Coquese Washington details what Rutgers women's basketball must do in upcoming games
Head coach Coquese Washington of the Rutgers women's basketball team talked about her team playing to a high standard, no matter what adversity it is facing. The Scarlet Knights (4-5, 0-0) have had an exhausting start to the season, which included a trip to Las Vegas for the South Point Classic last weekend.
"It's been about 20 days since our season started," Washington said after Rutgers defeated Delaware State on Wednesday. "We've played a lot of basketball. We just came back from Vegas, so there's an element for us where we're a little tired, and I get that. But we talked about — on the bench and at half time and before and after the game — that we have to be overcomers."
Nine games into the season, the Knights stand at four wins and five losses. Rutgers ended its three-game losing streak against the Hornets (0-6, 0-0) on Wednesday. Washington detailed what the team needs to do to improve.
"To get the progress we want, we need continuity," Washington said. "We're learning how each other (plays). We’re learning how to play the style of play that we want to play, and we're getting better slowly but surely."
Junior guard and forward Destiny Adams believes the team has progressed since the very start of the season.
"I think our main focus is really our connectedness and our togetherness, and I think we took really big steps in Vegas towards that," Adams said on Wednesday. "I think we played the best basketball we've played since the season started, and I'm just really proud of everybody for really locking in and being committed on what we're trying to do as a team."
Washington expanded on the team supporting each other on the court.
"We want to be a team that shares the ball," Washington said. "We have some talented offensive players, and so it's about learning how to use each other, how to support each other (and) how to play together so that we maximize everybody's potential."
As the team moves further into the season and into its Big Ten schedule, Washington believes that the Knights should focus on improving on the defensive side of the floor.
"We want to get better at being able to play man-to-man defense and have that be a force for us," Washington said. "So, we'll just keep working on that from now until Big Ten play comes along."
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