Barbara Turner Quotes (102 Quotes)

Basically the same thing that coach told me all the time, tired is a state of mind. If you allow yourself to become tired, your mind becomes tired and you don't focus as much as you need to.

We did everything we knew how to get Kerry some help. But it seems that everything that could go wrong for us did.

That was the turning point of the game. We didn't give up a basket and we didn't foul them and put them on the free throw line. I think that right there pretty much closed the game out.

We have a Hall of Fame coach so I guess that goes along with it. Thirty wins in 11 out of 13 years ... those are Hall of Fame numbers.

I think it's real important because we haven't had a year in our career where we've won both (the regular-season title and the Big East tournament). We've always won one or the other. So I think that's something that we've talked about also as being part of being apart of our legacy to be able to say that we won both regular season and tournament championships.

They are very physical. That's one thing I remember from playing a couple of years ago. They're always tough to guard in the interior.

The first two days were really, really rough. It was kind of hard to look at each other. But we just realized that dwelling on it and letting it defeat us already is not going to help us at all.

I guess we have proven everything everyone said right, because I dont know if we would have been in this same position last year if we had her. Until we prove otherwise and we are able to establish ourselves as being able to be leaders and help this team, that will forever be engraved in everyones memory.

If she can have a good stretch the next four games going into the Big East tournament, it will get her some endurance and get her some conditioning, and it will help our team. We need her a lot. Shes our one true center our one true big body. And every team around the country needs that one true center. Every team thats successful and wins national championships has one so, obviously, were going to need her.

This was very close. I'm sure the fans kind of felt like it was Connecticut basketball all over again. And there's no better feeling in the world to be able to get one game like that.

Many people will use the excuse that we are small, but rebounding is effort. It is how much you want the ball and has nothing to do with how big you are.

It is an honor. I guess they recognized what I have been trying to do to help the team. Over the last couple of games, it just so happens that I have been in a rhythm offensively. I have been able to get a lot done, but it has just been in the flow. It hasn't been out of the ordinary.

You have to give Coach credit because he trusted her in that situation. I think that gave her confidence, and she has built on that. Shes been practicing really well.

He always reminds us of things like that. It's something that's in the past, but it's something that is definitely in the back of our minds because it hadn't happened in 11 years. Obviously, you don't want to be a part of that kind of history. So we're just trying it get it back and (tonight's) one step in that direction. We need to go out and play like our title is on the line.

I'm not just going to say it was one of those games because, obviously, we needed this game. We needed to play well to get ready and get focused for Tuesday. But the worst thing we can do is dwell on this and allow this to weigh us down and take away from the importance of Tuesday's game.

I would say (it's a must-win). You don't ever want to put a game in that situation, but realistically we need to come out with a big victory in order to keep ourselves in that elite class with the top teams in the country. So far we've looked really bad and then we came close. Now it's time to jump over that hump and get a win.

That's what this time of year is all about. This time of the year is about being able to sustain a team's best run and fight back and make all the plays that are needed to win.

This is the time of year where everybody is banged up, because it's the toughest stretch. I'm sure everybody in the country has two or three of their best players that aren't feeling 100 percent physically, but it's just a matter of where you are mentally.

Winning by 40 could leave you optimistic about Monday, that it will be a piece of cake. This game made us step back and say that all these games are going to be a battle. When it came down to it, we made the plays we needed to make.

We just knew that everything clicked right. We knew that we got the right shots and we did everything we wanted to do in our offense. Any time you have that feeling, there really is no need to look at the box score.

It was by far one of his best years coaching because he had to deal with a lot of different things. He had to grow us into leaders and mold us into leaders. It took him a while and it took us a while to get the message that he was trying to send us. ... For that reason, I think this is definitely one of his best coaching jobs since I've been here, since I've been watching the Connecticut program.

Usually in the tournament, it's about what team is hot, and (West Virginia is) really hot right now. We have to treat it as if we were playing Rutgers, who was the No. 1 seed we know that. And that's what we're going to try to focus on tonight and get ready for tomorrow.

Some of them were bizarre. A lot of them in the first half, they weren't even putting pressure on us. It was just us making mental mistakes. So we definitely have to try to avoid those, especially on the road against good teams because those could hurt us down the stretch.

Very rarely since I have been at Connecticut have we had someone who we expected to be good go off on us and get 30 points. For the most part the person that is supposed to get a lot of points, usually doesn't get it against us. I think that is just taking pride in not allowing somebody to just go out and dominate us.

That's the shot that you have to make, and that's the shot that you have to have the guts to take. For her to do that, that just gave us confidence for the rest of the game.

We knew that they were a good team, I dont think we underestimated them at all. It was just a fight. Were not going to win every game by 30, and tonight was a great example of that. This game just lets us know that Monday, were going into a battle, and were going to have to be ready to fight and make all the plays that we need in order to win.

