Postgame Notes - San Antonio Stars vs. Dallas Wings - September 9

Published on September 9, 2016 under Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
San Antonio Stars News Release


POSTGAME NOTES:

* Moriah Jefferson led all scorers with with 27 points - her 15th consecutive game to reach double figures in scoring. The streak dates back to July 1 at Indiana when she scored a career-high 31 points.

* Jefferson also shot 6-for-6 from the free throw line, her second consecutive game to shoot perfect at the foul line. She shot 9-for-9 Sept. 6 versus Indiana. Jefferson has shot perfect from the free throw line 11 times this season.

* Haley Peters set two new career-highs with 19 points and 2 steals. Peters previously scored 16 points versus Chicago on May 27 and has notched 1 steal 7 times this season.

* Monique Currie tied her season-high with 6 assists. Currie previously recorded 6 assists in the season opener on May 14 versus Atlanta.

* The Wings snapped an 11-game losing streak. The last win the Wings recorded was back on July 5, against Phoenix in Arlington with a score of 77-74.

* Head Coach Fred Williams recorded his 100th career win as a WNBA head coach.

* Courtney Paris recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 boards. Tonight's 10 defensive rebounds ties a season high for Paris. The last time she recorded 10 defensive boards was on May 21 also against San Antonio at the Wings home opener.

* Odyssey Sims dropped 20 points tonight, reaching double digit scoring for the 23rd time this season. She has hit the 20-point mark seven times this season.

* Skylar Diggins' 16 points is the 12th time she has scored double figures for the season.

POSTGAME QUOTES:

Stars Head Coach Dan Hughes:

(On the game...)

"Poor start for us. The last three quarters I think I told the team we needed four quarters of that kind of battle with them. And giving them a separation of 12 points early. Defensively we were not as solid as we became in the second, third and fourth, and we paid a price. We could never play with the lead in this basketball game."

(On what the Breast Health Awareness game means to him...)

"To me, there are a lot of memories. There are an awful lot of memories. And there are an awful lot of people that I think have been touched by this disease. And to me they're the real heroes. There are people, and we talked about it after the game, that battle in the face of adversity. They battle and they find a way to make it work like no other. So those survivors and those people, they just have my heart in so many ways. And I think we're a team like that. We're a really young team. We're a little banged up, but in the face of adversity you try to find a way. You try to find a way to get yourself to a better place, and that's what so many of these survivors have done. I see them in the audience. I see our people support. I see what goes on. It just adds, to me, it's more than a basketball game. It's a celebration of the WNBA with this cause. It just touches me and continue to."

(On what the rookies are doing for the team...)

"The rookies are getting an incredible experience, a growing experience, one that as tough as it is I think from a win-loss standpoint you have to look at the development and be very pleased and excited for their future. Both of them you look on the court and you see them where they were for example in April and where they are now, and you understand that they're doing that in the face of competition and you just feel good about it. What was important this year for us was to plant seeds that would grow, and boy you really like some of these rookies and what they're doing. And Moriah Jefferson is just a great example. Here's a player come in who was a natural distributor, but we've had to ask her to score in the face of some of the injuries we've had. And she's become a good scorer. Well you have to be excited for what I think the future will hold with a lot of those young players."

Stars Guard Moriah Jefferson:

(On the role that the rookies have had on this team...)

"We've had a big role. Obviously we've had a lot of injuries, and people have gone down, so we've had a lot of guys that have had to step up. I think we're learning as the season goes, and we're trying to get better each and every day so that's all we can and just keep playing until the season's over."

(On how her confidence is growing as she's emerging as a leader...)

"Obviously if you're scoring, your confidence is going to go up. You feel like you can shoot the ball more. Like I said before a lot of people have gone down, so I feel like I've had to take a lot more shots than I normally would. And just trying to do whatever I can to help my team try to get a win."

(On if having to step up as leader has helped her improve this season...)

"Yeah definitely. I was thrown right into the fire as soon as I got here as a starting point guard in the WNBA after just coming out of college. It's a lot of responsibility, but I'm glad that I'm here. I love my team and my teammates, and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."

Stars Forward Monique Currie:

(On what she's doing on and off the court to help the rookies and set an example for them this season...)

"I just try to encourage them, and stress to them not to get discouraged. If you look at the way it is discouraging, or it can be discouraging to players, especially young players. But if they can just know that if they continue to work that things will get better. If they continue to get better themselves and be able to eventually be leaders. I try to just let them know, just stress to them, to just don't get down on themselves and keep working."

Wings Head Coach Fred Williams: (On the game...) "It was I thought a real physical game for one. I thought with us jumping out to a lead gave us a little cushion to apply more defensive pressure on the perimeter. We just came down and made some big plays at the end."

(On how the team was able to score in the paint...) "I thought dribble penetration, passing the ball one extra pass, we got a better shot. I preach that a lot in the huddle to the team. I thought that Courtney Paris and Karima Christmas got some drives to the rim to either get some free throws or at least get a shot."

(On the team's interior defense...) "Just rotating over, you know? I think helping the helper helped a lot tonight. I used that concept a lot, and I thought it really clicked in with this unit tonight."

Wings Guard Odyssey Sims: (On getting to the free throw line...) "I just took advantage of us being in the bonus early. I just helped us stay aggressive as a team, took advantage and just got to the line."

Wings Center Courtney Paris: (On the game...) "It was tough. San Antonio kept fighting and kept going back and forth, but I thought we just stuck in there in the end and got the win."

(On if screens are an aspect of her game she takes pride in...) "Yeah, it is. Also, when you have as good of guards as we do working off the screens it's easy to do. We just try to do whatever it takes to get our team into victory."

(On getting blocked shots...) "I think part of it with them is they're such an aggressive team to the basket, so those opportunities are going to be there more. They capitalized off of it too. They got some shots, but we got the opportunity to block more shots because they were aggressive at the basket."

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Women's National Basketball Association Stories from September 9, 2016


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central