Thompson pitched with a lot of control and kept us off stride all game long. We played a solid game and only struck out four times, we just couldn't get a run across the plate.

(Thompson) has got a lot of good stuff and always pitches tough against us. We faced her three times last year and she always did well. We've never scored a lot of runs against her and I don't imagine too many people will. (She has) control and change of pace, and that's always difficult. You've got 40 feet to decide if it's going fast, slow, up, down ? it's just a tough sport.

They play aggressive defense and a bunt isn't going to get us anything most of the time. It may move a runner along, but we didn't have enough runners to move along.

We knew we needed to keep her under control and keep her in front of us. She brings a lot to the table, and her ball speed with the dribble creates challenges as far as getting back on defense -- and even in the half court where we're helping out -- and she's a challenging player.

Our defense was good overall and the seven hits we had are the most we've had in a while.

It will give us more control over the highway.