Head Coach Brenda Frese
Opening statement:
"This one is special. This one I am going to remember for a long time. You couldn't have scripted it any better for our seniors to be able to send them out in a game of this fashion. A picture-perfect game, I thought, in terms of how we were able to dominate. We were clicking on all cylinders and they set the tone with their energy and they were locked in from the minute the ball went up.
 
“Again, it just goes back to why they have won so much in their college careers. There was no doubt about the statement they were going to make tonight. To be able to see all four seniors score and the energy that they had and what this team played for shows a lot in terms of what we were able to do. I thought we did a phenomenal job defensively. We knew Rachel Banham, we were hoping to be able to hold her under 30. We were able to do that. She is a heck of a player. We were able to move on through her deep threes that she took. Just a tremendous team defense in terms of what we wanted to get accomplished tonight.”
 
On starting all the seniors:
"It is a special time for us. They know the kind of feelings I hold towards our seniors and the reason we play the season is for them. No question to be able to honor them and all their hard work and sacrifices these four have had in their career. It is special to be able to send them out the right way.”
 
On overcoming adversity:
"It gives you great perspective. It is a marathon not a sprint. We had that road swing and difficult stretches. In February we had a lot of games. It's not getting too high or too low. I know this team won't do that. Going into the Big Ten tournament it is a new season."
 
On senior Tierney Pfirman:
"She was a monster. I talked about this in the locker room before the game, each one of these four have their own story and they all had to overcome diversity and fight. For Tierney it was injuries throughout her entire career. How fitting for her to be able to have a night like this and for our seniors to be able to go out like this in terms of everything they have meant to our program.”

Senior Guard Chloe Pavlech
On winning Big Ten championship again:
“It feels awesome. We definitely had a little bit of luck and coming into this game we all talked and said we wanted to be Big Ten Champions again. This game meant a lot to the seniors and a lot to this team.”

Senior Forward Tierney Pfirman
On Senior Night:
“It feels good. Without my teammates I wouldn't be able to do it. They gave me the confidence to keep shooting the ball. I just kind of go with the flow. I just go out, have fun and play.”

Senior Guard Brene Moseley
On winning the Big Ten Championship:
“I was proud. We put in a lot of work during the off-season. To have this dominant finish at the end just speaks volume to all the work we have put in. I just congratulated them but made sure we stayed focused on the rest of the season.”

Senior Center Malina Howard
On this season's success:
“Coming into the season it's a different team and a different feel. We have good relationship and good chemistry. We all care about each other. Its special when you have a team that all plays for each other. Every on the team stepped up and it's been awesome to watch.”

Minnesota Head Coach Marlene Stollings
On fast break points:
“A couple poor decisions on our end and then just being a little bit rattled. We took some shots that we normally like to take and we missed them and that kind of ignited their fast break because those were long rebounds. It put us in a bad situation in terms of getting back.”

On getting the game to within two in the second quarter:
“Well it is a game of runs and they went on one. This time a year it's about matching energy and intensity and I thought that it kind of put us back on our heels rather than stepping up and matching their intensity. Instead of stopping the run it just kind of continued.”

On Tierney Pfirman's performance:
“We know she's a very capable scorer and very dangerous scorer especially at the power forward position. She is more like a guard and we just didn't get to her quickly enough. We were very aware that she could catch and shoot from just about anywhere and obviously from the three-point line. We were just delayed on our coverage's to her.”

On position in Big Ten Tournament:
“Well, we are where we are so we will go back and regroup. Tournaments are an opportunity and that is how we are going to approach it. It is zero-zero for everybody. We have obviously played with one of the best teams in the conference in Ohio State and beaten them. It is an opportunity for us to go in there and start again zero, zero."

Senior Guard Rachel Banham
On what she saw on the bench after getting two fouls:
“I think the biggest thing was some really bad turnovers. They play some good defense, but we had some uncharacteristic turnovers. That led to a lot of really easy layups and that was kind of killing us. I think we let them get too many offensive boards and put backs."

On defensive game plan:
“Yeah we talked about defending penetration and defending the 3-point line. They scored from both of those so we didn't do a very good job of that. We didn't stay disciplined to what we were supposed to do.”

On reaching Big Ten scoring record:
“Yeah it is always good to achieve those goals, but of course I want to get the win and that is really what I am focused on right now, the team goals and getting our team to the tournament so I'm just going to be ready for the Big Ten Tournament.”