Nov. 20, 1999

Postgame Quotes from Maryland Coach Chris Weller
Maryland 75, Loyola 62

On opening with a win: "It feels good to open with a win, needless to say. I thought Loyola was a good team and it took our entire team effort. We got the game going the way that we want it to go, which means a quick pace and a running style of game that we're going to play all year long. We feel we're fairly deep and can do that."

On forcing turnovers: "I think [Loyola's] 30 turnovers was somewhat of a major stat of the game for us. The other was going to be trips to the line. We were a little disappointed that we fouled as much as we did, and allowed them into the one-and-one with nine minutes left in the first half. We can't do that. Those are two stats that we have to take pride in. We're not going to be a real huge team so we're not going to outrebound people all the time. We did tonight, but that was by virtue of taking so many shots. I was pleased with the turnovers that we able to cause because [Loyola] was pretty poised. They're good players."

On a deeper, more balanced team: "Last year was such an odd year. We didn't have but seven players for the first eight and nine games. Once Kelley [Gibson] and Tiffany [Brown] came back, we kind of had to start all over. In January we were doing things you like to do in November and by February, I thought we looked like a team in midseason form. We were off the pace of a normal year and really never played a lot more than seven people, even at the end of the year. This year, we're just deeper. We have so many people back and we're getting contributions from our new people. And the contributions are coming right where we needed them."

On a slow start and never quite pulling away: "I just think we were tight a little bit. I thought we played with some heart, and we played very hard and I think that's what won us the game."