We're going to take a couple of days off, then we'll get to work getting ready for Kansas. There's still some work to do, and there's still plenty of room to get better. The way we played tonight wasn't good enough to get it done, but we won and we're going. That's all that mattered.
We've got bigger fish to fry right now.
I guess it's fair to everybody, but I think the extra day of rest is a good thing. When we first got here, it seems like it was forever before we played. But now we've played two games in two nights, so an extra day of rest will be good for us.
I don't know why any team would say anything to give perhaps the best player in the country some extra motivation.
I think anybody here that's not a Central fan wants to see us get knocked off. We're the top dog. I'm just so proud of these players for the way they've responded to all of this. They have some talent, but the most important thing is heart, and these girls have it.
Our Big 3 is as good of a frontcourt combination as we've had here, and they certainly played well. They're all having phenomenal years and phenomenal careers. Teams might be able to stop one of them, but the package is pretty dangerous.
Repeated and undefeated. That's been the goal all year.
We had to put some pressure on them and turn it into a basketball game again. Once we did that, we got some things accomplished.
We made a statement tonight. There's not a lot I can complain about. We played awfully well. If we play like this, or anywhere close to this in the next two games, I think we're going to be in good shape.
We played with a lot more intensity in the second half. I had some things to say to some of them, and I think maybe I made them mad. Sometimes they play better when they're mad.
We were ready to play, even though they were able to stay with us for a while. I was really proud of our players for that. We'd been here since Saturday, and we were all getting tired of sitting around. Time seemed to be standing still. But at game time, we were ready.
I've never seen anything like it. It bothered us for a while, but once we got going we played pretty well.
I've always said the performance is more important than the result sometimes, and the performance wasn't very good.
People put us on such a pedestal, and that makes it tough when everybody's gunning for you. It was like it was us against the world and we didn't get it done. We didn't show up until the last 10 minutes, and it cost us.
After 32 games, a freshman really isn't a freshman any more.
Defense turned to offense, but it all started on defense. We were able to do that against a good team. They'd won 17 in a row coming in here and are better than most No. 16 seeds you'll see.
They had nobody to stop her. She had energy, and she picked up everybody's misses.
It's a loser against a loser. I haven't even thought about it yet. What happened tonight stings, and it hasn't sunk in yet.
It was nice to get it taken care of early. We've been wearing a target on our back all season, and that's not an easy thing to do. All the pressure was on us, and Cochise had nothing to lose.
It was a good night to stuff the stat sheets. Danielle had a great night. She just plays so hard and with such heart all the time.
They've had a great program for years, and they're going to be a worthy opponent.
I know that nobody remembers who finishes third and all of that, but it was important that we won. This was a special team and special players. We needed to go out on a positive note, and we did.
I asked our girls at halftime if they wanted to give away their home-court advantage for the playoffs. Then we came out and put together a solid second half.
This hurts because it's been such a great bunch of girls to work with. The bottom line was, we did too many dumb things at dumb times, and it cost us.
