Postgame Quotes: Alabama vs. Mississippi Valley State
12/28/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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Alabama Head Coach Kristy Curry
Opening statement:
"I'm just happy that we were able to come back strong after the break. I thought the last four minutes of the first half we set the tone headed into the second half. We were able to work off a little bit of the cobwebs. I appreciate our crowd today, and we need a great crowd on January 2nd. We feel like we have had quite a bit of experience in what we call 'Season 1' to draw from. We realize that we are going to have to take better care of the basketball, and minimize mistakes as we head into 'Season 2' as SEC play in before us. Hopefully we can learn from the experiences we had, and be prepared going forward. I am just excited to open up with Kentucky."
On how they started out struggling shooting:
"Yeah it's the complete opposite compared to when we went into the break. I think the most important thing is to reverse the basketball and work it inside-out, and I think we did a good job of that. Also, I think Mississippi Valley did a good job of disguising defenses on film, and I knew that would give us a little frustration. They are a well-coached team, and they do a nice job. I thought our bench did a good job rebounding the ball, and this was a good display of energy from our girls the last 24 minutes of the game."
On the run late in the first half:
"We played a lot smarter, and got the ball at the heart of the defense. We crashed the offensive glass hard and hit free throws. It's the little things that make the big difference. Also, I thought we did a good job of building off that energy in the second half."
#13 Nikki Hegstetter, Forward
On her play and moving toward conference play:
"I think a testament to my play today is just our team being relentless on the defensive end, which leads to our offense. Everyone doing things right to get me open on the backside is just a testament to everyone on the team. It was really our team effort, and playing on that, I think that we have a lot of team chemistry that will help us when it comes to playing in the SEC. I think that Kentucky will come in here for revenge, but we are going to be here to protect the house. The way it's going, I think that we are going to shock a lot of people in the SEC, and I think we will be in good shape."
#15 Meoshonti Knight, Guard
On the team's defensive performance and conference play coming up:
"We were real aggressive on the defensive end with denying the ball, and just playing team defense. I am real excited to get started with conference play, especially against Kentucky. My team beat them last year, so it's going to be a good challenge for myself."
