Postgame Quotes vs. Fairleigh Dickinson

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Postgame Quotes
Virginia 83, Fairleigh Dickinson 35
Dec. 2, 2007

Virginia head coach Debbie Ryan
Opening Statement:
“I think our biggest concern today was having a let-down after the Wisconsin game it was a big game for us, a big win. We didn’t do much yesterday, we saw a little film and then let the players go to get some rest, and they took full advantage of the time we gave them. The tournament in Hawaii really helped us because we learned how to make a quick turn-around with the team and be able to come out with all our guns loaded and ready to play I felt like we did that today.
We created some separation early and did not play around. It gave me a chance to play my bench; I thought they did an extremely good job playing together, and doing the things that we needed them to do both offensively and defensively to get better. It gave some people a really good chance to show what they can do.”

On the wide distribution of Virginia points scored today:
“It was great to see them score we had a goal in the locker room at halftime, they were up on the bench by three points (13-10) and we challenged the bench to outscore Farleigh Dickinson’s bench, and they did a great job of that in the second half.”

On Britnee Millner’s game:
“Well Paulisha’s out she had an injury in the last game, so she was out today resting it, and Britnee had to play there. She is prepared for that she plays the point all the time for me; she can play the point and the two. She is very high energy, I thought she had a great game today, she gave us good organization out there, and just was constantly all over the place defensively, just constantly playing hard.

“She was probably our most improved player from last year to that trip [Africa]. Unfortunately she had to sit out a couple games at the start of the season but she is making up for lost time now.”

On the upcoming game at Connecticut:
“I am feeling about as good as I can going up against Connecticut they are obviously a premier team in women’s basketball, and they are very, very loaded with players. We match up fairly well with the starting line-up, and then we will have to see how our bench performs. This was a good thing for our bench because they are going to have to get some of out players off the court for stretches of time, and I am hoping that they can hold their own.”

Virginia guard Sharne Zoll
On the bench’s performance:
“The bench played really well. They helped us out because we got some rest, and they got some experience out there on the court and got to work on some things. What we focused on coming into this game was just playing our game and not dropping the intensity when our starters came out. Our bench did a great job today.”

On the upcoming game with Connecticut:
“We need to come out with a lot of energy and remember that they are a team too. We have been seeing in all sports- basketball, college football- that any team can be beaten on any day. We need to go up there and have the same focus we have every game. Go in there working on what we need to work on- boxing out, rebounding, and taking care of the ball. Those three aspects determine games. We need to focus on that and not worry about the name on the jersey.”

Virginia guard Monica Wright
On the play of the post:
“Our post players really got us started early offensively, which opened it up for us on the outside guard.”

On playing a challenging UConn team early in the year:
“It is great to have these games early in the season so we learn early and tend not to make the same mistakes again.”

Fairleigh Dickinson head coach Peter Cinella
On the game:
“Virginia was just really athletic. They fast-break so well. They have some great players. We need to do a better job of taking care of the ball. We finished out the game strong but overall, Virginia was just too athletic. They look like they have a really good team this year.”

On Jennifer Walkling:
“She finished strong, kept running the court and was battling for rebounds right until the end. I think she did a good job of finishing. She played until the final buzzer.