June Daugherty Quotations

We started out the year and people doubted us.

Until we get through those tests and doctors have had time to sit down and confer with Kayla and with her family, I don't think we're going to have any answers. Until we can get those evaluations, I don't think we have any opportunity to discuss anything else.

We're going to have to defend them. All of their players are capable of big numbers. Our defense is going to be tested.

We're back. But I don't think we were ever out of it.

We are not a one-horse team. We are going to throw 10 to 12 players out there. When we can do that, especially when we are flat, it is fun to see all the different weapons that we have.

We didn't think the game was out of hand at all. We put pressure on the basketball, denying lanes. The front line was trying to do a great job defensively and it all worked.

We're having great success with it. I think it has a lot to do with our talent. We've got some kids who are pretty athletic and play very hard.

There are ups and downs in every season. It was hard to finish the regular season that way. At the same time, I think good lessons were learned and we've taken a lot of that into our practices this week.

She's fine, and we're anxious to get over and see her. She knows we won, and she's excited about that.

She's a leader by example, and she's not afraid to tell people what they need to do as well.

She's a key factor. It's gonna be real important she understands the scouting report on each one of them, because she'll end up on each one at some point in the game. And she's got to handle their pressure.

She said to me that she had been shocked. At first I thought she was talking about a static-electricity shock, but I looked at her and her eyes were big and I realized that her defibrillator had just gone off.

She's just one of those kids who doesn't have good knees, but tonight they were real good for her.

She can get us going both ways with her intensity and high level of play. She does a lot of good things.

She does a great job of posting up. Her hands and feet are great. For us, it was tough to stop her. It was the difference in the second half.

She and the other two captains have done a great job bringing these kids as far as they've gotten, and Kayla and the other two have got a little more work to do.

She found what she calls sisters for life.

Obviously, we'll have to go a little deeper. ... Like with anything else, people will have to step up.

Obviously they lead the Pac-10 in defense for a reason. At the same time, it's not something we haven't seen this year. To me it was more our lack of execution than what ASU was doing.

Right now because everything happened so quick we're just letting her relax and take a deep breath. She definitely wants to be part of the program.

I don't think we have ever been able to do that.

For three halves, we played some really good basketball. We had a really nice taste of the NCAA tournament, and now the key is: Do you want to come back and make some noise?

We take care of business on Saturday, and I'll gladly answer that question.

Her scoring has improved. She needs to continue working on it. When she gets those open looks it gives us more scoring opportunities.

Her legacy is unbelievable. Everyone knew how talented she was. Everybody knows what a great basketball player she is.

Going on the road in the Pac-10 is always a challenge. And Arizona State is playing great basketball. They're really going to make us have to play great defense and execute our offense. But it's another great chance for us to get better and build on what we've accomplished.

Hopefully, we can get through it, get over it and get rested up. It's the strangest, quickest flu I've ever seen happen in all my days and I hope the fans don't get it. It comes on pretty quick.

Kayla has been clutch for five years in this program. She is someone I always counted on to have on the floor in crunch time or a late-game situation, because she's so aware of the circumstances of what's going on and what her team needs to do.

I thought the team came out with tremendous energy today. We did it with spirited defense and got up on the boards and got into our running game. That's how we want to play. It was a lot of fun out there.

I think USC was our worst Pac-10 outing of the year. I think some of that had to do with USC, no doubt about it. But a lot of it had to do with us.

I think the race for the Pac-10 will come down to the last week. We have to control what we can control, and today we didn't do that. It's a tough one to swallow.

I saw her look down. She told me later in the hospital that it felt like a ball had come in on the timeout, somehow, and hit her in the chest. It was always a question in her mind, what does it feel like when it goes off.

Our state has a lot of good kids. You can't sign them all.

Our fans give us a lot of energy, and we play better.

Our fans are ready for a change in venue. Nothing against HP Pavilion or San Jose, but people like variety.

I think everybody in basketball knows that about 70 percent of the rebounds go opposite of from where you shoot it. So we just figure if you get more players on the opposite side, we've got a chance mathematically to grab a lot more boards.

I tell the team we have to pack our defense and rebounding for road trips. Those are things you have to do well to win away from home.

We've talked to our team a little bit about it, not necessarily the size of it. They've played in big arenas, but because of the baseline aspect of the coaching box. I'll be honest. I think it is something until you get out there in practice and actually coach and play on that floor, I don't know how we're going to feel.

Who knows? You never know. What you do know is you keep your staff and your team ready for the next opponent. It's going to sort itself out right after the Pac-10 tournament.

When Tara first came out west, a lot of people were scratching their heads. Why would she leave a team that was No. 7 in the country to take on a program that hadn't had much success? But she had a great vision for what the program could become and she's been consistent in that, day in and day out.

We were able to do well on the offensive boards. But we were also able to hold them without an offensive board in the entire first half, and I don't think we've ever been able to do that.

We played very well for both halves and we controlled our rebounding. This was a big win for this program and a real testimony of what this team is all about.

We have won ugly a lot this year. But a win is a win. If this was ugly, we will win ugly. We need to fight and buckle down for everything that we can get.

