Women's Basketball Postgame Quotes vs. Huston-Tillotson
11/9/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 9, 2010
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HOUSTON HEAD COACH Todd Buchanan
On his initial thoughts on the game
"I was really proud of them. I told them it was a great start, but don't be satisfied because it's going to get a whole lot tougher from here on out. I think they understand that. This is a veteran group. They came in and took care of business. Our zone defense is very new, but we did what we needed to do there and where we will continue to work at that."
On the performance of his newcomers
"They did, for the most part, very well. Mae (Woods) grew up tonight. I thought she played really well for the most part. I think the others still have room for growth. I see some signs in Bre (Breana Williams) and Allie Henderson, but they have a long ways to go to get where we need for them to be so they can help us be the best team we can as well as for depth purposes."
On the return of Zalika Dyson and her effort in the exhibition
"We had a good heart-to-heart on my second or third day on the job and I asked her if she really wanted to do this. With her knee situation, nobody could blame her if she had said `Coach, I do want to do this, but I can't' and walk away from it. She committed to doing everything we've asked her to do and then some. For her to have gone through everything she's gone through from April, and even before, to do what she's doing in practice and what she did tonight is incredible. She gets a rebound tonight and goes coast-to-coast, I called her Kobe Bryant when she came to the bench. It's incredible. It's one of those great stories that you get to share in college athletics when great kids do what they're supposed to do everyday, pay the price and now we're getting rewarded by it."
On feeling prepared for the season opener on Sunday against UT Arlington
"As a coach you never feel like you have enough time to prepare, but I feel good about where we're at. I feel like tonight was a big step forward. A lot of our kids needed some confidence. Everybody talks about Courtney, (Brittney) Scott, (Brittany) Mason and the seniors and they should, it's very well deserved. But when you get past four or five players, we are really young. That's what I don't think people understand. (Zalika) didn't play at all last year due to injury. Megan Workman played very little minutes, obviously the three freshmen are the three freshmen. This is their first go at it. So, we're really top heavy in a sense of the veterans, but once you go from there we become a very young, very inexperienced team. Tonight was good for us to get quality minutes for us to go forward and get ready for Texas Arlington on Sunday."
On handling Zalika Dyson's minutes
"We're going to communicate like we do everyday. When you're a coach, you're a dad, you're a big brother and you're all of those things. I told everybody from day one, we're going to be a family and as a family, we're going to take care of each other. But speaking specifically about Zalika, I've used the analogy comparing her to (Houston Rockets' center) Yao Ming. We're going to limit her minutes and try to do some game management like we did today, as far as using media timeouts and those kind of things to get the most out of her and her game. That was kind of the test under that four-minute media mark. I wanted to put her in, then put her on the bike then get her back in and see how she responded. She responded great, so that's how we're going to handle it."
REDSHIRT FRESHMAN FORWARD Zalika Dyson
On how it feels to have her play complimented by Coach Buchanan
"It means a lot that he says those things because it means so much to me. The girls are so supportive and I wouldn't be able to do it without them. If the girls didn't cheer me on every time I went down the court I would break down. It means a lot that they are very supportive of what I am trying to do. I just want to do my best for the team, whatever I can put out. If one night I can only get rebounds than that's all I will do, or if I can only play defense then that's what I will do."
On being in game-ready shape
"I am almost there. I still have some more work to do, but it feels really good to be out there and I feel like I can only go up from here."
SENIOR FORWARD Courtney Taylor
On Zalika Dyson
"She stepped up big tonight. She finally got to play after missing out last year. She hated not being able to play and we hated it for her. We are kind of deep in the post position this year, which is a good thing."
On her opinion of the team's performance
"We have a good coaching staff. They talked to us and told us where we need to be. Coach (Ravon) Justice had cards out for everybody telling us what we did well, what we did wrong, and what we need to work on. During practice we have been working on those things and getting better."
On being ready for the season
"I am ready. We are ready."
