 Head coach Robin PingetonOn the Redbirds' defensive effort
in the second half:
"I am really proud of our defensive effort in the second half. We
really held (Eastern Michigan guard Alyssa) Pittman in check. There
are going to be players in our conference that we are going to need
to shut down like that. We knew she was good, but she's not an
all-American and we told the players that at halftime. We knew we
could defend her better, and I think we did a tremendous job at
that. I am so proud of the intensity that we came out with in a
tough environment. There wasn't much of a crowd atmosphere, which
made it a little tough. We had some loyal Redbird fans that we
always appreciate."
On senior guard Tiffany Hudson:
"She is a scorer now. She has a real scoring mentality. We have
come a long way in the four years that she has been in our program.
She has worked extremely hard and all the credit goes to her. Even
early in the first half, she was calling for the ball and getting
spotted up for her shots. In high school, playing with (Tennessee
all-American) Candace Parker, she was more of a role player. For the
first couple of years at ISU, she filled in at spots, but she
understands that she has a pretty potent offensive weapon in her
ability to shoot the 3 and get to the rim. It is fun to watch her go
by people and play with so much swagger."
On the Redbirds' offensive success this season:
"We do have a lot of weapons and that is good. You can afford to
have players have off nights. Today, (sophomore guard) Maggie Krick
didn't shoot extremely well, but you have other players that can
step up. (Sophomore center) Nicolle Lewis, despite the fact that she
only played 12 minutes, had a tremendous game. She is really back on
track. She played with a lot of toughness, a lot of aggressiveness
and got on the floor after some loose balls. She had some tough
calls on the defensive side, but she showed a lot of positives.
(Sophomore forward) Ashleen Bracey is a hard matchup for most teams,
and she will continue to get better as she builds her confidence."
[to top of second column]
 |
=
Senior guard Tiffany Hudson
On the Redbirds' defensive performance:
"Pittman was lights-out in the first half, and she is a great
player. The coaches gave us a game plan and leave it up to us to
execute it, and we did today. They gave us some adjustments at
halftime, and we came through with them."
On her confidence as an offensive player this season:
"It is my senior year and this is it. I want to play for the team
and do whatever the team needs me to do. If that means scoring, then
I'll score. If that means not scoring, playing defense, rebounding
or being a vocal leader, then I am prepared to do whatever it takes.
This was one of those games where the ball was going down for me."
On the team's confidence:
"We are a close team and I think that makes a difference. We are
close on and off the court. We feel very good about what we are
doing. We are focusing on defensive rebounding right now, and if we
keep focusing on what we need to improve on every game, then things
will continue to work out for us."
[Text from file received from Jimmy Knodel,
assistant media relations director,
Illinois
State University]
 |
