George Washington University Athletics
George Washington University
<b>CHARLOTTE</b>
GW/Charlotte Post-Game Quotes
1/16/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 16, 2010
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
January 16, 2010
Charlotte 52
@GW 42
Post-Game Quotes
GW Coach Mike Bozeman
Opening Statement
"I thought it was a hard-fought game on both sides. Both teams were playing very hard and aggressive. I'm as proud of my girls as I can be, even being on the losing side of a game. We need to check on the injury status of Shi-Heria Shipp, but the preliminary indication is that it's a sprained ankle. So with seven players, I thought my girls played very, very hard. I moved Tiana to the point guard position, and she showed a lot of character, a lot of heart. There's got to be a lot of growth from this kind of adversity. No disrespect to Charlotte, they came in and did what they intended to do, and walked out with a conference win."
How were you able to get back in the game after falling behind early?
"I think it was effort and energy. I found myself trying to do strategic maneuvers today, rather than trying to coach effort. It's always tougher when you have to coach effort. It's just to a point where you go into our locker room after the game--there's nobody feeling sorry for us. We don't want that. We understand what's happening and we understand the numbers situation. We don't' feel sorry for ourselves. We're going to keep fighting and we're going to get it together."
What one thing do you take away from today as you prepare for the next conference game?
"With that effort, combined with a few percentage points higher with our shooting, we shot 27 percent for the game, and we were down one point. I truly believe this team could walk into a gym blindfolded and shoot better than that. We'll raise that percentage up, and it'll result in a different outcome at the end of the game."
Sophomore guard Tiana Myers
You find yourselves having to come from behind in a lot of games. What helped you make a come closer today than in past games?
"It comes from experience. We have to start out with a lot of energy. We haven't done that in the last few games, but we did today. We found ourselves down and adjusted. We're learning as we go along."
[Coach Bozeman added]
"It's also the attention to detail part of it. [The coaches] learned that in the Rhode Island game -- basic adjustment and how we were approaching our scouts, and how we were delivering to the team. Today we were prepared early; we were just missing shots early."
How were you able to overcome the early scoring deficit?
"We came out more focused today with more energy. Despite our low numbers, we still stuck together through everything on the court today."
How does this game illustrate improvement in your game this season?
"I just calmed down and relaxed. Coach has been telling me to let the game come to me, and this time I actually listened. And it became a lot easier."
Charlotte Coach Karen Aston
Statistically, it was an even game. How were you able to pull ahead?
"We typically get to the foul line quite a bit. That's one thing about the way GW plays their zone. They have a tendency to get you to play their tempo and to stand around a little bit. I thought we did that for a large portion of the game. But the difference in the game was at the 5 or 6 minute mark when we decided to get aggressive and get to the basket and get to the foul line."
What kept GW in the game for so long?
"I think it was their defense. They have a tendency to slow the tempo of the game down, and that was to their favor against our team. We got out of the gates pretty quick, and then the tempo slowed. They're obviously doing that for the right reasons. Give [Coach Bozeman] tons of credit because he's limited with players. And he's doing a tremendous job with the personnel he has. He had another one go down today, I guess. He's doing the right thing for the number of players he has. And he's staying in games. I told our players, we're not going to pull away from this team. They are in every game and give themselves a chance to win. And they will upset some people. There's no question."
How was Charlotte able to withstand GW's run in the second half and hold on to win?
"Fortunately, we have some older players who were in some critical situations last year. I start three seniors, and they understand pressure moments. The fact that they have been in those situations helps our team right now."
