Postgame Quotes: UConn 87, Maryland 81

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Postgame quotes following No. 3 Maryland's 87-81 loss to No. 1 UConn Thursday night at XFINITY Center.

Opening Statement:
“I am really proud of the fact that we were playing for all the fans and that we were able to create that type of experience. The environment we had tonight was really special for Maryland and for women's basketball fans. It was incredible to be able to see. Obviously, we have to give credit where credit is do. On UConn's end, anytime they were getting any kind of runs, I thought they did a tremendous job. The big picture is, is that it is December 29th and we learned a lot about our team tonight, about our freshman, who were sensational. We don't even need to call them freshman because they were so confident. We will learn a lot from this and use it to help us move forward and be ready for March.”

On how Maryland faired against UConn:
“It is the most points they have given up to a team in years. So a lot of positive things we can build on. I think defensively, we saw a lot of breakdowns. This is an area that I am excited about, an area that we can really grow and improve on. “I just think that for us we are not afraid of the name on the jersey. I think that that is three-fourths of the battle. I felt like our team was extremely confident going into this game.”

On why Maryland was unable to complete the comeback:
“I thought fatigue. I thought that when we came out in the third quarter and you spot UConn 19 points, then you have to fight and scratch and claw. I am proud because most teams would have quit. So it tells you about our team and they are so competitive and there is no quitting. We just cannot spot a team like UConn 19 points.”

On UConn's 15-0 run:
“We went 0-for-4 out of halftime and they went 5-for-5. They hit three three-pointers in that stretch. It was a really difficult stretch. Defensively I think we got lax. I think that Katie Lou Samuelson continued to separate herself and show why she was the number one player of the year coming out of high school. I mean she was sick, throwing up in a trash can over on the side and then goes out and gives that kind of performance in the second half. I thought it was a gutsy performance for her.”

On the 10 turnovers in the first half by Maryland:
"We talked about that at halftime. We had a negative assist-to-turnover ratio. We wanted to be able to get shots at the basket. Again, I felt like we spent too much time through two quarters feeling our way versus trusting the system. We spent a lot of time on film seeing how they are exposed to dribble-drives and we didn't get to it until the fourth quarter and trusting the system offensively.”

On freshman Destiny Slocum's performance
“Age is just a number and class means nothing. You see, and everybody got to witness tonight, what makes her so special. She is poised beyond her years. Her spirit and her energy are contagious. When you have that kind of energy you are able to feed off of it amongst your teammates. She has had a lot of experience and is just poised beyond her years.”

Senior Center Brionna Jones

On how they felt trying to close the gap:

“I think we are close, but it just goes back to us. Working on our game and getting stops when we need it, just playing through every possession and not taking any plays lightly. In the third quarter we were lost a little bit and they took advantage of that, and we just need to be conscious of that and make better plays when given.”

On playing in front of WNBA scouts and showing her talents:

“I just thought about coming out and bringing a great game for the crowd, all the fans that came are amazing. So it was just more about playing for the fans and the team to get the win tonight.”

On how this game will lead into Big Ten matches:

“I think this gave us a lot of experience under our belt, with such a young team, because we are going to have a couple of tough match-ups in the Big Ten. It is a great starting point fro us to work on a lot of things and learn form this.”

Freshman Guard Destiny Slocum

On trying to comeback from 19 points:
“I just say play Maryland basketball, just doing what we usually do and taking it possession by possession. Because if you look too far ahead then you have already lost. So just really taking the time with our possessions and knocking slowly away at the score.”

On Kaite Lou Samuelson what makes her a tough player to guard:

“I just think she is just a focused player. We had her in the paint reaching for points, and she still managed to get through. She is versatile getting to the rim and shooting, just an overall good player."

On a freshman point guard destroying the myth of a the struggles of a freshman point guard:

“Coach [Frese] is really patient with me. There have been time where she should have been in my ear, but she will just say something motivating, which as a freshman is really good for me. She will tell me to just play as if i were playing at the park and I say okay! Just all the positivity she creates is just really great because I can get energized off of that.”

Freshman Guard Kaila Charles

On her energy playing against No. 1 team in the country and a packed arena

“It was electrifying. Having all those fans cheering for you just brings a lot of energy. It is just a feeling of excitement and intensity that made it such a fun game for my teammates and myself. Which made us work hard and play well.”

UConn Head Coach Geno Auriemma

On how Maryland compares to other teams:
“I thought playing here was going to be extremely difficult because of the way they play. They are so aggressive and so athletic and they just come in waves. They just keep coming at you and coming at you. They were playing the number one team in the country so everything that happened, except us getting up 19, I expected to happen. I expected it to be that kind of game, but I didn't think we would get to 19. When we did get to 19, all I kept thinking about was it was going to get to two. As the fouls kept piling up, I was really worried. We maybe won this game because its Connecticut and we're used to making some of the plays that we made tonight. When we needed a shot, we got one. When we needed a stop, we got one. When we needed a play to be made, we got one. It came from different spots and we needed every one of them. Obviously the Notre Dame game is a big win because it's at Notre Dame and we've played them so many times. Given the circumstances and the way the game played out, with all the issues we had, this is probably the best win we've had up to this point this season.”

