Feb. 7, 2002

Recap?|? Final Stats?|? Notes

Kerensa Barr on Kansas State: "They're obviously a good team and they play really well together. They're really hard to guard as they have four players who can shoot the 3 and a great post player in (Nicole) Ohlde.

"They put a lot of pressure on us on defense. I was really impressed with their defense. We knew they were a good offensive team but they really stepped it up defensively tonight. We look forward to playing them again."

Barr on MU's defensive plan: "Things opened up inside as a result of us trying to defend the 3 better. We didn't give as much help as we were trying to guard their shooters and they started throwing inside on us. You have to pick your poison on that one.

Barr on Missouri: "We knew they shot well from the field so we just tried to give them one shot. Right out of halftime, we got a stop but then gave up an offensive rebounds. Plays like that accumulate in the half so you look up and you're down 15 points. We were really struggling on offense to find open looks so we were doing a lot of one-on-one things and that's not the way we need to score, we have to score out of our offense. We're not really one-on-one players and not a one-on-one team.

Barr on the rest of this season: "At this point, we know we need wins. Even if we don't win the rest of our games, I think we'll still have a shot to make the tournament. Right now, we have to concentrate on getting better and to peak at the end of the year and make a run at the Big 12 Tournament."

Natalie Bright on Missouri's next opponent, Kansas: "We need to play like we did last time against Kansas. We played a real good game against Kansas. It's our rival so it's going to be all-out. We have to get back to what works for us, that's working together and our defense. We get those things back together, we'll be right on."

Bright on Kansas State's second-half run to pull away: "That seems to be the story of the year for us. We jump out early, we keep the lead a little bit. The first half we are playing great and are right there with them. Second half, they make a run on us and we don't come back. It's happened like every game we've lost this year. I don't know what it is, but we need to turn it around."

Cindy Stein on Kansas State: "I think the main thing is they just pick you apart. You have to pick your poison when you play them, whether you're going to die by the 3 or die by the two. They're such great shooters, they basically shoot the same percentage from either one. We really wanted to cover up the 3-pointer and make them have to make a great play. Unfortunately for us, they did. They played very well together."

Stein on Missouri this season: "The most glaring disappointment to me this year has been our lack of pursuit of the game, when you behind, the pursuit to get it back and that competitive fire. Sometimes we have a one-minute spell or a three-minute spell. It doesn't always last long, but the problem is that it happens and gets us in a hole. Then we have trouble getting it back. It's something we have to get better at."