George Washington University Athletics
St. Bonaventure Post-Game Quotes
2/11/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 11, 2007
Recap | Final Stats | AP Photo Gallery 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
#8/t9 GW 75
St. Bonaventure 41
Post-Game Quotes
GW Coach Joe McKeown
On the fast start...
"We wanted to set the tone with our size and quickness. We did a good job of executing that. And we knocked down shots. That was the key to the game. We knew St. Bonaventure was going to pack it in, and let us shoot it....We're not one of the top three-point shooting teams in the country, but we're dangerous. We go in spurts, and I hope we get better at that as we go into March."
Does the lack of intensity during the second half of a big win hurt your overall structure?
"Not really. It's good to get people some rest, and to give people like Chantelle John and Jamila Bates some confidence and playing time. We're going to need them and the other people on our bench down the stretch in big games. We didn't execute well, but we did get people some minutes, which is important."
You forced 23 turnovers. What was your game-plan defensively?
"I felt that we could pressure their guards and not just turn them over, but force them to have to run with us. If we can get the pace going, that's to our advantage."
Senior guard/forward Kenan Cole
How were you able to control the game so early?
"Our main focus was to come out with a lot of energy, because we didn't do that against Duquesne. It was the energy in our press and defense that allowed us to turn them over and get easy buckets."
How do you shift mentally from this game to Thursday's game at Charlotte?
"We can take the positives from this game and use them at Charlotte, like our defensive effort, we're communicating, and come out with a lot of energy. We did get a little sloppy toward the end of the game, and we'll have to clean that up."
You have yet to play your two closest competitors in the A-10: Charlotte and Temple. How do you prevent a let-down?
"We definitely have to stay focused, and make sure nothing sneaks up on us. We can't look too far ahead."
Junior guard Sarah-Jo Lawrence
Do you take advantage of teams having to defend inside to grab early leads?
"Yes, we see teams backing off on the perimeter because they have a lot of things to worry about inside with Jessica and Jazmine [Adair]. So that opens it up for us."
On the team's aggressive defense
"Our defense always brings our offense. We work hard on defense to turn the other team over, make them take shots that they don't want to take. That's what gets our offense generated. We love to run, and that helps us in the beginning--to run and play the game at our pace."
St. Bonaventure Coach Jim Crowley
Opening statement
"It's always kind of a pleasure to come here. Obviously the result isn't very pleasurable, but to see the commitment this university makes to women's basketball, and to see the way their staff does things and the support they get. That is tremendous. There are people in leadership positions who know they have a great coach and can get good things out of their program."
What happened in the first few minutes of the game where GW jumped out to a big lead?
"You have to pick your poison. We knew how good [Jessica] Adair is, and wanted to sag with our defense and force them to hit jumpers. And [Kim] Beck set the tone. She said, `you're going to play off so I'm going to bury one.' And that's what she does. She's the best player in the league, based on what she does, and how she sets the tone, and how she helps her teammates. Once that went down, the floodgates opened. We got rattled and gave them some turnovers."
How good do you think this GW team is?
"I've been in this league 11 years, so I've seen all of them...This team is interesting because their quickness at the guard spot, especially defensively, is at a level with anyone. What [Sarah-Jo] Lawrence and Beck can do makes it very hard to get any offensive rhythm... Their ranking is very well deserved. We've played teams from the Big East and the Big Ten. I would play them again way before I'd play this team again."
How does GW compare with Temple?
"It's going to be a war. Temple has the level of athleticism that can keep up with GW...Temple's a tough team, but the way GW is playing with Beck and [Kenan] Cole--she's the most underrated player. I love how that kid plays. She is so focused...Home teams in those situations are pretty tough to beat."
What does GW do to take you off your game defensively?
"They decoy their man to look like a zone, and decoy their zone to look like a man. You really need good point-guard play to really pick that up. And you need to be able to knock down a few jumpers early....And with the size they have inside, you can't attack the basket, and constantly putting pressure on you in the perimeter. As a result, you have kids hurrying up shots, and that was a bad combination for us."
