Washington 68, Colorado 54
THE MODERATOR: Questions for Haley.
Q. Take me through the fourth quarter, you guys had a comfortable lead, but they make their run. I want to say they cut it to eight points, then you close the door with back-to-back three-pointers.
HALEY VAN DYKE: So our struggle in the past has always been finishing games. I think that was our big focus today, just keeping our composure through having a lead. I think we did a great job. It was a total team effort the whole game. But, yeah, I think it was just keeping our composure in the fourth quarter, just not letting them make a run.
Q. Talk about the defense that you played tonight.
HALEY VAN DYKE: I mean, yeah, that's basically what we do every game. We play every defense we have basically. There's probably like seven defenses that we go through each game.
I think that's what tricks them, just switching up constantly and always having something new to throw at them. I think it really, like, makes them rush and it really helped us tonight I think.
Q. As somebody who was there a couple years ago when you made your run, can you use any of what happened two years ago that may help you this week?
HALEY VAN DYKE: Yeah, well, actually without having Missy here, I think playing for her, just this whole season we've been playing for her. So playing for her today was a big thing for us. She obviously couldn't be on the court with us. She was a big reason why we were successful two years ago. I think that motivation was really big for us.
Q. Talk about the poise you all had when it came up to turnovers.
HALEY VAN DYKE: Yeah, so in the past our turnovers have been a big reason of why we have been losing. So today we made it a huge focus to just take care of the ball and make the easy pass and not force it.
I think that's what we did tonight. Just like how everybody made a conscious effort to, like, want the ball, come help, come back to the ball instead of just kind of letting it be a one-on-one game. I think we all did a really good job of moving the ball tonight.
Q. Offensively, were you out to move without the ball more offensively?
HALEY VAN DYKE: Yes, definitely. That is another huge reason why we won tonight. Past couple games we've been struggling moving without the ball. I think by passing and cutting, setting screens, handoffs and stuff like that, that really helped us tonight, is just moving the ball and moving without the ball for sure on offense.
Q. Looks like you shot 70% from the field, which I guess would be your best shooting performance this season. What do you attribute that to? Was it the quality of shots? Seems like your offense was in a flow. Was it a team flow type of thing or did you know from the very beginning you knew you were going to have a good night shooting?
HALEY VAN DYKE: I mean, I don't know if I knew from the beginning. I think I made three-for-three the first three shots, so I think that was a good start to the game. But I think all together I think we shot over 60% from the three-point line, which was excellent. I think that was a big part of it.
But, yeah, I think tonight we all did really shoot well I think as a whole. Yeah, it wasn't just me. It was everybody.
Q. It was about ball movement and player movement tonight?
HALEY VAN DYKE: Yes, yes. Just making the, like, right pass, not forcing it.
Q. Even though you did shoot very well from the three-point line, the team as a whole, you actually started out very slowly, not taking a three-point shot for the first half of the first quarter. Was that something you were conscious of as a team or the ball movement was just so good?
HALEY VAN DYKE: I didn't think we had very many opportunities to shoot the three. I think we were trying to get it in the paint. I think we realized towards the end of the game, like at halftime, that we needed to get more three-point shots. I think we did that.
I think it was a mindset that we just kept shooting the ball and didn't let any of our misses affect us.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you.
HALEY VAN DYKE: Thank you.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports