Nov. 17, 2011
Recap | Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery 
Kentucky Head Coach Matthew Mitchell
Opening statement…
“I was glad to win tonight. It was good to get another game in the win column. I was very pleased with the intensity in the first half. I thought that first 20 minutes was really tough. We played really hard that first 20 minutes and clearly we didn’t have as good effort in the second half. That is going to be the challenge for this team, trying to figure out how to keep the intensity going for this team and it’s not easy. It’s difficult to do. So that will be a big challenge for us and I think this group will be up to it so we’ll see what we can learn from a varied performance tonight, some really good and some really not so good.”
On the second half energy being impacted from playing just two nights ago…
“I don’t think that was it. I think our second group, for whatever reason, didn’t come with a lot of intensity. I thought Northeastern did some good things and made good adjustments at halftime, but I think our first team did well. Our second group was real subpar tonight with low energy. If we don’t have everybody clicking it looks bad. I don’t think that had much to do with it because kids that played the other night played really hard tonight. A’dia Mathies, Amber Smith, Azia Bishop all played with intensity, so I think it was more mental than physical.”
On the play of the two freshmen…
“I thought Azia, just the way she carried herself and her presence on the floor, has been much better than what it has been. She made a lot of freshman errors once she got offensive boards. She is in there mixing it up but brings the ball down way too much. Those are things that can be corrected with experience. I’m not that pleased with (Bria) Goss’ defense tonight, but one thing I found about Bria Goss is if you bring it to her attention she will try to get it straightened out. I like those two freshmen, they are good players.”
On shooting 28 3-pointers…
“Too many. We really played poorly in the second half. Northeastern did a very good job of making us take the shots they wanted us to take. I didn’t feel like we were patient enough or aggressive enough trying to get the ball inside. We’re not playing well with our zone offense right now and that’s a lot of the coach’s fault. I have to do a better job of teaching them how to play against the zone. It was a little bit of fool’s gold. We really got off to a hot start from the three and then just kind of fell in love with it and it didn’t look good there the last 10 minutes, shooting too many 3-pointers instead of attacking the paint.”
On Keyla (Snowden) going over 1,000 points for her career…
“I think that’s a tremendous accomplishment. I think it’s an incredible accomplishment for Keyla Snowden. She has had some terrific moments here at Kentucky for a kid that was not originally recruited at this level out of high school and now getting a chance to come back here and play at a high level and be on an Elite Eight team and two NCAA Tournament teams and hopefully this year will be a great year. I’m really proud of Keyla, (because) she gets a lot out of her ability. I think it’s outstanding. It is something you can be proud of and I think being able to tell someone ‘I was a 1,000-point scorer in college’ is terrific.”
Kentucky Players
#1 A’dia Mathies, Junior, G
On how she is physically after hitting her head on the floor …
“I’m fine. She just smacked me and I hit the floor hard, but I’m fine.”
On if UK let down after obtaining a large second-half lead …
“I don’t expect any team to give up. I don’t want to let up. We expect to play hard every play. We need to work on doing the same things that (Northeastern) did (in the second half).”
# 4 Keyla Snowden, Senior, G
On achieving 1,000 career points …
“I’m really happy. I just feel a sense of accomplishment. I feel proud of myself for being able to do that (go over 1,000 career points). I juts want to say how thankful I am for being given the opportunity to come back and play here in front of my hometown and my family.”
On the praise from Matthew Mitchell …
“It means a lot coming from our coach. He was the one that gave me the opportunity here, so I am really thankful he was able to do that for me, and I just hope that I can continue to be a positive player for my team.”
On what they take away from this game …
“We are supposed to continue the intensity. We lose focus and we let the score get to us mentally, and that’s not supposed to happen. We are going to work harder in practice.”
#50 Azia Bishop, Freshman, F
On if she is meaning to bank in the free throws …
“No, I really don’t mean to back it in, it really just happens. “
On how she has progressed in the first three games of the season …
“I have progressed a lot, and it helps to have all of that encouragement coming from the coaches. It means a lot.”
Northeastern Head Coach Daynia La-Force Mann
On the experience of playing in Memorial Coliseum…
“We enjoyed this experienced. I wanted to give my kids an opportunity to see what it’s like to play against teams on the highest level. That’s how we learn and I think we learned a lot today. We learned we have to handle pressure. We learned how to compete in an arena that’s full of fans with the energy that’s in this arena. I thought it was good for our kids just to compete on this level.”
On the specific things her team learned they need to work on…
“We have to learn how to handle pressure. In the first half we just didn’t do the right things. We weren’t using fundamentals in breaking traps. We weren’t using fundamentals in our press break. In the second half we did a much better job. We were much more composed. I think our kids handled the pressure much better in the second half.”
On what she thinks of UK’s team this year…
“I think they’re going to be really good. I think their full-court man pressure is really good. They’re very athletic. They read you and funnel you down the sideline, look to trap, and rotate up. They do all the right things for a man trap. I think if they keep that up, they’ll be very successful in the SEC.”
