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Little Rock (18-6, 12-0) 58 at UTA (15-6, 8-3) 49
Thursday, February 9, 2017
College Park Center • Arlington, Texas

Postgame Quotes

UTA Head Coach Krista Gerlich
"That was a really hard fought game, as we knew it would be. I thought for 36 we battled with the best of them. I thought our defense was outstanding, for 36 minutes. We let them get away from us in the fourth quarter. They had some players step up and make some plays, whether it was on the offensive rebound and a put back, getting to the rim and scoring or (Sharde') Collins getting loose and scoring. For 36 minutes, I thought we really battled and showed that we can be in a game with the conference leader.

"The things we didn't do well, we can fix. I know that our kids will rise up to that and set up to the challenge. For no other reason than because they have to. I thought (Crystal Allen and Cierra Johnson) stepped up offensively. They gave us a punch, especially when Rebekah (VanDijk) was struggling to even get touches. Both of them played really well offensively. We let them get away from us in the fourth quarter. It was really their executing and getting the ball to their star player."

How the team's foul trouble impacted the game
"We had to go with two bigs at some points, really for rebounding. I thought they did fine when they were in there. (Foul trouble) makes our kids play a little tentative. They are afraid to foul out or put somebody on the line. Absolutely, foul trouble killed us."

On containing Sharde' Collins in the first 3 quarters
"She had four (points) going into the fourth quarter. I thought as a group we did a great job on her. Cierra (Johnson) was on her the majority of the time. She shadowed her and made her take tough shots. Erika (Mattingly) switched on her some of the time. So did Christina (Devers). In the fourth quarter she got loose a couple of time and got determined. There is a reason why she is one of the best players in the conference, if not the best player in the conference."

On Little Rock neutralizing preseason Player of the Year Rebekah VanDijk
"They are a physical with her. They don't give her angles to the basket. We did it to ourselves more than they did. We did not move the ball well in our offense. We did not move her around with ball movement and screens. I felt like we never trusted our offense enough or moved it around enough to get her the ball."

On the crowd of 5,011 in attendance
"What a great environment. It was so fun to walk out on the court with that many kids in the seats. I love that they got to see a good game. I thought it was awesome that they were chanting U-T-A. I love that their school districts allowed them to come to a college campus and cheer for these girls. Hopefully, we inspired some of them to want to go to college and to, maybe, be a collegiate athlete. It was a great environment and a lot of fun. I'm glad we got to experience that. I want to thank our department and everyone who worked so hard for that. You don't just get thousands of kids in the seats without a lot of hard work. Especially, feeding them boxed lunches, stuffing goody bags and how hard everyone worked for that - I really appreciate the effort they put into (promoting) our team."

On being a role model for some of the young girls in attendance
(Crystal Allen) "I feel like it is important because when I was young, there were a lot of times when I didn't have the opportunity to go to basketball games. I think it is great they had the opportunity to come to the game and see that. It is good for us to be that role model so they have someone to look up to."

On Crystal Allen's offensive efficiency
"I thought (Crystal) scored the ball really well. I thought she listened to us about coming off ball screens and where she could shoot the ball. She is confident. She is a great knock-down shooter. I thought she took great shots and was patient. You are just starting to see some of the glimpses of what she can do offensively. I thought she was really good for us offensively."

On things the team saw in the first 3 quarters that will help moving forward
(Cierra Johnson) "We are capable of competing at any level that we want to. We have the ability to do it. We just have to actually get out there and do it and not slack in the fourth quarter. We need to play for four quarters."

(Krista Gerlich) "I thought Cierra was really big in the second half. She stepped up and made some big shots and attacked."

On what the team needs to do to be ready for Arkansas State on Saturday
"We have to pick ourselves back up. That is the thing about this conference. You play so quickly with the turnaround. You have to learn from it, pick yourself back up and focus because the next game is your biggest game. We have to continue to try to take care of business and position ourselves the best we can for the (Sun Belt) tournament."