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Michigan State - Head Coach - Joanne P. McCallie
Opening statement:
"It was a very strong, offensive game by both teams. I thought our team was in attack mode for 40 minutes, and that's very important this time of year. We came back on rebounds during the second half, and I thought our defense got better after not being as sharp as it needed to be. Both Kristin (Haynie) and Kelli (Roehrig) were steady and took charge of the team like seniors are supposed to do."
On the play of the seniors:
"Kelli (Roehrig) and Kristin (Haynie) are very special people and play with so much heart. They're very amazing people, and we're able to really go at it. I think what I love the most is the amount of jarring that goes back and forth between coaches and players. There is a lot going on between player and coach on and off the court, and it stays in the game. The relationships are just unbelievable."
On the team's balance:
"I loved the team's balance. If you've got four or five people who can really bite you any night, then you're going to be hard to defend. We've got four rock solid players and five or six that can come on any given night. That's the way I think basketball should be played."
Michigan State - Kristin Haynie - Guard
On the end of the first half and Lindsay Bowen's 3-point buzzer-beater:
"Closing out the half was very important. We were able to keep our poise and composure, and that shot by Lindsay (Bowen) was phenomenal."
On getting over the mental hurdle of finally beating Penn State:
"We haven't had much success against Penn State in the past couple of years. We take every game the same. Our defense was a little shaky, but like coach said, we were in attack mode the whole game."
Penn State - Head Coach - Rene Portland
Opening Statement:
"It's a real disappointment, but we've worked hard all season so it's a matter of putting this behind us and getting ready for the NCAA tournament. To give up that many points is a disappointment. We came out and did a nice job offensively, but we certainly did not do a good job defensively."
On the problems defensively:"We gave up a lot of easy buckets, but give them credit. I think they did a really nice job too. Two people I thought we had to have control over were (Victoria) Lucas-Perry, and (Rene) Haynes, and we let them get away from us. But having Tanisha (Wright) out with fouls hurts us a lot. We didn't put a lot of pressure on the ball like we usually do."
On Michigan State doing anything different from the previous time played:
"They went to the foul line a lot more times this game. We scored more buckets, but they had more 3-pointers. If you look at rebounds and turnovers, everything is straight across the board. Our team shot for 53 percent, but they went to the foul line a lot."
Penn State - Jess Strom - Guard
On her first-half injury:"After I hit Tanisha's (Wright) foot and rolled my ankle, I came out in the second half and didn't think about. I just tried to do what the team needed me to do."
On playing through the pain:"No matter what, I would have still played. There is no way I would have sat out. I would have let my team down if I was going to sit out."
Penn State - Tanisha Wright - Guard
On defensive problems:
"I was in and out, but offense was not where our problem was because we scored a lot of points. Our problem was on the defensive end where we let it get away from us."