We know they're a talented team. They were in so many close battles, it was only a matter of time that they were going to break through.

We know they'll bring pressure defense, that's their bread-and-butter. It's important we take care of the basketball.

We fought hard in the second half. It's tough to see us fall short at the end. It was a classic USC battle.

We have a very talented group of players who I know are more than willing to step up, and what better reason to step up than for Kayla Burt.

We have a very talented group of players and now they have a great reason to step up with Kayla gone. What better reason to step up than Kayla Burt?

We need the same old Cameo. Great intensity and jump-start us from the start. Rebounding all over the glass. And, defensively, I don't think people recognize what a great job she's doing playing three different positions. She really takes her defense to heart and is a big part of why we've been able to take teams out of their offense.

We know we can do it. We've won on the road.

We're excited to find out who's next. It was disappointing to lose those games, but that's just how good this league is. The more you play each other, there's not a lot of room for error. That's basketball.

This town has such a passion about women's basketball. Hats off to our fans. I think I may have seen a couple leaving early, but we'll forgive them.

We always talk about packing our defense and our rebounding when we go on road trips. That's what we have to do.

We kind of took on the underdog role all year. And these kids got better and fought hard.

Twice I asked her if she was ready to go back. She said, 'No,' but I put her back in anyway and she responded.

There's no doubt that it's huge. But at the same time, you can't get too high and you can't get too low with the race being as tight as it is.

These AAU teams are amazing. They practice all year. They're well coached. They play a lot of games.

It was a long time ago, but we wanted to make sure we started off the conference play really well. That early in the season, of course it was really important and of course it's a statement game.

Our defense has been very good all year and it was amazing tonight.

A little bit of it was they were getting tired physically because the game was so up and down. But we were rotating a lot of kids. We just have to keep getting better.

A little piece here and a deflection there and we were off and running. It just seemed like the crowd got into it and the whole momentum just shifted. But it was our defensive effort, no doubt.

This flu is so contagious that they want anyone who has it to stay away. But our kids showed a lot of guts. They wanted to send the seniors out with a win, and they did.

A lot of people sold us short this year. I honestly believed it was in us and I think more is in them.

They played an incredible game. It was tough for us to find answers. Their inside game with Smith and Newlin was exceptional. And here comes Wiggins. She's that good. She's a very special All-American. ... She put on a Superman cape today.

They are playing much better basketball than when we saw them right after Christmas. They're playing with a lot of energy and a lot of confidence.

They're improved-no doubt about that. It seems like they're experienced kids now. Their experience is showing. Cal really stepped up and we didn't have the answers in the end.

At halftime, that was the last thing they said, 'Let's do this for KB,' and that's how they played. Emotionally, they were fighting it a little bit. I don't know how they did it, but it was awesome.

It's a great testimony to how good our high school and summer programs are. It's unbelievable how many choices kids have to play summer basketball in this state.

It's a great statement for the city with everything that's going on.

It's going to be really important that she understands the scouting report on each one because she'll end up on each one at some point in the game.

It's unbelievable really and is a testament to each of them on how they've handled the adversity that has just come down the pike. It certainly made them all stronger and wiser. But at that same time you're like, 'Why? Why do those kids have to go through all of that?' They handle things so well and sports teaches lifelong lessons and they certainly have grown as people.

Eighteen months is a long time to just be out there playing in an open gym and not being coached. Not being able to work on your conditioning, your strength, your game the way you would be in an organized and disciplined situation.

It just seemed like we weren't fighting hard, we were getting frustrated at how well Oregon was doing and not converting it into our energy. We made some adjustments defensively and we just kept saying if we go out there and fight hard and leave it on the court we'll be happy.

It was a great win. I thought the team came out with tremendous energy today.

It was huge. I thought that the players responded well all week in practice, obviously disappointed in giving up one at home after the streak that we had, and we knew that we did not play to our potential.

These three have been through incredible amounts of adversity, incredible amounts of joy, ups and downs. But they have been so mentally tough. They have grown up before our eyes. For them to have the opportunity to go back to the big dance, I'm just really happy for them.

I'm just so proud and happy. This is why we play the preseason we play. We had success in the preseason and these guys came ready to play. Focus has been awesome, hats off to the seniors; the whole team deserves this -- but especially the seniors. This is a great win, and they all played like it too.

I'm very, very proud of the team and the program. It's great to be back in the big dance.

I just say my hat's off to our fans. But I did see a lot of them leaving early.

Being able to recruit the pipeline out of Timberline has been really good for us. The Idaho spud connection has been fabulous.

I don't want to take away from what they've done in San Jose, they've done a great job. But it's not a neutral court. It's an advantage for the two Bay Area schools to play down there.

How intense her role will be now and whether she has a title, we'll determine that in a couple days. My thoughts are she will be a valuable asset whether her title is student coach or not. We look forward to that continued leadership from her.

These guys took care of business starting us out 7-2. That in itself weighed very heavy on the committee.

The doctors asked a lot about what had happened. They revisited, if you will, a chronological timeline of what happened before, how she felt.