Postgame Quotes
Wisconsin vs. Louisiana Tech
Nov. 14, 2015
Kohl Center - Madison, Wis.

COACH KELSEY: "I'm very proud of the team, this was a tough opponent. It was a good opponent for us to start out with. We knew they would come out and be aggressive and hit shots. They have some transfers that's we've seen before at Marquette: Santos and Pumroy. So we knew what they could do. But I thought that we made some adjustments at halftime and we really came out and did those things. New offense and they're learning it. When we run it, as you can see, it works. Now we have to show them the film and "Y'all just run it", and then we'll be fine. It was nice to get Mic (Michala Johnson) out there. I didn't go over 20 minutes, that was my order from Stef (Arndt). They were like, "Get her in" and I was like "no, because she's got to play the last two minutes of the game". We knew that at that time, because her and Avy (Young) kept that high-low going, Nicole hit some jumpers, Tessa had 16 rebounds – wow. What can we say? She's just a determined young lady and wants to get that basketball. We're very proud of the effort. Turnovers, obviously we have to get those down. Some of those are just flubs, making poor decisions. Those are things that we can clean up. Those are fixable."

On getting off to a slow start:
COACH KELSEY: "I wish I knew! If I did I would probably be a millionaire. I'd sell it to other coaches to figure out. I think some of it is just first game jitters. They know this one counts. Our men unfortunately found out last night, you have to come out and play. You've got to play on the defensive end. We had some nice spurts of stops. We had some nice transition baskets that we got. We didn't give up any that I remember so to speak. Maybe one or two here and there but that's our goal to not give up transition but to get them. I think it's just nerves. Mic's back for the first game, she's nervous. I'm nervous, I'm like "get her out, please get her out". But the usual suspects did a great job.

On Louisiana Tech using the press:
COACH KELSEY: "We had film. We knew. I was yelling watch the press on the free throws. It was a zone press. But once we got passed that first line it was pretty much off to the races. So I wasn't surprised with that. I thought we did a good job of breaking it, a little sloppy and disjointed, but for the most part we didn't turn it over so that was good."

On Dakota Whyte's role on the court:
COACH KELSEY: "I mean I get on her and I'm on her. But I try to smile when I'm doing it so it doesn't seem so bad – but I know what she can do and we're trying to get her to play at a different standard as the point guard because she is the coach on the floor. Sometimes she doesn't know her power. And so I want her to recognize it and really take charge out there. I'm not over there calling the plays. I want her to do that. I want Tessa, the guards to do that. Now if I want something I'll call it but I'm not big on that. The players play. Let them play. I try not to coach every pass and every dribble. I think I didn't do a great job of that tonight but I tried. But they know what to do they just have to slow down and do it. "

On calling the high-low three times after they cut it:
COACH KELSEY: "I think they did it by default one time. And I was like, 'Keep doing that, whatever that is keep doing it.'  Instead of popping Avy out, because we do have an offense where the four pops out. Last year Jacki (Gulczynski) could hit that three. But we don't have that four that can – I mean Marsha (Howard) took one tonight at a bad time – I don't mind her taking it but she has to know when to take it. Wasn't the best time, that's a freshman move. Had to get her out and talk to her. But we just told Avy to stay in that middle and work that. They were so worry about Nicole (Bauman) and Tessa (Cichy) on the wings, even Dakota, because they can all shoot. They started doing the high-low and I was like "whoa!" One time it was Mic to Avy, then Avy to Mic. That worked. I mean it was something like six straight points. Sometimes it just naturally happens on its own and you keep doing it."
 
On the bench players' performances:
COACH KELSEY: They struggled. It wasn't the best. But I thought Roichelle Marble came in and really gave us a spark. I mean Roichelle, that one move, she kind of, I don't know what she was doing but she made the basket. I think she's learning to be a point guard. Dakota is her, you know, she's showing her the ropes. Chelle hasn't played the whole year, she's almost like a freshman. She has the potential to be, I mean she can pound that ball and get there. She has to learn change of speed and hesitation, so her and Dakota have to have a little tutorial. But I thought. Michala (Johnson) came in and gave us good minutes. Rosie (Gambino) did a nice job coming in! Also Marsha (Howard), she struggled a little tonight. But freshman are going to hit that wall. But Marsha is a smart kid. She wants to play and she wants to get better. She's going to take the tape and I know she's going to do better next game. But were hungry to learn. Were hungry to see what we need to work on. Its kind of fun now to figure it out and get it straightened out before the next game. So were going to watch it and do even better next time.  
 
