Postgame Quotes vs. Wisconsin

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Postgame Quotes
Virginia 84, Wisconsin 60
Nov. 30, 2007

Virginia head coach Debbie Ryan
Opening Statement:
“I was really pleased with the energy we had tonight. I knew we were going to play well after the way we practiced the last couple days. It was such a disappointment in Hawaii for us not to win the championship. I knew our team had been playing well throughout the stretch and I knew they’d bounce back.

“The defense is what carried us tonight; that’s what we focused on. Wisconsin is a very good Big Ten team and they will do well as the year goes on. I think we neutralized Jolene (Anderson) a little bit better this time, we didn’t give her 30 points and I think that was the important thing, to hold her under her average, so they couldn’t get the point totals they needed to beat us. So we spent a lot of time focusing on her.”

On the game:
“I came to the arena tonight hoping that the game in Hawaii was an anomaly and I think it was. This team has played so hard and so well through this whole stretch, and it just needed time to come together. Our schedule was tough and it prepared us well for this, it prepared us extremely well for what we saw tonight.”

On playing Wisconsin this year as opposed to last year:
“This is relatively the same team we played out in Wisconsin last year. So it’s relatively the same team and we remembered everything so it wasn’t a whole lot to prepare for.”

On Virginia’s improvements:
“We’ve had tremendous growth. This team has been a really fun team to coach because they’ve grown in every area. I think the defensive end is the core, as you could see tonight when we started the game. You knew they were going to play their tails off and compete.”

On the role of the bench:
“I thought we got great bench play tonight from Abby (Robertson) and Kristen (London) and Britnee (Millner). That gives you almost a whole other team to give you a little rest now and then, which is a huge thing because when we were in Hawaii we played 35, 38, 37 minutes, and that’s hard to go back-to-back-to-back and maintain the quality. We’re getting better play off the bench and that’s helping us a great deal.”

On Monica Wright:
“Monica’s really been a work in progress all along and she’s just going to keep getting better. There’s no ceiling for her. She’s extended her game by being able to shoot the three better and she’s really worked on that part of her game. We took really smart shots tonight we didn’t get out of our element too much. Monica’s a player that’s just going to continue to get better. She’s really grown in so many parts of her game, and her leadership has grown a great deal as well.”