Tonight's the first night in, I want to say over two years(?), that I'm not doing a postgame recap, but unfortunately I just don't have it in me to do it tonight. Apologies for missing the recap tonight, but I'm trying to fight something off from the last couple of days so I'm just a bit wiped out. Maybe I caught something from the team (kidding, mostly).
Here are some highlights from Coquese Washington's presser:
On what went wrong in the second quarter (outscored 25-9):
"Imani getting in foul trouble. Just not being able to have her out there. She absolutely kind of anchors us on the offensive end of the floor, so not having her out there with the foul trouble. Transition defense really hurt us in the second quarter. They got us in the numbers game and got both layups and hit threes. That second quarter really was the turning point of the game. We never really could quite overcome that deficit after that. Talking about the offense, kind of hasn't totally gotten going yet."
On what gives her confidence the offense can turn it around after a struggling stretch in Big Ten play:
"What gives me confidence is the work that I know that the players and the staff are putting in. We'll just keep grinding away as we get players healthier. Again, I said this a couple nights ago. Getting the continuity. Getting Faith. Two games ago, Faith was starting to play well, and then she gets sick, and she hasn't been in practice, hasn't been in games. Getting that continuity is one of the things that we need. When we can get that, I have a lot of confidence that we'll be able to put together some good offensive performances."
On if she likes the looks the offense is getting:
"I think we obviously can get better looks. I think we can do a better job of finishing in the paint. I think we can do a better job of finishing through contact. Getting to the free throw line. That was something that we were doing a better job earlier in conference play is getting to the free-throw line and knocking down free throws. I'd like to see us do some of those things a little bit more."
On getting Zachara Perkins and Nene Ndiaye back from illness:
"I thought Zachara gave a tremendous effort but she looked rusty. She hasn't practiced. She just was cleared yesterday and she wanted to play. We gave her a chance to play but I did think she looked a little rusty having been out for the time that she's been out. I thought Nene started to warm up as the game went along. You certainly see their impact and how we need them in the lineup."