible player. She does have a year under her belt, so now she's experienced, she's more relaxed out there, and as I said, she's put in the work in the offseason and it's all starting to pay off for her now."
On what it's like to have talented players around her that can carry a load...
"It's fun. That's what makes us such an incredible team, we are hard to guard. Everyone out here can score and you have to respect each and every one of our games. So with that type of depth I believe we can go far."
UCLA POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA Head Coach Cori Close
On matching up with Baylor à ¢Ã¢' ¬ ¦
"Credit to Baylor. Their experience, depth on the inside, their purpose in the second half - they out-toughed us in the second half both on the rebounds and their game planning. They knew exactly who they wanted to get touches for, and they were relentless about doing that. I thought Alexis Jones did a great job at controlling the ball and getting late shot clock opportunities for the team. Obviously, Kalani Brown was a handful, and she deserves a lot of credit. I'm very proud of my team. I know that they will learn from this. I believe in this team. We got some things exposed in our defensive rebounding and our teamwork. We needed to have better teamwork. We knew that if we made this a one-on-one game, then it would play into Baylor's hands. In that second half, we didn't screen as well. We didn't move the ball as well, and we relied too much on one-on-one play, and we will learn from that. All the credit to Baylor. They showed great experience and poise. I hope we get to play them again."
On the team's first loss à ¢Ã¢' ¬ ¦
"As much as I'm frustrated with our offense in the second half, we still scored 70 points. You're just not going to beat the No. 2 team in the country on their home floor allowing them 84 points. A lot of those came on second opportunities, and our big thing on any defense that we play is you've got to force them into one hard shot. That second shot goes up to 70 percent usually. I just think that toughness inside was the difference in the game."
Junior Guard Jordin Canada
On the second half à ¢Ã¢' ¬ ¦
"Credit to Baylor. They came out in the second half, and they punched first. Coach talked about before the game that we had to come out and punch first, and that's what we did in the first half. We played together as a unit collectively. We knew where we wanted to go with the ball. In the second half, we kind of just played one-on-one basketball. That's not who we are as a team, and that's why they came back."
On learning from this top-10 matchup à ¢Ã¢' ¬ ¦
"We've got to be more aggressive. We've got to learn to maintain what we have and the lead and knowing how to play together in the second half. That's what separated (Baylor) in the second half from us. They learned how to play together. They knew who they wanted to go to, and that's what we got away from."
