George Washington University Athletics
12/7/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 7, 2005
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
December 7, 2005
Tennessee 59
at GW 43
Postgame comments
GW Coach Joe McKeown
How are you feeling after these tough first 5 games?
"All five of them have been a great learning experience, for our freshmen especially. Tennessee makes you have to make plays on every possession. Every time you break down, which is what happened to us in the first five to six minutes of the second half, good teams make you pay...These games can only help you."
"We've got to find some scoring. We defended well against Texas, Purdue, and Villanova; we have to find ways to score and get people to help. Anytime you walk out in December, you want to build off the game. You don't want to have any negatives. You want to make a teaching point out of everything we did wrong."
What was your defensive strategy?
"[Shanna] Zolman is their best player, and we wanted to take her out, not give her open looks, and really make her have to work. She got lose a few times--her release is so quick. We wanted to keep [Alexis] Hornbuckle and [Sa'de Wiley-] Gatewood in front of us. We did a great job of that. We switched defenses a couple of time and our match-up zone hurt them a little. But Tennessee always gets you on the second shot. They miss and they get the rebound--they get you at key times."
Do you want to keep Tennessee on the schedule?
"The one thing I admire about Pat Summitt is that she will always play anyone anywhere. I love that mentality. It's been great to get this game at GW--of course, we still have to go to Knoxville; she won't let me out of that. The last three games here have been great, and the crowds have been great. But I appreciate her coming here; this is a tough place to play."
Next you play Stony Brook, which beat Temple tonight. How important is it to have a strong game?
"It's very important because we need some confidence. The coach at Stony Brook is someone I have great respect for. She's coached at Oklahoma, Arizona State, and three pro teams. Erica Lawrence, one of our great players, is her assitant, so I have great respect for her. The name doesn't have the same ring as Tennessee, Villanova, and Purdue, but it's going to be a difficult game for us. We can't afford to have a letdown like we did tonight."
Kim Beck had only 4 shots tonight. How does that affect her role as a shooting point guard?
"Give Tennessee a lot of credit for that. We really needed Kim; she had 20 against Villanova the other night. We put in Faith Peters for the first time; this was a tough game to throw her into and move Kim off the ball. Kim has to do everything for us to be real good."
GW sophomore G Sarah-Jo Lawrence
How does playing the #1 team help you?
"We really got to work on our defense against Tennessee because they scored over 100 points on Texas. That will really help us in future games. And whenever we lose to someone, even if it is the number 1 team, we want to come out for our next game strong."
GW sophomore G Kim Beck
How does playing the #1 team help you?
"We lost, but we hung with them for most of the time. They went on a run, and that's what really killed us. But we know we can play with anyone in the country. We just proved that. Going into the rest of our schedule, we'll be looking to win. That's really going to help us mentally."
GW senior F Jessica Simmons
On the challenging early-season schedule
"Coming into the season, we weren't really looked on as a strong team. But I think we've proven ourselves, that we can play with anyone. This game proved that tremendously with the effort that we put in and our enthusiasm. This is proof of what we can do during the whole season."
How hard is it to play against their deep, tall bench?
"It's pretty tough, but there are always going to be battles that I have to deal with. I'm used to it; I did the same thing last year. It's just something I have to get through."
Tennessee Coach Pat Summitt
Opening statement
"We're a basketball team that played in spurts tonight...We've been on the road a lot, but we didn't come out and take care of the basketball the way we needed to. GW came out with a lot more intensity and did a good job against our defense. In the 2nd half, we picked it up. But what we can become as a team is something I'm excited about."
Did your travels play a factor tonight?
"I think so. I know how I feel, and they're a lot younger than I am. But it has been a lot of travel--a lot of games that we had to get up for and play in a relatively short period of time."
What did you prepare for in this GW team?
"Obviously to try and influence their post game with our defense, force them left, which we didn't do a good job of; we were very inconsistent. When we did that and forced them to play off the dribble a lot more, that's when our defense was better."
Did you expect that kind of intensity on the court?
"Sure I did. Every time we play someone, we get their A game...Coach [McKeown] has raised the bar. I watched a lot of film on them and thought they played well together and moved the ball, and handled our traps. So no, I wasn't surprised. I'm surprised if a team doesn't show up to play against us."
On GW F Jessica Simmonds
"She's really aggressive. Just from watching her on tape, she'll put the ball on the floor and she'll collapse with the defense. She's very mobile. I thought she did a nice job with initiating the contact and taking the ball to the hole. GW's posts pass well together; they space well and get their high-low game. And that's where she can be really effective, in the high post putting the ball on the floor."
Why do you play GW regularly?
"Because I love coming to this city. I like Joe a lot. A lot of times, you play people in the profession that you're not necessarily going to be great friends with. I've really enjoyed getting to know him. He's a great person and does a super job on the court.
