June Daugherty Quotes (52 Quotes)

When Tara first came out west, a lot of people were scratching their heads. Why would she leave a team that was No. 7 in the country to take on a program that hadn't had much success But she had a great vision for what the program could become and she's been consistent in that, day in and day out.

It's unbelievable really and is a testament to each of them on how they've handled the adversity that has just come down the pike. It certainly made them all stronger and wiser. But at that same time you're like, 'Why Why do those kids have to go through all of that' They handle things so well and sports teaches lifelong lessons and they certainly have grown as people.

We have won ugly a lot this year. But a win is a win. If this was ugly, we will win ugly. We need to fight and buckle down for everything that we can get.

We know they're a talented team. They were in so many close battles, it was only a matter of time that they were going to break through.

It was a great win. I thought the team came out with tremendous energy today.

It just seemed like we weren't fighting hard, we were getting frustrated at how well Oregon was doing and not converting it into our energy. We made some adjustments defensively and we just kept saying if we go out there and fight hard and leave it on the court we'll be happy.

Everybody that I've talked to has been nothing but positive. I think people know that if you're in a major conference like the Pac-10 and go 11-7 to end up fourth like UW did and challenge yourself with the schedule we had, there's no doubt that we're in.

It was huge. I thought that the players responded well all week in practice, obviously disappointed in giving up one at home after the streak that we had, and we knew that we did not play to our potential.

For three halves, we played some really good basketball. We had a really nice taste of the NCAA tournament, and now the key is Do you want to come back and make some noise.

How intense her role will be now and whether she has a title, we'll determine that in a couple days. My thoughts are she will be a valuable asset whether her title is student coach or not. We look forward to that continued leadership from her.

Going on the road in the Pac-10 is always a challenge. And Arizona State is playing great basketball. They're really going to make us have to play great defense and execute our offense. But it's another great chance for us to get better and build on what we've accomplished.

I love the fact that we show the guts and grit of just getting down and giving all we can give given our situation without our leading scorer, our kids not feeling real well and all that.

We are not a one-horse team. We are going to throw 10 to 12 players out there. When we can do that, especially when we are flat, it is fun to see all the different weapons that we have.

We didn't think the game was out of hand at all. We put pressure on the basketball, denying lanes. The front line was trying to do a great job defensively and it all worked.

Kayla has been clutch for five years in this program. She is someone I always counted on to have on the floor in crunch time or a late-game situation, because she's so aware of the circumstances of what's going on and what her team needs to do.

They have three forwards that play very well inside and can really get going and they're big and athletic. They've got some guards like Rivera and Mandy Close that are capable of hurting you from the perimeter. So it wasn't a situation where we were really looking to double-team or anything, but we wanted to play really solidly defensively.

I think the race for the Pac-10 will come down to the last week. We have to control what we can control, and today we didn't do that. It's a tough one to swallow.

Right now because everything happened so quick we're just letting her relax and take a deep breath. She definitely wants to be part of the program.

I saw her look down. She told me later in the hospital that it felt like a ball had come in on the timeout, somehow, and hit her in the chest. It was always a question in her mind, what does it feel like when it goes off.

This town has such a passion about women's basketball. Hats off to our fans. I think I may have seen a couple leaving early, but we'll forgive them.

I don't want to take away from what they've done in San Jose, they've done a great job. But it's not a neutral court. It's an advantage for the two Bay Area schools to play down there.

We know they'll bring pressure defense, that's their bread-and-butter. It's important we take care of the basketball.

They played an incredible game. It was tough for us to find answers. Their inside game with Smith and Newlin was exceptional. And here comes Wiggins. She's that good. She's a very special All-American. ... She put on a Superman cape today.

There's no doubt that it's huge. But at the same time, you can't get too high and you can't get too low with the race being as tight as it is.

She's a leader by example, and she's not afraid to tell people what they need to do as well.

We take care of business on Saturday, and I'll gladly answer that question.

It was a long time ago, but we wanted to make sure we started off the conference play really well. That early in the season, of course it was really important and of course it's a statement game.

She said to me that she had been shocked. At first I thought she was talking about a static-electricity shock, but I looked at her and her eyes were big and I realized that her defibrillator had just gone off.

Obviously they lead the Pac-10 in defense for a reason. At the same time, it's not something we haven't seen this year. To me it was more our lack of execution than what ASU was doing.

We're going to have to defend them. All of their players are capable of big numbers. Our defense is going to be tested.

I think that it was just like Kayla Burt said You felt like the crowd lifted us up. It was amazing energy -- it was just amazing energy -- and at the same time the focus was there in the timeouts. This is what we need to do. We were checking off the fast breaks and everything else.

I'm very, very proud of the team and the program. It's great to be back in the big dance.

I think USC was our worst Pac-10 outing of the year. I think some of that had to do with USC, no doubt about it. But a lot of it had to do with us.

They're improved-no doubt about that. It seems like they're experienced kids now. Their experience is showing. Cal really stepped up and we didn't have the answers in the end.

There are ups and downs in every season. It was hard to finish the regular season that way. At the same time, I think good lessons were learned and we've taken a lot of that into our practices this week.

They are playing much better basketball than when we saw them right after Christmas. They're playing with a lot of energy and a lot of confidence.

Until we get through those tests and doctors have had time to sit down and confer with Kayla and with her family, I don't think we're going to have any answers. Until we can get those evaluations, I don't think we have any opportunity to discuss anything else.

Our fans give us a lot of energy, and we play better.

These three have been through incredible amounts of adversity, incredible amounts of joy, ups and downs. But they have been so mentally tough. They have grown up before our eyes. For them to have the opportunity to go back to the big dance, I'm just really happy for them.

We're excited to find out who's next. It was disappointing to lose those games, but that's just how good this league is. The more you play each other, there's not a lot of room for error. That's basketball.

We fought hard in the second half. It's tough to see us fall short at the end. It was a classic USC battle.

We've talked to our team a little bit about it, not necessarily the size of it. They've played in big arenas, but because of the baseline aspect of the coaching box. I'll be honest. I think it is something until you get out there in practice and actually coach and play on that floor, I don't know how we're going to feel.

It's a great testimony to how good our high school and summer programs are. It's unbelievable how many choices kids have to play summer basketball in this state.

A little piece here and a deflection there and we were off and running. It just seemed like the crowd got into it and the whole momentum just shifted. But it was our defensive effort, no doubt.

I think we're in. I think we've done enough. I would hope five or six Pac-10 teams are in.

I think everybody in basketball knows that about 70 percent of the rebounds go opposite of from where you shoot it. So we just figure if you get more players on the opposite side, we've got a chance mathematically to grab a lot more boards.

I thought the team came out with tremendous energy today. We did it with spirited defense and got up on the boards and got into our running game. That's how we want to play. It was a lot of fun out there.

Hopefully, we can get through it, get over it and get rested up. It's the strangest, quickest flu I've ever seen happen in all my days and I hope the fans don't get it. It comes on pretty quick.

Eighteen months is a long time to just be out there playing in an open gym and not being coached. Not being able to work on your conditioning, your strength, your game the way you would be in an organized and disciplined situation.

These guys took care of business starting us out 7-2. That in itself weighed very heavy on the committee.