OK, these are a lot of assumptions regarding someone almost all of us have never met. Anyway, you can say you like someone and not want to date them or at least think you shouldn't. If I'd been smarter a few times I would have avoided lousy situations by recognizing the difference between attraction and being a good match. It's an odd way of putting it, to my ears anyway, but I can imagine thinking that way. We all have things that we want and need in a relationship, and ignoring that is a temporary solution at best. I will say meeting in groups and whittling away friends over time would, to me, come across as blatant manipulation. It looks like you're either trying to get her alone without her noticing or pretending to have backed off while in fact just trying to convince her by making her more comfortable around you. Either way, you're hiding your intentions and that has a tendency to go really incredibly wrong. I have been on both ends of that mistake and it is not pretty.
There are a lot of possibilities. Maybe she isn't sure how she feels about you, maybe she's worried that the two of you will just be a bad match, maybe she doesn't want to wreck the friendship (which it probably will if it goes wrong. sorry, but conventional wisdom is right on that one). Maybe she isn't sure about dating period, particularly depending on how religious she is. Maybe she's just really bad at communicating. Hell, maybe she does have unreasonable standards and a penchant for manipulation. Those who actually know her are the only ones who have much chance of judging that correctly.
Either way, after a response like that pushing your luck, especially trying to do it in a sneaky way, especially after agreeing to leave it for now, sounds like a pretty good way to damage her trust in you. "Let's leave it for now" probably doesn't mean "I'll leave it for now and you organize our social lives so that I end up alone with you."
If you are willing to wait and discuss it later, you can do that, understanding it's not a sure thing. If you truly can't leave it alone and can't wait, then tell her you want to try and you aren't willing to wait around. She's under no obligation to date you and you're under no obligation to wait for her to make up her mind or change her mind or whatever she does in the end. You'll never make someone into a person they're not and you can't make someone want you. If the two of you stay friends maybe you'll catch each other on another swing-by. In the meantime, you can find a girl who wants to be with you or take a break from the lists of love and she can either date the guys who fit her criteria, change the criteria, or stay single.
Being honest doesn't always get you what you want, but in a relationship it all comes out sooner or later. If you are honest about your intentions and your limits, it's up to her to decide what she wants and what she can do. If she is into you enough to set aside her misgivings and go for it, then she will. If she isn't, then you can't change that and in any case you deserve someone who is. If she's playing coy to try and make you do all the work, call her bluff. Do you really want to be with someone you have to -convince- to date you?
I admit, I don't know you personally, but most people manage. Continue to be friendly and open to possibilities and I'm sure you'll find the right moment to jump into a relationship and a girl who wants to jump with you entirely of her own volition.
I know this is a long post, but it's not a simple topic.
