Barbara Turner Team Quotations

Usually in the tournament, it's about what team is hot, and (West Virginia is) really hot right now. We have to treat it as if we were playing Rutgers, who was the No. 1 seed; we know that. And that's what we're going to try to focus on tonight and get ready for tomorrow.

We want to come out and knock the team out right away and not think they have a chance to win the game. He was saying that was something that we struggled with against West Virginia, that we let them stay in the game and they gained more and more confidence as the game went along.

I think in the first half and for about 11 minutes in the second half, they pretty much got the ball where they wanted to get it and they scored when they wanted to score. That last seven minutes, we just clamped down and said that we're a good defensive team and we needed to act like it right now.

I think Renee is going to be the leader of this team. I think she could be the next person that everybody's talking about as the big name for Connecticut. I think her future is very bright. She's going to lead this team and they're going to be very good next year.

That was the turning point. We struggled a little bit offensively, but the main thing was that we started to stop them defensively. That last seven minutes we just clamped down and said that we're a good defensive team and we need to act like it.

I wasn't concerned about my career at the end of the game. I was concerned about trying to help my team win. My career never crossed my mind until the final buzzer rang. I guess we just have to accept it and look back and see all the great things that happened this season. I am sure it will take a little while to do that, but when we do, we will be able to look back and smile at the end.

You always want your team to play well no matter what you do. I have put together some good games, but I still don't think it's enough, because I haven't been able to pull my team along as much as I would have liked to.

We've had games where we've been close (to being complete). We've had games where we've not been anywhere near on the same planet. But it's just a matter of us really, really concentrating. And when we do we look so good. We can have six possessions in a row where we look like the best team in the country. And then we'll go through these stretches where it's like, 'Man, what are we doing out there?' And that's what it felt like (Wednesday).

We've been on the road throughout my career with sell-out crowds against really good teams. When you're in a situation like that, you have to know how to help your team win.

This week is all about mental toughness. Whichever team is more mentally tough in three games over three days is going to be the winner. That is really the biggest thing we have been focusing on.

This team is one of the top teams in the league already. The younger players can just come in and fill a role and raise the level to where it needs to be to get back to being a championship team.

We knew how tough they were at home, we know how good of a team they were. We knew that we were going to have to respond to big runs by those guys because they do a good job of putting points on the board.

We knew how tough they were at home, we knew how good of a team they were. We knew we were going to have to respond. It seemed like every time we needed to make a play or make a shot or get a defensive stop, we were able to do it.

It's something that we met with Coach about ... putting the game on our shoulders. We just want to know that we determined the outcome and I'm really happy that Ann made those shots, because it's just further proof that we're still trying to embrace this team and put it on our back and lead us to victory.

They called her Ms. March early on in her career because she knew what she had to do in order to get our team to a national championship. I think that?s her attitude right now. She knows what she needs to do to help our team go out and win the Big East. She?s just been playing that way, diving on tables, diving on loose balls, getting after rebounds. She?s getting back to Will. You can tell, and it?s really helping our team out.

If she can have a good stretch the next four games going into the Big East tournament, it will get her some endurance and get her some conditioning, and it will help our team. We need her a lot. She?s our one true center; our one true big body. And every team around the country needs that one true center. Every team that?s successful and wins national championships has one so, obviously, we?re going to need her.

I have put together some good games or whatever, but I still don?t think it is enough because I haven?t been able to pull my team along as much as I would have liked to. You always want us to get better as a team rather than worry about individual statistics.

I don't know if we would have been able to do that. We probably would have panicked a little bit, played too fast and probably fell apart earlier than we did when they made their run. So the fact we were able to do it was just a good ending to this trip, and I think it brought our team a lot closer together.

I am not into motivational words, but there is a burning desire inside of me that has really been built up by a lot of things that have been said about our team. We have been through a lot this year. We have struggled together. We have been down in the dumps. We have been really, really high. I just have this burning desire to not want to let my team go home. I think everyone else is feeding off of that.