Postgame Quotes: Oregon vs. USC
Kelly Graves, Head Coach-
Overall thoughts on the game…
“What a great night, what a chance to celebrate an awesome group of seniors. I’m really happy for them, I’m happy that it was a hard fought game… In the end we made some key stops down the stretch… I was glad to get number 20. There is something magical about that 20th win, I don’t know what it is for coaches….That was a good one no question.”
On Jillian stepping up at the end…
“She is the one we should always go to when we need it that’s for sure. She had another Jillian Alleyne night. We still hope to have a lot of games left, but I hope the fans appreciate what they have seen the past four years with her. It’s incredible what she does night in, and night out… I’m really happy for her, along with all the seniors.”
On what the message was heading into this game…
“We talked about this in terms as a post-season game really. We need to win games down the stretch, and so it had the feel of a post-season game a little bit. We were really prepared. Our kids came in and practiced really well yesterday. We were just ready today.”
On Liz Brenner’s performance…
“We needed her, she played a great game. Talk about two strong players down low, between their No. 35 and Liz… I thought, defensively, Liz was terrific tonight, she scored a couple buckets, and really just gave us a lift… Quite frankly, I think that Liz and her situation with her Dad has really brought the team together. We all love Liz and I think down the stretch we have really done it for her. It’s nice to see, that’s what team is all about.”
Jillian Alleyne - Forward, Senior
On playing her last game at Matthew Knight Arena…
“With a win and a 20th win, it’s amazing. This is the first time since I’ve been here that we’ve gotten 20 wins. It’s been amazing. There’s not just one word to categorize my experience here.”
On the slow start…
“I think in the beginning of the game there was some emotion, but coach told us to wait until after the game. We want to celebrate a win and to hold those emotions back. That first quarter was a really tough quarter for us but we picked it up in the second quarter and we never looked back”
On the senior class
“This senior class connects the past and the future. We’ve been here through the coach switching and the different teammates, so I think that our class is a big deal because we connect the two.”
Maite Cazorla - Guard, Freshman
On getting to the basket…
“Coach said to me that I have to be aggressive … They couldn’t stop me, so I just tried to be aggressive and go to the rim every time.”
On playing USC previously…
“I don’t think I was aggressive last time, so maybe I had opportunity to go to the rim but I didn’t look at it.”
