March 3, 2006
Recap |
Box Score |
Notes |
Photo Gallery
Ohio State Head Coach Jim Foster:
On the play of Ashley Allen:
"She's as good of a defender as there is in the league. She's grown up a lot; she's learned how to play a position that she didn't have any experience playing. She has a real sense and understanding of this game."
On Jessica Davenport not being a factor:
"I think we are capable of winning when she has to sit. You can only play so many players. We see those kids play every day, and (Davenport) has a great deal of respect for her teammates. You have a frame of reference for a season, and that frame of reference is we have won without Jessica Davenport, it means we can do it again.
On Debbie Merrill's play:
"She's an old fashioned basketball player. One thing that really makes a good team is when you have a post player who can pass the ball. Her assist to turnover ratio for a post player is astounding. She can handle it; she can bring the ball up the floor. She's very good and she is fun to coach."
On the strong finish to the first half:
"We have to open up the floor when (Davenport) isn't in there. When she isn't there, we have to make the floor bigger to score. We have the attributes on this team to get to the basket, we have some three point shooters and we have players who can beat you off the dribble. The defense played so aggressively it generated some things for us."
Ashley Allen
On Ohio State's defensive strategy:
"They hit some threes last time we played them, so we wanted to guard the three-point line. I think we did a really good job of that."
On coming back to Conseco Fieldhouse:
"I won my last state championship here. It's always fun to come back home and play."
Debbie Merrill
On the bad start against Penn State on Sunday:
"We talked about how the energy level wasn't there. We just got together to talk about it, and today we responded."
On playing without Jessica Davenport in the first half:"It's different playing without Jess. Everyone has to step up. I think everyone did step up and we figured out what we needed to do. The offense really was able to execute."
Brandie Hoskins
On the team's overall play:
"I think we played great. Our defense was the story tonight. We were denying them, boxing out and trying to hold them to one shot. We can take this game and build on it with our defensive intensity."
Penn State Head Coach Rene Portland:
On the play of her team:
"The energy was simply not the same as last night. Ohio State came out aggressive and played stifling defense. Our offense never got going and we didn't take care of the ball. It didn't help turning it over 21 times."
On the downturn of the game:
"Brianne O'Rourke's two fouls hurt us, along with bad time management by my part. I don't think I used our timeouts well. Mashea Williams is a good back up point guard but it hurt us having O'Rourke on the bench.
On not capitalizing when Jessica Davenport was on the Ohio State bench:
"We let things get away from us and did not take advantage of the opportunity of a player like Davenport sidelined on the bench. I wanted them to attack and penetrate, but we could not score."
On the outlook of Penn State basketball:
"People aren't used to us in this position and I don't want them to be. Next year we will be able to rely on a deeper bench, which will help with substitutions and provide the girls more confidence and motivation to play well."
#25 Kamela Gissendanner:
On their performance...
"I felt like we were rushing things the entire game. The high number of turnovers was our downfall."
