Karen Friel Quotations

We needed a run. We needed a stretch where we could get three or four turnovers in a row to get back in the game. But they never allowed us to do that.

She catches the ball well and she gets to the basket very quickly and gets to the free throw line.

She played with such heart today. But she's done that for us for four years.

Megan had been a starter for three years but halfway through this year she's been coming off the bench. Megan gets in there for her defense. We really don't ask her to score. But, tonight, we needed it.

No, not at all. I think our girls will go into this with a little bit of a chip on their shoulder.

I get on her the most when she is being the most unselfish. I always tell her that she needs to score more. I've yelled at her a few times about that. But she always looks to get everyone involved first. She could be a very good scorer. I wouldn't mind that one bit. But she's just not selfish like that.

I think Caitlin was pretty happy today, just because she could get out and run a little. North Valleys bottled her up pretty good.

Langley (Iverson) and Amy Scott have really done a great job.

Our girls understand they haven't won a regional game in a while (their last postseason win was the championship game of the 2001 regional). So we'll be focused.

Our first game (in the regional Wednesday night against North Valleys) was very nerve-wracking. That was a tough game for us. But (on Friday) the girls seemed a lot more relaxed. They just came out and played well and had some fun.

That doesn't matter. I would rather stay away from them this time of year.

I'm so happy for these girls. It seems like they've been with me forever. But they really deserved this. They've been through a lot the last three years.

That's a worry. You have to focus on her. She's been so successful when she's close to the basket. She has a great feel for where she is. She has great hands and can score.

I was real happy to see that. We didn't let up. We didn't go back on our heels. I just think that after North Valleys, we wanted to run so much and the girls just took advantage of that.

Yeah, the other girls (not named Caitlin) are getting a little tired of it.

We get to play Bishop Gorman. But that's all right. I'll take that.

Finally. We were 2-of-10 before to that point. If we would've kept that up, that strategy for them (fouling and slowing down the game) would've worked.

We wanted to run, but I was also happy to see that we were making good decisions with the ball.

We had a great season. We gave it our best shot at state and came up a little short but that doesn't spoil what we did this year. Bishop Gorman was a tremendous team. That game doesn't change the fact that we had a great year.

We had to (get balanced scoring). They really tried to take (Caitlin) Crofts and Anderson out of the game.

We kind of let down a little bit in the third quarter. And when you do that, a team like Gorman will jump all over you.

Everybody knows about our two big dogs. But we've had a lot of people step up this year for us.

They are a pretty good combination out there.

Our defense was the key to this game. Whenever you play Reed you have to worry about stopping their 3-point shooters. But you also have to remember that they have Kayla (Williams) inside. They can give you a lot of problems.

North Valleys played very well. (Panthers coach) Matt (Murphy) had a great game plan. We did just enough to win. He tried to take (Caitlin) Crofts and (Caitlin) Anderson out of the game and did. We had some open shots that we didn't hit.

North Valleys played really well and took us out of some things. We were finally able to create some turnovers in the fourth quarter and pick up the pace a little.

They're big, strong and can shoot. They are very, very good.

They complemented each other's game so well. They made each other better.

It was just a gut-it-out type of game. A lot of our players had a gut-check tonight. Reed did a great job of shutting us down inside.

Not with one person. We'll throw a lot of people at her. You know she's going to score but you just hope she doesn't get 30 on you.

I never thought this could happen. To beat a team like that by 20? No way.

Because there are so many seniors (eight), they don't appear to be happy just playing next week. They're excited, but focused. They're training like it's another day and they need to win another game.

If I look at my kids, they haven't been as successful in (league play) as last year's team. We have a lot to prove. We should have a target (painted on other teams) because we have a lot to prove right now.

You know, she's really not that big. But you won't see that many girls rebound like she does. She really thrives on it. And the way she plays the game is the same way she practices every single day.

You can't guard Nicole Scott with just one player. Langley (Iverson) did a great job on her but we also ran a couple of players at her (Scott) now and then.

Their number 22 (Gayle, who scored all of her points in the second half) hurt us more than we thought she would. But we had to give shots to someone and she just made them.

The first two times we beat Reed this year, I still don't know how we did it.