We didn't make plays prior to that for us to win the game, so that's what it all comes down to. It doesn't come down to the last play.

It was a zone and it kind of broke down to a man-to-man. I noticed the defense was kind of shifted towards the other end of the court and I called for the ball and took the shot.

They called her Ms. March early on in her career because she knew what she had to do in order to get our team to a national championship. I think thats her attitude right now. She knows what she needs to do to help our team go out and win the Big East. Shes just been playing that way, diving on tables, diving on loose balls, getting after rebounds. Shes getting back to Will. You can tell, and its really helping our team out.

Very rarely, since I've been at Connecticut, have we had somebody that we expected to be good just go off on us and get 30. We've done a good job of that. That's us taking pride in not letting someone go out and dominate us.

We knew how tough they were at home, we knew how good of a team they were. We knew we were going to have to respond. It seemed like every time we needed to make a play or make a shot or get a defensive stop, we were able to do it.

Obviously, it's a decision that Coach made and it's something that she's just going to have to continue to have to work through. If she's able to overcome this and show her talents and show what she's capable of and prove herself, then that's going to say a lot about her. And I think she will.

Wherever we're at, we're at. At this time of year, we just need to focus on what we need to do to prepare ourselves for this tournament. That's what we've done best the past three days. Just focus on ourselves.

Its going to be ugly sometimes. Were not the Connecticut teams of old. Every shot is not going to fall, the ball is not going to move the way people want it to move. Its just a matter of us keeping the confidence that we can keep ourselves in a position to win. Thats all were focused on right now.

I think it's real important (to win the championship) because we haven't had a year in our career where we've won both. So I think that's something that we've talked about also as being part of being a part of our legacy to be able to say that we won both regular season and tournament championships. So that's something we also have in the back of our minds going into (tonight) and hopefully we can carry that attitude onto the floor.

I've been playing since early August and it was a slow process getting back in. It wasn't until mid to late September when I started to feel like myself again. I feel light-years better than I did last year coming into this season physically.

We can't let this completely devastate us. It hurts. Don't get me wrong. But we have to accept it for what it is and move forward from it. And I'm sure Coach is going to make adjustments. He was real adamant about that. He was real adamant about saying that he was going to change some things that happened in this game to prepare us for when we play them again.

Obviously, that's something that has been in the back of our minds. There is no resentment toward Diana at all. She was an unbelievable pioneer in women's basketball. We also want to leave our legacy with a successful career. It wouldn't end any better way than us being in Boston at the Final Four and winning the national championship.

Coach told us before the game, if we have three minutes left and give ourselves a chance to win, we're going to win, because it's time for us to do it. Tennessee, we had a chance and didn't make the plays. Monday, it was all of us making the right moves. I think it helped that we worked on that before the Tennessee game. We were able to do it.

We've had games where we've been close (to being complete). We've had games where we've not been anywhere near on the same planet. But it's just a matter of us really, really concentrating. And when we do we look so good. We can have six possessions in a row where we look like the best team in the country. And then we'll go through these stretches where it's like, 'Man, what are we doing out there' And that's what it felt like (Wednesday).

I have put together some good games or whatever, but I still dont think it is enough because I havent been able to pull my team along as much as I would have liked to. You always want us to get better as a team rather than worry about individual statistics.

We want to be remembered as a class that came in and lived up to expectations. We had a lot of expectations coming in. I guess we were one of the top classes in the nation when we came in and we just want to leave that way.

She has her mind in the right place right now. She just understands what she needs to do to help our team. She understands that she's going to have to defend the best post player. She's going to have to grit and get rebounds and just throw her body all over the place. I don't know too many people in her position that would be willing to do that.

I think Renee is going to be the leader of this team. I think she could be the next person that everybody's talking about as the big name for Connecticut. I think her future is very bright. She's going to lead this team and they're going to be very good next year.

The obvious thing is we have to take more pride in boxing out and getting bodies on people. Many people may use the excuse because we're small, but rebounding is effort. It has nothing to do with your size. It's how badly you want the ball than the next person. That's all it is.

I know we didn't play our 'A' game. I give them credit. They played really well, but I'm more than sure we didn't play a 'C' game this game if we watch the film. We didn't do enough to win this game. But we have to deal with it. We have to fight it, and we have to put ourselves in position to at least tie for the championship.

This week is all about mental toughness. If we can eliminate those stretches where we go five or six minutes without a field goal, we'll be in position to win. At times, we're really explosive. It's just a matter of concentrating on doing the little things.

Obviously that's what we set out to do after we lost the regular season. That's what has carried us through this. We just have to have the same thing going into tomorrow.

Im old. I feel 90 years old. I have to heat everything, warm up, ride bikes, its a mess ... but until the doctor tells me Im not ready, Im ready to go.

Obviously, we need her a lot. Obviously, if we had her the other night we would have won. That's just the reality of it. There's no other way to say. Obviously, we need her a lot.