March 23, 2004

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2004 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship
East Region * Second Round * Santa Barbara, CA
--- Postgame Quotes * March 22, 2004 ---
UC Santa Barbara

Head Coach Mark French
On the outcome of the game
" I think that this means a lot to us on lots of differect fronts especially beating a very very good Houston team. What a tremendous show of courage by them to come back from ten down in front of our crowd that was just unbelievable. We certainly weren't surprised by that. They have a tradition of doing that. Of course the challenge was Jones to take the game over. I thinked we doubled teamed it just enough to force a couple other shots off of other people that helped us out. But she is a great player and our congratulations to Houston for a fabulous season and a very courageous performance tonight."

On making the Sweet 16
"Definitely a mountain. We talked a lot about climbing the mountains this year and getting through this one was one of the mountains and now we have another one waiting for us in Connecticut. And we are eager to climb."

On his team's composure
"The biggest secret is that these kids have put in unbelievable running and practice over this year. We were just bound and determined this year. We have worked really hard and pretty consistently and made taking care of the ball a major issue."

Senior Lisa Willett
On her reaction to the win
"I don't know if you can put that into words. It was great to play here at home in Santa Barbara. Our crowd was amazing and it was really really fun to obviously get the win. I am just really proud of my team. This year has been difficult at times, but we stuck together and pulled out something that we will all remember for a really long time. It is definitely very very sweet!"

Senior Lindsay Taylor
On how the crowd played a role in her/team's performance
"I thought the crowd was great tonight. When we were maybe a little slow and when the game was played toward Houston's favor the crowd really got into it and really helped us get back into the swing of things. I think our team really stuck together and our coaches really prepared us for runs tonight."

Junior Kristen Mann
On Chandi Jones' last shots
"Well we knew they were going to go to her. We put in our 22 defense to trap her whenever she got the ball. We were lucky to contest a couple of her shots and luckily they didn't go in."