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Stars at Dallas Wings Recap

June 21, 2017 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) - San Antonio Stars News Release


Head Coach Vickie Johnson (On the game) "Overall, we did well. I just felt like we didn't finish the game. I think we played well for 37 minutes, the last three, we got nervous as far as winning the basketball game. We played not to lose instead of playing to win. I think that really hurt us."

(On the game of runs late in the 4th) "We're a pretty offensive team. Only thing - we didn't get stops. We made some buckets, but we didn't get stops. They went small ball, kind of, and so we tried to match them. Don't know if that was a great decision, but overall, I thought we still had a chance to win. We had two free throws to tie it, and then a couple more shots and we just didn't finish the game."

(On Monique Currie's 29 points) "I thought she played well. I thought she came on very aggressive on the offensive side of the ball. We need that from her. Like I've been saying all season, she's our [Manu] Ginobili. We need that spark. We actually started her today, so it was a good look for her, very proud of her. Hopefully she will continue that on Friday."

(On adjustments to prepare for Dallas on Friday) "Playing defense without fouling. We gave up 33 free throws, we can't do that. And make sure we get help under pressure, like the trap. But at the same time, us making free throws is going to be very key, and I thought we did a pretty good job of rebounding the basketball. But even though we got out-rebounded by five, I thought at the end we just have to buckle down and just close the door the last four minutes."

Stars Guard Moriah Jefferson (On the game) "I thought we fought hard, we came out really strong but we had a few breakdowns. Seems like that happens pretty much every game, so we've got to figure out a way to stop the breakdowns, stay mentally focused for 40 minutes. But we did fight really hard today, it just didn't come out the way we wanted it to."

(On aggressive defensive play) "I was just trying to pressure them. Pressure their guards, make it a little bit hard for them to see their post players running to the basket. So, just tried to get my hand on the ball, and they end up going my way."

(On faster-paced fourth quarter) "It was coming down to the end, people were just making shots. Pretty much going back and forth. Anytime you have a back-and-forth game it can go any way. So I think we have to do a better job of getting stops during the crunch time."

Stars Forward Monique Currie (On the game) "Disappointed that we didn't win, because I thought we played hard and we played well enough to win this game. But encouraged that we didn't quit, and we played hard until the very end. So, hopefully we can build on that for our next game against Dallas in a couple of days."

(On scoring 29 points, 2 points shy of career-high) "I think I was just being aggressive. When I was open, I took the shots, but I wanted to get the momentum going early, wanted to get to the basket early. Get things going early so that we could have our energy as high as possible, because I know that Dallas has really great energy. So, just trying to start off well. I play the same way whether I'm starting or whether I'm coming off the bench. I'm going to play as hard as I can, but it was good to see shots go in the basket today and hopefully I can keep that going into this week."

Wings Head Coach Fred Williams (On today's game) "I thought we just had to grind it out and play hard defensively. I thought San Antonio played a great game. (Wings forward) Glory (Johnson) hit some big shots. With (Stars guard Moriah) Jefferson coming in, it created a lot of havoc in pick and roll situations. We just had to bear down. We kept ourselves in it and were able to hit big shots when we needed it."

(On today's first half adjustments) "I thought shooting percentage-wise, we didn't shoot the ball well. I thought San Antonio shot almost 60 percent, and we didn't do a good job finishing plays. We had shots but we didn't finish them. I just told the team to hang in there, to take good, selective shots, make one extra pass and get you a better shot, and then at halftime we looked and we were down by four of five points. I told them the team next door is hungry. They are looking for their first win of the season, so I told them we have to step up and play harder if we want to win today."

Wings Guard Skylar Diggins-Smith (On her shot with 86 seconds left in the game) "I saw Glory and (Wings guard Allisha) Gray really were attacking and I got the scraps. I was hanging around and it just kind of fell to me, so I wanted to be aggressive."

(On fighting to stay in the game early) "[San Antonio] they are a WNBA team. So they are going to be competitive. We've had the shoe on the other foot and we have lost a handful of games, so we were definitely desperate for a win. They are going to come out and compete every night. Some of their games have been close games, the two with us especially. We respect everybody. We don't fear anybody but don't underestimate anybody. I thought they definitely popped us in the mouth in the first quarter. We understand that we need to be a better first quarter team and not play with a sense of urgency only when we get down. That is something we have to improve on and we understand that, but I was happy with the way we responded. Obviously a big game from Glory, big minutes from (Wings guard) Saniya (Chong) and (Wings forward) Karima (Christmas-Kelly). I thought Gray did a great job in the fourth quarter of guarding K-Mac (Stars guard Kayla McBride). She takes some big shots for that team so she did a great job there. It was team victory. It was one of those ugly wins but as long as it is a win, we'll take it and get out of here. The kids had a lot of energy though. It is always fun when the kids come. I thought they had a lot of energy at first. It was loud in this building."

Wings Forward Glory Johnson (On her offensive groove) "I am just trying to bring a little energy. I know we start off really slow, but it is kind of everybody. We are kind of playing at other team's levels and we know we can do better. So my teammates are kind of pushing me and getting me to do a little bit more and I am trying to accept the challenge at this point."

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