Wisconsin vs. Purdue Post-Game Quotes
Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2017
Kohl Center

Head Coach Jonathan Tsipis
 
Opening statement: "I think a huge turning point, the game was 48-44 with about five minutes and 35 seconds left. (We were) concerned at halftime (that) we had 13 turnovers at halftime (and) we didn't feel like they were necessarily capitalizing off of them and we had dodged a bullet.
 
But I think in the second half we allowed the turnovers to deflate us. When they're 18-31 from the field in the second half, you take the threes out and they're shooting 75 percent from the field. There's a reason there's 14 fast-break points and we don't have any. They were able to convert those.
 
"We looked scared to be able to attack. I though we, especially Cayla (McMorris), battled on the offensive glass but didn't have a lot to show for it. I think the frustration of understanding a game is of two halves and if you have a bad half shooting, a bad half turning the ball over, there's so many other things that you can do to help a team.
 
"I think the No. 1 thing is you have to be able to defend and rebound. The rebounding numbers are in our favor but part of that is because of the high percentage they shot in the second half. The execution on our end, so much of it I believe is when we cut to spots, we become stationary, and we don't get a 50/50 ball that's maybe on a bad pass. We catch a ball and then we slam into somebody.
 
"I give Purdue credit. They had kids in foul trouble in the first half. They did a great job in the second half of making us shoot over top. The difference is we are 11-33 from the field in the second half.
 
"I think that last play in the game is kind of an exclamation point. They were aggressive, they got a steal, they pushed it and they were able to convert.
 
"There's two things we ask of our team every time, and that's to play with great effort and energy and to be able to do the things you can control. We were the team with more energy in the first half and we didn't let the turnovers bother us. There's still way too many.
 
"But in the second half, I think it seeped into everything. It seeped into free throws, just disappointment when you miss shots. All those things we took to the other end of the floor. You're not going to win games in the Big Ten. I don't care if you're home, away, neutral site. We've got to be able to be more than the sum of our parts. We look like a lot of parts out there. I think it's very telling that it's almost completely reversed. We have 10 assists on 24 made baskets. Purdue has 23 assists on 30 (makes) with nine turnovers and ours is 10 assists on 24 turnovers."
 
On what spurred the change in momentum: "When we watch on the film, I think you'll see their energy level really increased when they got a couple of (baskets) off the defensive breakdowns, off the transition baskets. They had four fast break points in the first half. One was on a turnover and a run out by (Lamina) Cooper but you could see not only the momentum switching. It was not all of the sudden that it was three on two rather than three on three. They had wide open lay-ups.
 
"We made decisions on loose balls where we needed to make sure to just get the rim and we went after a ball that we weren't going to get to and all of the sudden they have a layup on the other end.
 
"(Andreona) Keys is someone who had not been shooting the three well. The problem is she got a wide-open look in the first half. She's a division one college basketball player and she's able to then knock two down in the second half. The kid does such a good job; I'm surprised she only had two offensive rebounds. She just plays with such a high energy level.
 
"Ashley Morrissette is a kid I've know for a long time being from Ohio. When your point guard has six assists and no turnovers, they're dictating the shots to the right people. I felt like once they made that initial run, we were trying to get it almost all back every single possession as opposed to getting a stop, getting a score, getting a stop and building off of that part.
 
"I've got to make sure that they don't feel like the pressure of the world is on their shoulders. It's a basketball game. It's a game of having a lot of pride on the defensive end and not letting things creep into your mindset of how that's going to be and trying to rest at any point. The offensive end is having confidence and confidence starts on getting open. It doesn't necessarily mean just shots you're taking. We have people crashing and getting to the offensive glass. We've got to finish. We've got to get to the free-throw line. Getting fouled in that case is a way to stop a run.
 
"I think we talked about that at halftime. Again we're under 10 free throws attempted. That was a strength of ours in the non-conference. We were second in the league. I think it happens a lot more than just when you get fouled in the act of shooting. It's a matter of being the aggressor on every catch, every loose ball, being a threat every time that you catch it. We had kids come in the game, whether starters or off the bench. They were on the floor but they weren't. They weren't a threat I think is the best way to put that."
 
Freshman Kendra Van Leeuwen
 
On what happened in the third quarter: "I definitely take it personally. As a team you need to come together. We showed excellent fight in the first half but even if our shots aren't going in we can't let that bleed into our defense because we can always control our effort. I think that's where we need to push ourselves and we can do that in practice everyday and then it's going to turn over on the court."
 
On if the momentum change could be felt: "The momentum was shifting but it's also in our power that we are in control of what we do on defense and whether we want to keep someone in front of us or make the extra rotation. It's ultimately our decision and I think that moving forward we can do that and we're going to because we want to keep getting better."