On closing out the game:
COACH KELSEY: Well it helps to have Mic, Avy, Chelle, and Rosie, they did not play last year. Just by them being out there, by default, you're going to finish better. There are 50 points there that didn't play (last year). I try to, if they go on a run, to use my timeouts that way. I called one to get Mic out, but I called one because I think they hit a three and two and I was like "Oh boy, here we go". Some of that's on us as a staff to make sure they are organized. Some of that is they have to recognize, don't come down and do these crazy things. If we have the momentum don't mess it up. Were all trying to get better with that. But I think they did a great job. Dakota settled down, she did a great job. So I was happy with their efforts.


Senior G Tessa Cichy 
On her rebounding:
"It helps when the rest of your team boxes out, so if everyone boxes out you know you can go grab the board, so I think that helped a little bit. A lot of them came my way, so it's effort but it's also a team effort because everyone needs to box out in order for me to get it as well."
 
Senior F/C Michala Johnson
On how it felt to compete again:
"I was a little nervous in the beginning, but after the first couple minutes of the game that kind of went away. It felt good and I was happy to be back out there with my teammates being able to play again. I could only play 20 minutes, so I really wanted to keep playing but I know I had to stop."
 
On her play in the second half:
"Pretty much just look for me. They just looked for me so I could make quick moves and then go from there so I could work in and out."
 
On making her minutes count:
"I don't even really think about the minutes. I just have to be patient on offense and defense, because if I think about the minutes then I won't be able to focus on what we really need to do."
 
Senior G Dakota Whyte
On her adjustments throughout the game:
"Definitely just by slowing down and understanding that we needed to run the offense. Coach is always in my ear saying we need to run the offense and she's definitely right. That's something that I have to recognize on my part, but sometimes it's just going too fast and their pressure kind of speeds you up but it was on me to be able to recognize that and slow down for my team so that we could score."

Louisiana Tech Head Coach Tyler Summitt
Opening statement:
"I definitely want to credit Wisconsin and their staff and their team. They looked like a well-oiled machine and a veteran team, so you got to credit them for this game and their coaching staff for a great game plan. I thought the third quarter was the difference, the way they responded after half time was very impressive and we could not match their intensity. So for us, returning zero starters and them returning four starters, you could just see the difference in experience.
 
So again, I have to credit them for a very good game overall. We'll use this as a learning lesson, and we have eight newcomers, so with only four returners we are going to go back and really use this as a learning lesson."
 
On his decision to press:
"We looked at Wisconsin last year and I think they averaged 17 turnovers a game or something like that, so we wanted to see how they would handle the press. With our athleticism, we got to try to open up the floor, get out in transition and speed the game up. I thought they did a great job handling, got a lot of easy baskets, so again, they had a good game plan against our press."
 
On the hardest matchup:
"I would say the three returning guards, they're all very tough. I know Michala [Johnson] didn't play as much, and obviously she's a monster, but I think Dakota [Whyte] really gets them going. Off that high ball screen, in transition, we really tried to slow her down and could not slow her down. That ignites their offense, that gets them more aggressive overall. It was a tough matchup no matter how we guarded that high ball screen, no matter who we put on her she could get to the rim. Again, top to bottom a very good, very talented team and I'm excited to see how they do this year."
 
On the first half compared to the second half:
"I don't know, I just see a veteran team when they bounced back in that third quarter, so I don't think they knew what to expect. There's no film on us, there's no starters coming back, I don't know how they scouted us and I don't know how they would have unless they got high school film of all of our freshman, but again I think they responded well. I was pleased with how we came out in the first two quarters and I thought they finished out the second quarter strong right before halftime, which that momentum led into the third quarter. Again, I was proud of the way we played in the first half. As a young team, we've got to learn when things started not going well in that third quarter, how to respond ourselves."