University of Houston Athletics
Houston-Rice Postgame Quotes
2/10/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 10, 2011
Head Coach Todd Buchanan
Opening Statement
"Zalika (Dyson)'s story is incredible, and we played very mediocre at best in the first half. There were spots when she (Dyson) came in and changed the game, not only with her play, but with her emotion and her heart. She got our crowd into it. It seemed like everyone in the building was about to go to sleep. It was just one of those games. She was completely the difference from an emotional standpoint. Brittney Scott kept us in the game and gave us that 10-point cushion in the first 20 minutes. Other than that, we were mediocre at best."
On Zalika Dyson's performance
"We have stuck with Zalika from day one. Number one, she is a tremendous kid. Number two, nobody has gone through what she has gone through. She had reconstructive surgery after an ACL tear, I was very open and honest with her on the first day. I asked her if she really wanted to do this. I said, `Do you feel in your heart you can do this?' She said, `I do coach, I want this more than anything. I will do whatever it takes.' And she certainly has her good days and her bad days, but this is the progress we were waiting for. You can't just go and get a 6-4 kid with her skill set. Her skill set before the knee injury and now are both very good. She is the complete package.
She also buys minutes. Especially in Las Vegas, when we had to play three games in three days. She has been able to do that for us the entire year. She did that for us when we returned to her home at New Mexico State. Tonight was definitely the most productive minutes for her by far. She has been there doing the little things. I am proud of her and happy for her."
On the team's first half struggles
"I was not happy with the first half. I said what I needed to say and was proud with the way we responded. Porsche Landry got us going, our transition game came to life and that's what I was frustrated with (in the first half). Rice switched to a bigger lineup to counter our bigger lineup. My frustration was that they went as big as they possibly could go and we didn't read where our transition game should have been turned up 10 notches. We gave up the opportunity to push the basketball and score baskets on the fast break. That is when we are at our best. We can run a half court game when we need to but we were self-inflicting ourselves by not pushing the basketball.
I said in the timeout that I want to play as fast and as quick as anybody. We can play quick without having to play fast. We know the difference and there is a big difference. There is no reason to dribble the ball as fast as we can when there are four people ready to meet us in the lane. That was biggest difference between the first half and the second half. Porsche got us going, Scott stayed on target and Zalika came in and gave us a huge lift."
Freshman Center Zalika Dyson
On her performance against Rice
"I thought I needed to step up today, and I felt like I did that. I'm so happy with the way we played and the way it worked out. Sometimes you just have to step up."
On how her knee feels
"It felt good today. I know when I'm going to have a good day and when I'm not, and I thought it was going to be a good day. I had a lot of heart today because it was Rice, and I never know which game is going to be my last."
On the team's approach to guarding Jessica Kuster
"We just needed to guard her. She's good, but we felt like if we guarded the drive and tried not to foul then we would stop her."
On being 10-0 in Conference USA
"It feels good."
Junior Guard Porsche Landry
On taking over in the second half
"I think my momentum was high in the first half, too, but I got in foul trouble early so I tried to just pick up where I left off."
On controlling the tempo
"Our style is fast tempo. We press and run, basically looking for the person who's out first, just trying to push the ball. We knew if we pushed the ball we would push the lead."
On friendships made through the crosstown rivalry
"I know the point guard (D'Frantz) Smart and (Brianna) Hypolite. We play open gyms together."
On being 10-0 in Conference USA
"It does feel good, but we just have to take it one game at a time. We can't take anybody lightly because we can lose any night. We're just trying to play hard and stay undefeated."
Senior Forward Courtney Taylor
On what teammate Zalika Dyson provided Wednesday "She stepped up big when everybody else was struggling. She was cleaning up. I think she did a good job."
On friendships made through the rivalry
(Laughing) "I know a few of the players, but there won't be any trash talking."
On determination to keep going inside
"You just have to keep going at people. You can't just settle. She (Kuster) had some good blocks."
On what teammate Porsche Landry's big start meant to the team
"It was very big because they couldn't contain her. Especially going into the lane, which opened up everybody else. Nobody could play sag defense on us because she was getting to the basket."
On different people stepping up during the game
"It's good knowing that when somebody has an off game, other people can step up and contribute. It's good that we're building depth on our team."
On the 10-point lead at the half
"We felt like we missed opportunities. The first half was really slow. We all felt like robots on offense."
