Jan. 15, 2001
Connecticut Coach Geno Auriemma
“I think that from the opening tip, Notre Dame was the better team. They were better in absolutely every single area – executing their offense, getting out on our shooters, limiting us to one shot most of the time. – They outplayed us.”
On the play of Kelly Siemon
“She’s a tough kid. – From an emotional standpoint, they really took advantage of it. They all played well today. They played well as a team, they played well off each other. They did all the things that good teams do.”
On the game’s significance
“Five years from now, we’ll look back and say they beat us on Martin Luther King Day. It’s unrealistic to say that you are going to go out and beat the really, really good teams all the time.”
“It’s good for Notre Dame and the game. You want more sold-out arenas around the country. It wasn’t good for us. – but we didn’t deserve to win.”
On Ruth Riley’s play
“I think her presence defensively was more important than offensively, and she scored 29 points. Her presence in the lane made us a jump-shooting team. We never were able to get opportunities in the lane to make her do more than she wants to do.”
On Shea Ralph’s lack of second-half playing time
“She has been struggling a bit recently, physically and in her game. She didn’t ?have it’ in shootaround either.”
On the atmosphere
“The first time we came out her they had 8,000 fans. But today was better. I think it was awesome.”
“I think our team is surprised when teams play really well against us.”
“When it doesn’t go like you want, we’re not sure how to deal with it this year.”
Notre Dame Coach Muffet McGraw
On the victory over Connecticut:
“I am thrilled with the way we came out to start the game. They pressured us and we made some turnovers, but we kept our poise. We scored 92 points on UConn. They are such a great team with such great players. It was our day. I’m proud of the way our team played.
On the atmosphere in the Joyce Center with largest crowd for a women’s game at Notre Dame:
“It was great to see the Joyce Center full. It’s a dream I’ve had since I got here. The crowd was outstanding.”
On Kelley Siemon playing with a broken hand:
“Kelley was the catalyst for the team. She really set the tone for the game. She just said, ‘I don’t care what’s wrong with my hand, I’m playing.’ She gave us an outstanding effort today.”
On handling Connecticut’s pressure defense:
“Our game plan was to attack the press and get down the floor quickly. We wanted to make sure we got a good shot, go inside to Ruth for layups or get the ball outside to Alicia (Ratay) or Niele (Ivey) for a three. We got a lot of three-on-twos when we broke the trap.”
On the play of Ruth Riley :
“I haven’t seen a better big-game performance than the one Ruth had today. She shot the ball well. She only took 11 shots and scored 29 points. She had 12 rebounds, five blocks and four assists. She did a little bit of everything today. It was an All-American, Player-of- the-Year type performance.”
“Ruth played physical, but she played smart. The big thing is we were able to keep her on the floor. We helped her down low which we didn’t do last year in Hartford when she only played 12 minutes. She was the best player in the country today.”
Guard Niele Ivey
On the win:
I’m still kind of shocked. It feels like someone hit me upside the head. Connecticut is a great team. We just worked really hard and everybody fought and gave it their all.
On the 2-3 zone:
It’s just easier for me and allows me to rest more. Since I have Ruth (Riley) and Kelley (Siemon) and Ericka (Haney), I don’t have to worry too much about the defense behind me.
On Siemon’s broken hand:
I found out on television that night, so I had no idea that it happened during the game. Kelley just told me, ‘if this is what I have to do to get to the championship, then this is what I’ll do.’ She didn’t play like she had a broken hand, though.
Center Ruth Riley
On the win:
This is an excellent win for our program. It was a battle out there, but we feel we made a statement as seniors. We know it’s still early in the season, but it shows where we are right now.
On her ankle:
It’s a little sore right now, but in the game I didn’t really think about it.
On playing the first half without a foul:
It was a great feeling. I had to give up a couple of shots so that I didn’t foul, but I wanted to be out on the court and do my job.
Forward Kelley Siemon
On her broken hand:
Before the game it was pretty sore. I tried to shoot, but really couldn’t. Once the game started and the adrenaline started pumping, I really couldn’t feel it. When I tried to catch a pass or rebound it did kind of bother me, but it was OK.
On possible surgery for her broken hand:
It’s still a possibility, but now the doctors think I might not need it. We’re going to look at it again tomorrow and see how it looks.
On her free-throw shooting:
I can make them in practice, so I don’t know what it is. It has to be mental. I think ever since the Georgia game when I air-balled two of them I’ve just been thinking, ‘Hit the rim.’ Today, though, I’ll blame it on my hand.
Connecticut junior guard Sue Bird
On Notre Dame’s performance . . .
“You’ve got to give them credit. I’m sure they had a game plan and they definitely executed it. They were the more aggressive team right from the start — that was evident.”
On Connecticut’s performance . . .
“I’m embarrassed personally. I think a lot of people did come out and play, but collectively — no way (did we play like we can). As a group we did not do what we planned on doing. We just didn’t play the way we normally can. I don’t know what to attribute that to.”
“I don’t think it was necessarily a case of a defense or offense, but more a fact of not diving on loose balls or hustle plays or making stupid fouls on our part. I don’t think it was an Xs and Os thing. It’s figuring out how to win and we didn’t.”
On the loss . . .
“It’d be different if we had played as hard as we could and as well as we could and they still beat us the way they did. This wasn’t Connecticut basketball. I can tell you that.”
Connecticut senior forward Svetlana Abrosimova
On Notre Dame’s defense . . .
“They played zone for 40 minutes straight so we were getting a lot of wide-open shots. But for some reason, people were afraid to take the shots at the right time. They played really good defense today. It was hard to get inside because their post players played really well. They just executed better than we did.”