Dec. 29, 2007

Recap |  Box Score |  Photo Gallery 

Head Coach Jim Jabir
"I think [our second half performance] was a combination of me not doing a great job coaching how to defend the kick and roll and the lack of defensive intensity in second half. I think a combination of these things really could have helped them more on defending the kick and roll. That is where they really hurt us. I don't think we came out to play great. We didn't box out very physically and we weren't very aggressive. Those are a couple things that we need to work on and improve upon."

"I was hoping to give our starters a rest and bring some people off the bench, but I didn't want to put down Cornell. Since we play tomorrow though, I planned on using the bench more if I could to save the starters. I was able to do just that."

"I've always said that when we get help from a lot of different people and contributions from lots of people it helps. Kiki really fired it up in the first half. Then Kelly came in for her second game in a row and did some great things defensively on the boards and scored a little bit. She also put 5 blocked shots on the board. We saw really good things from a variety of people. Every night has different people that stand out. I think Ashley Brown did well with 7 rebounds. It was a good night. We got outscored in the second half and that was unfortunate, so we need to know come out stronger tomorrow.

"I think Kelly is blessed with great size, skill, agility, ability, and athleticism. What has happened now is she feels more comfortable out there and I think that is the biggest part. She feels like she belongs out there and I feel like she has more confidence in herself and is more aware of what's being asked of her."

"I don't think about our 12-0 streak. I don't talk about the streak. I don't care about the streak. At the end of the year, hopefully there will be a lot to celebrate including a streak, but right now all I care about is Central Michigan. If you focus on the wrong things, you can slip up and lose a game and there goes your streak. The only thing I'm concentrating on is beating Central Michigan tomorrow."

"Our intensity has to be there from the jump and we have to keep that intensity for all 40 minutes of the game. We have to do that for sure to win tomorrow's game. Also, Central Michigan is very athletic and they hit the boards. We have to be very aware of where they are. They run an offense with very little patterns, so our defense has to be mentally aware of where the opponents are at all time."

Kelly Keil
"I thought we played really hard. We always come out ready to go. There are moments we lacked intensity and possessions, both offensive and defensive, but we kept it together and we didn't let them get to close. We were able to finish strong, which is important. Hopefully tomorrow we will play a little better."

"I didn't do anything different in the game today. I just put it all out there. Sometimes shots fall and sometimes they don't. I guess I was just lucky."

Nikki Oakland
"It is great having Kelly back there. She is getting more comfortable around the basket. She's going to be huge for us. She came through last game with that awesome block. She is an awesome player. I'm glad I have somebody like her behind me."

"Overall, we could have played better. We didn't come out with our usual intensity. We need to work on our rotation on the outside. All that really matters is that we won. We get another chance tomorrow to show what we can do."