Frank Soria Quotations

She's the quickest kid we have. We tried to get some pressure on their point. With Courtney, we had our two fastest kids to pressure them. As soon as we were able to do that, it changed the complexion of the game.

Maybe the kids were a bit overwhelmed last year. I think they have a little bit more of a businesslike attitude as we come into this week and knowing that our job is not done just making it down here. We're looking forward to playing on Saturday also.

I wasn't counting them. I thought if we could withstand their pressure, we had a chance.

We went through a lot of great games last year, but really, I can't remember as much tension and pressure as this game (had) for us. This was right up there with the victories we've had.

They're pretty darn good. I'd put them as one of the better teams we've faced period, and we've played some good ones. They're as good as any team we've played, and obviously the best in Division II.

It was our ability to pressure their guards so they couldn't quite run their offense. Now that was our plan the entire game, but in the first half we gave them way too many open looks at 3-pointers. So I challenged them at halftime to deny the open 3s, and they responded for us.

It was such a testimony to our kids and their dedication and their hard work ethic to run the drills. We run an awful lot. We told them, 'You've got to put all that stuff in the bank because there will come a time down the line that we will need to make a withdrawal.' Tonight was one of those nights.

It was a tough start for us, and finishing the season 10-10. But I knew if we could get healthy, we could play really good basketball. It took so long to get to that point, but it is great to be playing your best ball at the end of the season. And that is what has happened for us.

It was a tough situation last year. We were never in the game at all after the first minute or two, and it was discouraging. But this year, I thought we could play with them. I thought we had our opportunities. If we could withstand all their pressure, I thought we could play well.

It seemed to me to be a lot more pressure for us. We played so many close games last year. It was always like 'if we lose, we had a great season.' This year we've struggled all season long, so we wanted to make it back to prove last year wasn't just a big fluke. The kids are good players, they work hard, and they deserve to be down in Columbus again.