March 23, 2004Head Coach Bonnie Henrickson
"Certainly congratulations to Penn Sate, and in particular Jess Strom and Tanisha Wright. Two kids who, when their leading scorer and leader is struggling, toughened up and carried the basketball team to create separation at the 15-minute mark of the second half."
On the Penn State defense:
"I thought we handled their defense fairly well in the first half. Certainly we didn't execute very well against the 3-2. They slipped some screens and got to Mason as we tried to run her on the baseline. I thought if we struggled at all against Iowa, it was against the half court 3-2 that they played, and certainly [Penn State Head Coach] Rene {Portland} does a great job and I'm sure she noticed that like I did."
On Penn State's 16-2 run in the second half:
"If you go back and look at that run, there's nothing in a half-court set. It's all busted plays or layups. Our offense became their offense and Jess Strom was very aggressive off the dribble and got layups. We didn't bring help early enough and she got to the rim. Give Tanisha Wright credit. She can play you one on one."
Student-Athlete Carrie Mason On Tanisha Wright and Jess Strom:
"They did a great job of creating offense from their defense in the second half. They made their run in transition. They were taking layups and open threes instead of contested shots. Give them credit because they did a great job. They led their team like they needed to and they played good defense and knocked down shots when they got the chance."
On Penn State's 16-2 run in the second half:
"We weren't able to answer. We weren't taking care of the ball and they were getting open threes and layups, and you really can't defend that. And then they were getting to the offensive glass. They did a great job of going to the boards. We just didn't have an answer for it, and that really killed us. Maybe we did get a little tentative and weren't as aggressive. Not to take anything away from their defense, but we weren't taking care of the ball the way we should have."
Student-Athlete Kerri Gardin On guarding Tanisha Wright:
"It was difficult. Our game plan going in was to force her to the left. She's stronger going right, but certainly she's strong going left because she can score in many different ways. I just wanted to try to stay with her, stay on balance and just try to contest every shot. But she played a great game. She stepped up big."
"It's very disappointing right now. Our goal was to make the Sweet Sixteen, and just not making it is disappointing, especially to the seniors because it is their last time playing on this home floor."
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