Gary Gait Quotes -- Binghamton
On Halley Quillinan's yellow card:
"Well, that's her third yellow card in two games, so we talked about how to play with a yellow card. I think she learned her lesson down at Virginia, the type of risks you can take once you have a yellow card; what you can and can't do. Tonight she showed some composure and some restraint, and stayed in the game."
On Syracuse's quick start:
"Any time you start a game, you want to start strong. The first 10 minutes of any game is the most important 10, to get out and make a statement. I was happy with the way we started. I thought it was great. I thought our shooting could have been better, but that's the way it goes."
On the defense finding a rhythm:
"It was tough today. It was tough on Liz Hogan. She didn't really get a feel all game. When you're not touching the ball, that's the way it goes. Fortunately, she's a freshman and she'll learn from that. That's a great thing."
On what the team focused on today:
"We wanted to focus on what we worked on, executing on things that we need to improve on, and that's what we tried to do today. It could be better than what we did today, and I don't think my squad was super-happy with their performance. They had opportunities to execute some things we talked about, and they didn't, so we'll continue to try to improve."
On coaching during the game:
"We're always trying to work, and I think one of players went in and shot, and the rebound came up, and we were all standing flat-footed, watching our player dodge. It’s something that, you practice, keeping your feet, being active, anticipating rebounds, and if you don't practice in a game like this, it's going to be harder when you're up against a one-goal-game type of thing. Be prepared to chase down a loose-ball shot. So that's what we were talking about at that point. We lost a couple players we didn't have tonight, and I think our defense had trouble gelling with a couple different players in there. Now we've got to make sure that all of our defenders are on the same page."
On Bridget Looney's injury and absence:
"It's huge loss, no question. I just think that hopefully we can take that loss and take it as a challenge to step up for her, and really put it together for her. She was a leader on this team, and gave a heart-and-soul effort that you want out of a captain. It'll be a tough loss."
On Kristin Brady's behind-the-back goal:
"I tried to get them to throw some more fakes and work on things that we practiced so that they can get comfortable and pull it off in big games and hopefully we'll continue that. I just don't want them to be tense, and they're just not trusting it yet."
"I tried to get them to throw some more fakes and work on things that we practiced so that they can get comfortable and pull it off in big games and hopefully we'll continue that. I just don't want them to be tense, and they're just not trusting it yet."
On the team staying loose during the game:
"It's easy to be looser when you're up 8-0. They could have easily been up 15-0 if they had finished their shots and relaxed more and just taken their time, and shoot the way we practiced shooting. I think they would have been much happier."
