Green Bay Women's Basketball NCAA Tournament Press Conference Quotes
Round 2 – March 21, 2011 – Wichita, Kan.

Press Conference Quotes

Green Bay Head Coach Matt Bolant
On what Celeste brings to a game…
“For one she plays really hard. I think she really is a smart player and has a great feel for the game. We post her up on a switch and sometimes she has a 6-1 or 6-2 post player guarding her, and most of the time she gets a great shot and scores. She's not going to back down from anybody. We always talk about how it's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog. And there's not much more fight than Celeste has.”

On what makes the inside players successful despite their lack of size…
“Our ability to seal and hold in the post is as good as anybody. If you watch Kayla last night get somebody outside, she moves her feet and holds that position. She is phenomenal at that, Julie, as well. Honestly that is more than adding a couple of inches, the ability to use your frame and your ability to keep the defender on one side and not letting them guard you on two sides.”

On his relationship with Suzy Merchant and Michigan State…
“I really like Suzy. Last summer we got a chance to be on the road and recruit a little bit and just talk about kids and family. It's a very difficult thing to be a head coach and have kids and keep that balance.”

“She came from a school like Green Bay at Eastern Michigan and had great success there and she knows a lot about the small school and trying to get it done at the mid-major level.”

On concerns about Michigan States front line…
“Their ability to go get it. Johnson is a physical presence at the post and the ball comes off the rim and the game begins. Their guards are big and athletic. They have good size not in just their length, but their broad shoulders. They are strong girls. That is the biggest concern, not letting them get offensive rebounds and not letting them get easy buckets inside.”

On their speed…
“We feel like quickness beats height and that is how we try to play. We play fast and we play quick and take advantage of that. There have been very few games this year when we have been taller in stature then the teams we have been playing but we have outrebounded and been the most aggressive team. That has made up for our lack of height.”


Green Bay Student-Athlete Celeste Hoewisch
On their momentum in second half…
“We like to go inside-out and Kayla was doing a great job inside. Once they started doubling down they started showing a little bit. I think we got to act on low shots. I thought we did a great job when we needed big shots, stepping up and hitting them.”

On what makes their inside player effective…
“I just think their versatility (makes them effective). They can square you up and pull you outside and you also have to respect their quickness.”

On playing for Coach Bollant…
“We all fell in love with Coach Bollant when he came in. He came in with so much energy and I'm a high energy type of person so it fit my style, and there was no way I was leaving my teammates no matter who was there.”


Green Bay Student-Athlete Kayla Tetschlag
Benefits of a close game going into the second round…
“We were able to stick to what we did and what we've been doing all season long and we didn't panic and we didn't turn over the ball. It was good for us, I give a lot of credit to that team [UALR]. They had a lot of toughness in them and they really prepared us for the next round.”

On her own performance from round one carrying into round two…
“The weak side help wasn't always there and I give a lot of credit to the guards to get the ball inside and to recognize when they were in foul trouble and what we were getting into and sticking to that.”

What impresses her about Michigan State…
“I think their athleticism is definitely an advantage for them. They have a lot of size and obviously we don't match up with that size but I think we bring a lot to the table too. And I think we have a lot of toughness in our defense that they are going to struggle with. We are a very talented team as well and we have that fight and toughness to us.”

Thoughts about Heather Golden…
“Heather is still a huge part of this team and we continue to tell her that every day because whenever she speaks, the entire team listens, even though she doesn't have a jersey on. She's active in practice and she knows the game so well, that the younger girls respect everything she's saying. It was really hard for her, for all of us, and for her when she told us her decision to no longer play. It was really emotional in the locker room when she told us.”

On the match up inside against MSU…
“We are going to use our quickness to our advantage as much as we can, try and pull out and make them defend.”


Locker Room Quotes

Green Bay Student-Athlete Sarah Eichler
On the pressure of the second-round game…
“I think that we were comfortable coming in, but you could definitely see our pre-game jitters in the first four minutes yesterday. I feel like coming out tomorrow we will be a little more relaxed. I think there is a little bit less pressure because it's a close seeding, where as yesterday we were supposed to win.

On Michigan State…
“We know that they are similar to teams we've played in the past. They like to do the high-low and they have perimeter shooters, so we're just going to look to pressure the ball and do what we do.”

On advantages over Michigan State…
“Our motion offense is something we've run all year and something we take pride in. If we can play well in our motion offense, hopefully they'll struggle to guard it and we'll see how it goes.”

On Green Bay's team chemistry…
“When you get recruited by Green Bay you are recruited for what you do off the court, what you do when you're on the bench, what you do when you're not playing, what you do when you're not scoring or having a good game, how you hold yourself, carry yourself and carry your teammates. It's almost like they recruit a certain personality and you have to have a certain personality to be a part of this team and that creates our chemistry. I feel like we all have the same personality. We love to have fun but we love to work hard.”

Green Bay Student-Athlete Julie Wojta
On the Green Bay fan presence in Wichita…
“It's huge. We are used to playing with a lot of fans at home and for all those people to make the trip here is awesome. It's not just during the game, being loud and getting into it, but also after the game with all the smiling faces, all the people who just want to talk with us and be a part of this with us. It just makes it really fun and makes the experience so much better.”

On containing Michigan State's inside-outside game…
“They move the ball really well and they have some good play-makers on their team so we are just going to stay within our system, pressure the ball and just play good team defense.”

On playing a 2-1-2 defense…
“We saw a little bit of it last night. I don't know much of that we will actually use of that in our game, but it's just a change of pace and it makes other teams have to transition mentally for how they are going to play against the man versus that 2-1-2. We will probably use it a little bit and just try to quicken them up and get them off balance a little bit ”