George Washington University Athletics
Auburn Post-Game Quotes
12/16/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 16, 2006
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
#20/20 GW 62
Auburn 51
Post-Game Quotes
GW Coach Joe McKeown
Opening comments
"It was a good game today. Auburn played a great second half and we went cold in that stretch. We couldn't get rid of them. We got a little tired and they had that transition run. They're a pretty talented team. We've got to start shooting the ball a little better."
On Whitney Allen taking DeWanna Bonner out of the game.
"She did. She's had to guard an array of great players this season. She's used to covering that caliber of player. She's a shutdown defender."
How did you stop their second-half run?
"We finally made some stops, and Kenan hit a big three on the baseline to give us a little buffer. And we turned them over a couple of times after that."
On Kim Beck.
"There are plenty of accolades about her scoring and defensive ability. My main concern is the number of minutes she's playing. She only came out for about 16 seconds at the end of the first half. We've had a lot of other great players here, and she's impressing me with that same kind of ability."
Any impressions of the matchup beween Jessica Adair and KeKe Carrier?
"It was vicious. It reminded me of one of those old Oklahoma (where McKeown was an assistant) football drills. Carrier played pretty good, and made some big plays for them. It was a real physical matchup and kind of fun to watch. We got some baskets past her, but she moved pretty well and made some great shots of her own. Auburn's trying to figure out how to use her within the framework of their team."
Junior forward Whitney Allen
What did you do to shut down DeWanna Bonner?
"In the second half, we played a lot of man-to-man, so I basically face-guarded her and tried to keep her from touching the ball."
How important was rebounding in getting the win?
"It was very important against Auburn because they're a rebounding team. But in general, if you win the rebounding battle, you win the game. That's important in any game."
Did going against so many good players this year help prepare you to go against Auburn's taller players and get 12 rebounds?
"Rebounding is about aggression. We really focused on that today; that was one of the reasons I was able to double up. And my teammates were boxing out as well, so it made it a lot easier for me to get rebounds."
Junior guard Kimberly Beck
What went through your mind during Auburn's second-half run?
"Our first instinct was not to panic. It's not like we haven't seen a run this season. We knew we had to focus on eliminating the defensive breakdowns--that really killed us. And we had to limit their wide-open layups."
Was this your best first half this season?
"I think it's the first solid start all season. We usually come out flat--I don't know why. We've been a second-half team all year. Today was the exact opposite. That was key to get up on Auburn and force them to have to come back."
Senior guard/forward Kenan Cole
Was it frustrating that the 3-point shots weren't falling in the second half?
"It's always frustrating when your shot doesn't go in, but we knew that we had to keep taking them. We were doing well inside, so we just kept taking them and they started falling."
Has the challenging schedule helped prepare you to take on Georgia, which is also in the top 10?
"Playing Maryland and Tennessee definitely helped us so we could see the things we didn't do correctly, so we could fix the mistakes before playing Georgia. But in any game, we still have to rebound, we still have to make shots, and take the ball inside. I don't think our focus has changed that much. It's just a matter of not having mental breakdowns and hurt ourselves."
Auburn Coach Nell Fortner
Opening comments
"I thought it was a great comeback, to cut it to [one]. It's just unfortunate that we were down by 17. We had a slow start and it was too much to recover from. We played hard and competed well in the second half, but George Washington hit some big shots to keep their lead. We had too many turnovers in the second half while we were making that run. Those were crucial, and you can't do that when you're trying to win a ballgame."
What made the difference to get the second half turnaround started?
"We had to impart our will on them, and play harder and make shots. We shot 24 percent [in the first half]. We missed a lot of layups in the first half. That hurt our confidence, and it snowballed on us until they were up by 17. Then we started knocking down some shots and made a run in the second half that gave us some confidence. But we couldn't quite close the gap."
How did GW take DeWanna Bonner out of the game?
"She is a work in progress, even with the skill she's been blessed with. She has to learn how to embrace games of this stature. I'm not sure if it's what GW did to her, although they are a very good defensive team, but DeWanna has a lot of abilities that she has to believe in and impart on the opponent."
How hard is it to design a defensive gameplan around Kimberly Beck?
"She's tough, and we didn't do a good job of finding her in the second half. We knew that she's a great shooter; she's 45 percent from the three-point line, and we kind of lost sight of her. She knocked down some big shots. But [Whitney Allen] also hit some big shots. She normally doesn't do a lot of scoring for them, and she hit some important shots for them."
How does GW compare to Xavier, who you also played?
"Xavier is extremely athletic, they can beat you hard off the dribble. But GW's zone will challenge them in that department. Xavier also has height inside, but they don't have the size of [Jessica] Adair. That's a big body to have in there to contend with."
