March 5, 2006

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Purdue Head Coach Kristy Curry:
On the team's performance:
"I am really proud of this team. I think we had a point to prove tonight and we made a statement because I don't think we have played well in our last two games. I really respect how we played tonight; they had something to say and they said it."

"This tournament has been a slugfest; very physical games. Our goal is to maintain and sustain our intensity. It is great to see the two best teams playing for the championship."

On the differences between playing Indiana last time:
"I think we utilized our post presence more. We did a nice job of allowing only one shot on the other end. We attacked inside quicker and fed off that."

On the performance off the bench:
"They sure haven't had that type of pressure on them in practice but I felt they handled themselves with a lot of character. The bench really proved a spark; the perimeter game was great. I think we are back on track in terms of working on the little things."

Katie Gearlds
On the second half:
"Indiana came out in the second half and scored a few quick points. Then we went on a strong run and stayed composed. From that point on, the game was pretty much over with."

On the intensity of Ohio State:
"We are walking into the same situation we had against Indiana. We split our previous two meetings against them and we have a lot to prove. Ohio State is a very good basketball team. We are all going to have to play our best basketball in order to win the game. Hopefully we can carry this intensity of today over into the next game.

Erin Lawless
On the defense of Purdue:
"Tonight we came out with a vengeance and lots of intensity. We came out ready to play with heart, hustle and intensity. You need each of these to play a great game of basketball. We gave it our all on the defensive end, and a strong defense will win games. We knew going into the game that we had to contain (Nikki) Smith and Cyndi (Valentin).We knew what we had to do in order to win this game."

Indiana Head Coach Sharon Versyp:
On the team's performance:
"It didn't turn out the way we wanted it to. Purdue played great defense and we didn't k nock down open shots. Obviously when that doesn't happen, it just manifests itself and continues to go bad. We didn't play the way we wanted to, but our kids really fought back at the end. We have a never-say-die attitude so I was pleased with the way we finished."

On the weekend's success:
"It was a success for us. When I took the job over, I wanted to change the culture of Indiana women's basketball and have a winning attitude. Last year we went 3-13 in the Big Ten; this year we have won 11 conference games and we got to the final four of this tournament. To be able to do that in my first year with these ladies is a real win-win situation for us. It hurts to lose, but someone has to. I am very proud."

On if there was pressure:
"There was no pressure; we weren't supposed to be here. We have been the underdog all year. Ever since I took the job, it has been about making this team and program better, and trying to get into the postseason. We had no pressure whatsoever."

Cyndi Valentin
On the team's performance:
"From the start we never got into a rhythm offensively.  Defensively, we held them to 28 points in the first half but offensively we just didn't knock down our shots."

On Purdue's defense:
"They played well.  We only scored 10 points in the first half and that obviously hurt us.  We weren't knocking down our shots."

Whitney Thomas
On the game:
"Purdue crashed the boards really well tonight.  We missed some box outs and that hurt us, but we had to work with what we had."