Nov. 5, 2008
Recap | Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery 
Head Coach Matthew Mitchell
Opening statement …
“I thought we had good transition offense tonight. If we continue to work hard, that can lead to success. I thought we hustled tonight. We attacked the paint effectively. The press was something that we had not worked on a lot in practice but it showed signs of potential tonight. Overall, I thought it was a good night for us and tonight should help us get ready for this weekend.”
On Edelen starting her first career game…
“Well, our players this year are like the stock market. They will be open fortrades. Players will have to earn it. They will have to bring energy, enthusiasmand passion, and I thought she did that week. Our players are going to go outand give everything they can for the Blue and White. I thought she had some successesbut she also has some things to work on.”
On the return of Eleia Roddy…
“Eleia knows this year she is an important piece of our offense. I thought ourguards did a really good job of feeding her the ball tonight. I think Carly (Ormerod)did a really good job of that early and (Amber) Smith did too, That was somethingwe struggled with last year. We have to take what’s available. I challenged theteam to attack the paint; attack and finish.”
On the improvement of Roddy…
“Our assistant coach Wendy Palmer has really worked hard with our post playersto help them develop this year. Roddy has really raised the level of her game.Coach Palmer has helped our players max their potential and help those players.Roddy is a much better player than a year ago because she works hard and shehas put in the time.”
On the aggressive defense and rebounding tonight…
“We did a much better job of rebounding in the second half, we were only up byone at halftime. I thought it helped us build a sizable lead. We just need tocontinue to do better and progress. We had a goal of holding them under 35 percentshooting tonight and we were able to do that. Sometimes our defense was too aggressivewith the hand checks and we need to cut down on that. Creating points off turnoversneeds to be a strength for us. We had a tough time on offense last year. We needto use the press and aggressive defense to create opportunities and we got someof those late. I am happy with the results tonight.”
#00 Carly Ormerod
On Kentucky ‘s offense…
“We did a great job on offensive execution tonight. Also, our post can get upand down the floor well and we really run well. We have to make sure we pushthe ball every chance we get.”
On Kentucky State and Kentucky ‘s defense…
” Kentucky State had some easy shots that most teams would hit. They penetrateda little too easily on us as well. Those are two areas we need to work on. Comingout of this game we can start to see what we must improve on the defensive end.”
On turnovers against Kentucky State …
“We pressured them well, which caused them to turn the ball over a lot. We dida great job on that. Our team goal was to keep the turnovers under 13. We didn’treach that goal tonight and we need to do it next time.”
On teammate Eleia Roddy…
“She had a great night. Her shooting was 9-11 and that’s awesome execution. Shewas focused, determined and she got the job done tonight. We need her to do thatevery day.”
#25 Amani Franklin
On being able to score this year as compared to last year…
“I think that the score of this game definitely helped out, because scoring wasa big problem for us last year. We were a great defensive team. We finished inthe top four defensively in every category in the SEC last year, but our mainworry was scoring. Our seniors that departed last year gave us a lot of our points.I think that this year we are trying to work on that and have some players stepup and have that mentality to put points up on the board.
On scoring 99 points…
“I think that that’s the most we have scored since I have been at Kentucky. Ithink that that’s a great job for us. We just have to keep doing that and keepworking at it in practice. We will definitely be a team that runs up and downthe floor this year and score a lot of points like that.
On playing aggressive in an exhibition game…
“Even though it was an exhibition game we still have to go out there and workhard. We still had to pressure the ball and have pressure defense. That’s whatwe want to do and it all starts from the exhibition games so we can put thatinto a game that counts.”
On showing passion and power in games this year…
“I think that we lacked passion and power at times last year. It will definitelybe something that we show this year. This year we are trying to be more vocal.If not then we are running. But we have to be in high spirits throughout thegame even if we are on the bench.”
#1 Eleia Roddy
On being the leading scorer…
“We knew that everybody had to step up, not only me as a senior, but everybody.We wanted it to be a team win and a team step up. If we are going to win, weare going to win as a team; if we are going to lose, we are going to lose asa team. I was focused on being a presence in the post. I wanted to be determined,play hard and finish my shots. My mentality is if I take a shot, I take it forthe team.”
On being healthy…
“It’s been so long since I’ve been able to do anything. I can’t say I’m whereI was before I got injured, but I’m happy that I am where I am right now. I justwant to get better. This was like a warm-up. I know the competition is goingto get much faster and stronger. I only played 19 minutes and I know in futuregames I’m going to have to play more minutes. I want to go hard every minuteI’m on the court.”
On the importance of every player scoring…
“It’s a load off our shoulders. Last year there were times when we knew we hadto go to one player. If they couldn’t score, we just didn’t score. Now that wehave many threats, we are a team to compete with, because last year they couldshut down one or two players. This year we have many options.”
On the expectations of future games…
“This game was a confidence booster. We will look at what mistakes we made andlearn from them. We will also look at the good things we did and build upon those.”
On the differences this year…
“We have more determination and pride as a team. The leadership of this teamis different. Not just one person has stepped up and become a leader. Our mentalityhas changed. We have been through a lot as a team this summer and preseason.We have more pride and ownership in our team this year. We don’t ever want tobe embarrassed.”
Kentucky State Head Coach Stephanie Evans
Opening Statement…
“Obviously this game tonight was a great opportunity for us to come in and letus know where our program is, especially since we are hoping to go into postseasonplay this year. You want to have these games at the Division II level to getyou prepared and ready to play in the conference and postseason play. In thefirst half, I tried to focus in on some positive things we had done. We outreboundedthem for the majority of the first half and then ended up going into halftimeup one in the rebounding category. We also went 12-14 in the first half fromthe free-throw line. There were some things that we really did well. We gaveup a couple of shots and it made us a little discouraged. We did the same thingin the second half, getting discouraged after we missed a couple of shots. Iam extremely proud of my girls. I thought that we competed very well tonight.”
On if she wanted to push the ball inside…
“We want to try to get the ball down low as much as we can and a lot of thatis because we have to score. When you have a couple of dry spells then you needto get to the charity stripe. We were 12-of-14 from the line so we were gettingthe calls and needed to get the ball inside more.”
On playing the University of Kentucky …
“It gives us an opportunity to play in a different arena against girls that arebigger, stronger and faster. We have two young ladies who were Division I transfers,so we feel like they can compete. It is a great in-state rivalry that I hopethat we can continue to play.”
On the difference of the first and second halves…
“I thought the intensity level changed. I think that we came out with a lot ofintensity in the first half and we only gave up six points or so in the first10 minutes of the first half, so that was huge. In the second half the intensitylevel went down and we gave them some confidence. We gave them some big playsand their confidence went up and ours went down. Intensity and confidence werethe differences from the first to second half.”
Kentucky State #52 Mattie Jones
On the game against Kentucky …
“Tonight was an experience. Playing against these girls helped me know wheremy game is. It showed me what I need to improve and work on.”
On improvements she needs to make…
“I need to work on things both defensively and offensively. In my defensive game,I need to get better against bigger girls. Offensively, I need to take the ballto the basket more and be stronger when driving.”
Kentucky State #22 Jessica Vaughn
On coming off of an injury…
“I was ready to play tonight. I didn’t take as many shots as I should have, butI can get that up. I feel fine physically. I’m 100 percent now, and if not 100percent, 99 percent.”
