Santa Clara Quotes

Nov. 17, 2002

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Santa Clara Head Coach Jerry Smith
On SCU's Shot Efficiency:
"Our target for every game is 20%. If we can finish 20% of the shots we are taking we then know we are being selective enough in our shooting. I didn't see a stat sheet, but I think we were right around there today. Obviously the first half wasn't around the percentage we would like, but the second half was outstanding."

On SCU's Postseason Success:
"I think a lot of our postseason success is a result of the demanding regular season schedule that we play each year. There are times where we have found ourselves down a goal at halftime, like against UCLA earlier this year, and we are able to gather ourselves and draw upon past experience for the confidence needed to win games like this."

On the Players Coming Through in Pressure Situations:
"I think that Kristi Candau once again that she can come through in a clutch situation, scoring two goals in the second half for us today. We are going to have to continue to show courage on the field. I think Devvyn Hawkins did a great job of that for us today. I am not sure how many stitches she took today, but she took quite a few and she still wanted to get back out there. Not only was she out there but the one thing that she did that really helped us when she came back on the field was her heading ability. If there is ever a time to be timid about heading the ball it is just after being stitched up, and she was not hesitant at all."

On What they Need to do to Continue on in the Tournament:
"We need to continue to finish our chances, continue to show courage, continue to support each other even when our backs are against the wall, which is something I think we did today."

On the Home Field Advantage:
"You heard our fans today in the second half, they were great. We probably had a split of the Bay Area fans with the Stanford-California game going on, but we have our loyal fans who were there cheering their hearts out and that means a lot to our team when the SCU chants start going and we can really take over the momentum of the game with the '12th player' of our team rooting us on."