Postgame quotes from CSU vs. Winthrop

ROCK HILL, S.C. - Charleston Southern women's basketball coach Julie Goodenough talks about the Buccaneers' disappointing 58-48 loss to Winthrop Monday night at Winthrop Coliseum.

On the play of Kelsey Wasmer:
I was really glad to see Kelsey come out and play as strong as she did on the offensive end. She hit some key outside shots for us and then she continued driving to the basket all night. I was hoping she would get to the free-throw line on a few of her drives, but she didn’t and that didn’t discourage her from taking the ball to the hole.

On what it means when Wasmer and Katie Tull both get going:
In the last two wins, Katie and Kelsey were both scoring and that makes us tough to defend and tough to beat. We’ve talked to the team about how we need to get four players in double figures. If we’re going to win a lot of games the rest of the way, we have to have players step up and knock shots down. Obviously if you have two really good shooters like Kelsey and Katie, people will pay attention to them and really try to figure out how to defend them and keep them from getting their shots. I thought tonight was a pretty typical game for both of them. They got a lot of open looks at the basket, and when we executed we got the balls in their hands from the three-point line. It was just an off night for Katie.

On the first eight minutes in the second half:
It seems pretty rare that we get the ball coming out of the locker room after halftime, but we started the second half with the ball. We missed a layup, but we got the offensive rebound. Then we executed and got a three-point shot attempt and missed it. We had a chance to take a lead or tie it in the first possession of the second half, but after that we saw several defensive breakdowns. On (Winthrop’s) very first offensive possession, we had miscommunication on a screen and they got a wide-open shot. I felt like we had all the momentum going into the locker room. Right before the half, we took a charge and then we knocked down a three almost at the buzzer to be within two. I was very disappointed that we didn’t come out with that same intensity and that same energy with which we ended the first half. I felt like we got open looks the first two to three minutes of the second half and didn’t hit those. Nobody was rebounding offensively and we had to burn a couple timeouts before the first media timeout just to try and make some defensive adjustments and get our energy going. Unfortunately we came out in the second half and just didn’t have the energy we needed to compete with Winthrop.

On returning to CSU Field House for a three-game home stand:
I felt like we’ve played our best basketball these past two weeks. We’ve had great practices and three good games coming into this one. I was real disappointed for our kids not to continue their defensive toughness and their ability to make adjustments throughout the course of the game. I felt like we (coaching staff) were repeating ourselves over and over again with defensive adjustments, and we haven’t done that in several weeks. I was disappointed with the fact that we weren’t alert. We have to re-gather ourselves and get ready for our home-stand this weekend. We have to get back to that point when we’re being mentally sharp and making adjustments. Our players just need to get back to work and hold each other accountable.