George Washington University Athletics
Colonials Prepare For NCAA First Round Clash
3/16/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
George Washington Press Conference Quotes
Head Coach Joe McKeown On returning to the NCAA tournament:
"I'm excited for our program to be back in the NCAA tournament. Last year we
took a year off and rested, we're very well rested. We're excited to be here
and to play a great team like UCLA in the first round. It's what the NCAA
tournament is all about. We look forward to it. We have a very difficult
matchup in the first round, but at this time of the year everybody is going to
be good. Might as well play them in the first round. It should be a lot of
fun. I think we have a great bracket here with a lot of good basketball
teams."
On first-round opponent UCLA:
"They have tremendous talent. They have five starters back from a team that
went to the final eight last year - a game away from the Final Four. We have
tremendous respect for them. Maylana Martin is probably as good as any player
in the country that we've played against all year. Janae Hubbard presents
really tough matchup problems for any team. (Erica) Gomez is one of the most
talented point guards that we'll play against all year. The problem with UCLA
is that they have so many weapons. You think that if you shut one down that
you'll be O.K., but they can hurt you in a lot of different ways. And they're
a big, strong, physical team. And we're not. We're a quick, open-floor finesse
team. "Power-finesse", if that's a word."
"They look a little bit like Rutgers in a way, in that Rutgers makes you play half-court and they take advantage of their zone and their size. I'm not sure that we've played anybody though that has the physical presence and the talent of a Martin, Hubbard, that front line."
"They (UCLA) might be the best 10 seed in the history of women's basketball. You're going to see Maylana Martin and Janae Hubbard in the WNBA. They have tremendous experience. They haven't clicked all the time, but they can walk on the floor and beat anybody in the country."
On GW's guard play:
"For us that's our lifeline. When they play well we're a very good basketball
team, we're very dangerous. We have three or four of the best guards in the
country, and when they're at their best we're really hard to beat. That's what
we're really going to have to really step up tomorrow night."
On UCLA freshman Nicole Kaczmarski:
"I wished she would have stayed on the East coast. She was the national high
school player of the year for good reason. She's tremendously talented. When
she plays for UCLA, because of Martin, because of Hubbard a little bit, she
gets a lot of open shots and she's just really dangerous. She'a a great
one-on-one player. I know like a lot of freshmen she's been a little up and
down this year at times. We just hope she's down tomorrow. She's real
explosive. She reminds me of Cathy Joens. They're very similar type players.
Cathy was not as highly touted as Nicole was in high school, but can have the
same impact in a game. Kaczmarski, man she can score from anywhere. She's kind
of fun to watch, but not tomorrow I hope."
On GW's Kristeena Alexander:
"Kristeena has had a huge impact on our team this year. With Marlo (Egleston)
and Elisa (Aguilar) she gives us three point guards on the floor at the same
time, at times. In big games, Kristeena has just made big shot after big shot.
When we beat NCAA tournament teams like St. Joe's and Xavier, when we beat
Rutgers, Arkansas, games like that, the really big games, the last three or
four minutes of the game she just really tremendous, made big plays. It's her
first NCAA tournament. She transferred to GW hoping that she could play in
March. Fortunately it's worked out."
On GW being 7-0 in the first round of the NCAA tournament:
"Every team is different that you bring to the NCAA tournament. I don't
remember playing at UCLA in the first round though. We've played some good
teams, DePaul, and we beat Georgia in 1998 when Elisa (Aguilar) had 35 points,
I think. She played as good a game as I've seen in a long time. Actually, this
reminds me of the first round game we had two years ago against Georgia. I
don't have any magic formula for the first round. I wish I did - I could sell
it to coaches. I just think we've been fortunate. We've always been playing
well coming into the tournament. I think that helps - you get a little
momentum going. I think we played well in the Atlantic 10 tournament. The last
eight or nine minutes against Xavier we struggled, but other than that, we
played for the championship and I think that's really helped us and that
should hopefully help us tomorrow night."
On the seeding of the Atlantic 10 teams in the NCAA tournament:
"I was disappointed in the seeding, but I don't want my players to feel that
way. I can't get into the heads of the selection committee. All I can do is
play the schedule we have - we went 25-5 - not a whole lot better that we can
do. We played a national schedule, and I thought we were going to be a four or
five seed. But until we move off of home sites to neutral floors, you're
always going to have a lot of controversy around our tournament. I think
women's basketball is ready for the next step. We've hosted and been to the
"Sweet 16" and "Final Eight" coming out of two home games at GW, so we've been
on both ends of it."
"I thought our league didn't get the respect as far as the top teams in our league really had great years, and were legitimate top-25 teams. When you look at who they've beaten... Believe me, nobody wants to play Xavier this week. And I think you'll see St. Joe's a very difficult matchup. Both those teams play very well in the NCAA tournament. But for us (the A-10 teams) to be a six, seven and 10 seed, it's a little disappointing for the conference. But you're playing, so you get a chance to prove right or wrong, I guess. They never asked me to be on that committee... I wish they would!"
On the GW/UCLA first-round game being one of the most competitive first-round
games of the tournament this year:
"It's a compelling matchup. UCLA was in the "Final Eight" last year and they
were ranked fourth or fifth in the country at some point in December, and
that's who you're playing in the first-round of the NCAA tournament!? We're
still in the top-25 in one poll, so you got two teams that I think are pretty
evenly matched. I wouldn't be surprised if you see a lot of great games, and
not as many blowouts as you used to in the past."
Senior Guard Marlo Egleston on playing UCLA:
"We're familiar with them and the team because they are a lot of the same
players (as the 1997-98 team GW faced). But for us, the team this year is so
much different than when we played them before. So matchups and the way we
play have changed completely. It helps us to be a little familiar with them,
but at the same time we're an entirely new team."
On GW's guard play against UCLA:
"Defensively we need a lot of ball pressure and to help out, because they are
strong inside. We need to help out Starr (Jefferson) and any other post
players as much as we can. But we just need to pick up our level of play. We
need to make good decisions and play smart basketball."
Senior Forward Starr Jefferson
On the potential matchup with UCLA's Maylana Martin and Janae Hubbard:
"I'm excited. Martin is an outstanding player, and like coach said, I'm not
going to win any pushing matches with Janae. I'm kind of pumped for it. I have
great respect for both of them, they're great players, but this is the "Big
Dance" and you draw the best players from the best teams, and whatever I can
do to try to minimize their impact is what I'm geared up to do."