On how important the winning streak is:
“When the season began, somebody asked me, 'Why did you set the schedule the way it is? You're going to kill your streak.' What does the streak have to do with anything we're doing? It's like when the polls come out and people ask how it feels. It's nice and all that, but its not the focus of what we are trying to do. When we went through it last time it was nice and fun and everyone kept talking about it all the time. Our kids were aware of it and knew exactly what was going on. We had some older players on our team that have been through a lot and they felt entitled to it. This team is young enough and they have not been a part of that much of it. It is not something that we talk about and it is not something that I put any value on anymore. If it were to happen, I don't know that it would have any significance in my life whatsoever. If it were to happen.”

On how tough the environment was tonight and if it was the toughest of his career:
“It's one of them. The fact that school is on break makes it not the way it could have been, but given how many people were here and the teams that were playing, yeah. Unfortunately, these games are few and far between in women's basketball, but it was a fabulous environment. The crowd was great. Sometimes we don't react the way people expect us to react because we have been in these games a lot. We handle it a little bit differently than sometimes even the home team does because they are not used to being in this type of environment.”

On effectiveness on Shatori Walker-Kimbrough tonight:
“Sometimes when a player has a sub-par game it is not only what the defense does. There are a lot of factors. I thought Kia Nurse did a great job on her for most of the game. I don't think they went to her as much as they have in the past where she has a lot more opportunities. With their big kid touching the ball a little bit and Slocum I thought she played great so she had the ball a lot in her hands. In some ways they were much more difficult to play against because they didn't just go towards Shatori. It was a combination of things. We guarded her a little bit differently than we did last year at the Garden, so that helped.”

Sophomore Guard/Forward Katie Lou Samuelson:

On being able to put on a performance like tonight while being under the weather:

"It's kind of easier in games, adrenaline gets you through anything that's going on. So there were moments when I was a little tired, but overall it was just the flow of the game and things that were happening. Our team was doing really good stuff that got me excited and hyped up, so it got me through."

On having any doubt on being able to play tonight:

"No, I knew I was going to play no matter what. This is a great game and a great atmosphere; I knew that no matter what was happening, I was going to play today.

On her thoughts on their ability to completely take control over the second half after the momentum had switched:

"Yeah, that's pretty much what we talked about in the locker room. Almost every close game we have, it's that first five minutes of the second half that kind of decides if we can take the game away or if they're going to keep their run going. So we know that going into those second halves that we have to just push it as hard as we can those five minutes and we really did that, and I thought that we started off great and we held on to it. There were times when they came back, but we kept our composure and we kept the game in our bags."

Junior Guard Kia Nurse:

On the challenge of guarding Senior Guard Shatori Walker-Kimbrough:

"Obviously, the defensive match up that I usually get is one of the better guards and Walker-Kimbrough is a hard match up, she does a lot of things extremely well. So it was a good team defense night for us, and I think we did a good job."

On Maryland responding to their runs and what frustrates their team about Maryland at times:

"They go! They're constant, and they put pressure on you no matter if you score or miss, they're up the floor. They move the ball really well and hit the outside shot, so that was something that down the stretch when they made their run, it was from quick transition secondary shots that got us."

On the freshman's response to limiting Senior Center Brionna Jones and Senior Guard Shatori Walker-Kimbrough:

"I think that they did a great job, they responded really well. It's hard to play in a game like this in a big environment, but kudos to them they played great."

On how they did against one of the better rebounding teams in the country:

"Obviously, we have a little ways to go rebounding. It's a little bit different than what we had last year, we are smaller. But I think we did an alright job. We have ways to learn, things to get better at, and that's probably one of them.

On her confidence after playing in the Olympics and the team transitioning into their individual roles:

"I was extremely fortunate to play in the Olympics this summer and just gain the extra confidence and play in a couple games in, and also play against the best in the world. I was able to understand what my strengths and weaknesses were there and then my role this year was more of a leadership role. So trying to take what I learned from the leaders there and applying it here. Same type of thing with Sophomore Guard/Froward Katie Lou Samuelson, Junior Forward Gabby Williams, Sophomore Forward Napheesa Collier, and Senior Guard Saniya Chong, we all had to step up and understand that our leaders gone now. We're trying to figure out what we each do really well, and put it together to become a unified leader in a sense and it's been coming along really well."

Players Mentioned

Kaila Charles

Brionna Jones

Destiny Slocum

Shatori Walker-Kimbrough

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