Nov. 11, 2005

Santa Clara Head Coach Jerry Smith:

"I'm very happy we're advancing. That's our ultimate goal, to advance to the next round. I thought our team played pretty well today. We had a number of different people on the scoresheet, which is always a good idea and we had a shutout."

"We had a chance to play a number of different players today. Some of our players had their first NCAA experience today which is good to get under their belt. It also helps us stretch our legs a little bit for Sunday. But Fresno State played great, played hard, played very organized. Our playoff experience really helped us today. It also really helped playing the game at home."

"Certainly Tina stepped up for us, as she always does in the NCAA tournament. For the team to score five goals, three in the first half, is just what the doctor ordered as far as what we were looking for."

Senior Defender Micaela Esquivel:

"We do expect to go to the Final Four. That is our main goal. I think that games like this, where there are a lot of fans, will better prepare us for the Final Four, where it's loud and harder to communicate."

Junior Forward Tina Estrada:

"Coming into the tournament we're such a defensive-minded team. We're solid defensively and like Jerry said earlier, it's our offense to worry about. So I was happy to see that we had a number of people finish our chances today."

Fresno State Head Coach Steve Springthorp:

"Tonight Santa Clara played a great game. They were a well organized team and they are certainly a team that is going to challenge for a championship. And for us it was a great opportunity to go out and play hard, particularly stacked up against a great team like that. I felt like our girls played hard. Unfortunately, we got down a goal early, first ten minutes, and had a hard time recovering from that. I'm certainly proud of our team and proud of our senior captains for what they have accomplished this year, for winning a WAC championship and getting an opportunity to come to the NCAA tournament. I'm pleased with our effort. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out the way that we would have liked but we'll do it again next year."

"Santa Clara's a good team. They win year in and year out in the NCAA tournament. When that time comes around, they seem to be hitting on all cylinders. They put forth a great effort and certainly were a challenge for us."