Players Mentioned
Colorado-San Jose State Quotes
December 05, 2014 | Women's Basketball
Colorado Head Coach Linda Lappe
General
"That was a tough victory for us. San Jose State is a nice team. They do what they do and they do it really well. I liked how we took care of the ball against the press. That's the best that I've seen our team handle a press in a couple years. They had so many baskets in transition. We had a tough time getting back and getting matched up. They run the floor very well, they hit the open player and you have to give them a lot of credit, but I like our fight and determination. It was another overtime experience for us, which isn't always what you want, but it will be beneficial once we hit conference play."
On the Plan Entering the Game
"We knew that we could get the ball inside on them. One of the reasons that they run so well is that they're all guards and they're very quick and athletic. So we knew we could have an advantage on the inside. I thought Jasmine [Sborov] in particular did a good job of getting the ball where it needed to go. We knew we could get the ball on the block and that the high post would be open as well. I didn't feel like we took advantage of the high post as much as we could have, but I do like how we fought and we executed, for the most part, pretty well."
On Back to Back Overtime Victories
"It feels great. Last year was really an anomaly because the year before we won a ton of close games. At the end of the game, it all comes down to your composure, leadership and your ability to execute. I think we do a great job at all of those things. We execute out of time outs, we execute the different plays that we [the coaches] draw up and that's the difference that I'm seeing. When you execute and have leadership, you tend to win a lot of those close games and that's really the difference this year."
On the Pace of the Game
"We like to run too. We knew that this would be a fast paced game.  I thought both teams got a little winded towards the end of the game, but we don't play a slow down style of basketball. Anytime you play a team like that [San Jose State], you have a tendency to slow it down a little bit, but we just had to be smart. I think there were times where we tried to force things a little too much, but for the most part we took what they gave us in transition and the half court. They started to back off their pressure, which is one of the first times we've seen that all year.  So I think that's attributed to the fact that we were doing such a great job against their press. We got plenty of good looks, and we knew we wanted to get those in transition."
On the Play of Jamee Swan
"I thought Jamee's presence inside was huge. We needed a physical presence inside to rebound. I thought she did a nice job coming over and helping the guards defensively and she took a couple of charges. On offense, she was very steady. Jamee is a phenomenal athlete and when she plays hard, steady and takes what the defense gives her, she plays really well. You could see her confidence tonight and we needed her in the game. She did a nice job to not pick up the fifth foul, she played a long time with four. That shows a lot of maturity on her part. In the past, she probably wouldn't have been able to do that, so we were lucky that she was on the floor for the end."
On the Play of Haley Smith
"Haley is playing really well right now. She's worked a ton on her outside shot. Last week, she got in the gym and worked a lot on her three point shot. She's been knocking down 15-foot shots at about a 75 percent clip the last three or four games, and it's not surprising because of how much she shoots it in practice. She's taking shots in the game that she works on all the time. She doesn't force things and takes what the defense gives her, and when you do that, you should shoot at a 65 to 75 percent clip because they're open shots. I was happy that she was able to knock down a couple of threes because it shows how she's expanding her game. Defensively, we needed her to get on the boards. She's one of our stronger and more physical players in there rebounding the basketball."
Colorado Players
Haley Smith, So., G/F
On Scoring More This Season
"I think confidence has been a big part in it. Just kind of going from a different role compared to last season. And also just being open and hitting open shots. Like Coach Lappe said we are hitting the shots they are giving us and aren't taking any crazy shots. We are just hitting open shots and it just comes down to us making easy open shots."
Jamee Swan, Jr., F
On Scoring A Group Of Game Changing Baskets
"The flow of the game allowed me to make those shots. Coach Lappe and I talked about just going in and playing and not overthinking…just going with it and playing is what I would contribute that to."