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Postgame Quotes
Virginia 77, Colorado 43
Nov. 24, 2008
Charlottesville, Va.
Virginia head coach Debbie Ryan
On winning by 30+ points:
“I think what really makes me feel good is that I didn’t have to rely on Monica Wright for an ungodly amount of scoring for me, that’s the best thing I see here is that other players are stepping up and scoring and putting the ball in the basket for us. That way we can get Moni [Monica] down to a normal percentage.”
On playing well defensively:
“I was really pleased with our effort that’s what we worked on the past few days, so if our offense suffered because of it, I’m fine with that. That was our focus. Our whole focus was to put pressure on them from start to finish. We never stopped being aggressive and we used every player on the bench. Everybody got a chance to go in and do what they needed to do.
“We have a lot of talented players. To get scoring from four freshmen, and to get good scoring from three of them, you’ve really built yourself some depth, and I’m really pleased with where we are.
On competing against former UVa player Kathy McConnell-Miller:
“It’s always a tough thing for both of us. Kathy did this as a favor for me, because I wanted to take Jayna (Hartig) and Kelly (Hartig) back to Colorado next year. It’s never easy to play someone you know so well, and it’s always a tough matchup. It’s always really hard because you know someone’s going to lose. I hate playing my friends. I absolutely hate it; and Kathy’s a very good friend of mine. (After the game) we were really just talking about good luck for the rest of the year. Kathy and I are very close, so we’ll talk a lot about each other’s teams in the days to come.
On Monica Wright:
Every single shot that doesn’t go in, every single assignment that gets missed, she feels personally responsible for. She puts a lot of energy into leading this team, and that’s one of the things people don’t realize that a lot of energy over the last three days, especially after a loss, is going to come from her. So I think she’s probably just a little bit tired after the fifth or sixth day we’ve played. She’s the type of player that puts a lot of energy into making the team win. Whatever she didn’t do offensively tonight, I’m fine with, because she put the energy back into this team, and she’s a great enforcer and she’s a great encourager.
Colorado head coach Kathy McConnell-Miller
On her return to UVa:
“Coming to Virginia was good regardless of the outcome. It was a great experience and Charlottesville is a special place. I was welcomed back with open arms.”
On the game:
“I have to credit Virginia’s defense, they pressured us the entire game. Early on we had some misses and I think that carried over so we struggled a bit.”
On Virginia:
“I like Virginia’s energy. They run and they pressure. They have a lot of weapons, so they are difficult to guard. With their versatility at the guard and post positions, they make it tough because of their ability to adjust.”
Virginia Player Quotes
Sophomore forward Jayna Hartig
On bouncing back from the ODU loss:
“This game was really important in terms of learning. Taking every experience and making sure you use it for the rest of the season is important. ODU is such a tough place to play and they always draw big crowds for our game because of the rivalry. For us to bounce back and have the energy we had today was crucial for us as a team.”
On the impact of first-year class:
“They show great maturity. I think it is really hard to go from a high school gym to a college gym and not have the nerves and not put pressure on yourself to perform. They have really stepped up when we needed them to.”
Freshman guard Ariana Moorer
On defensive effort tonight:
“In practice Coach Ryan always stresses defense. She told me to get on the point guard and disrupt their offense. My teammates helped me by always encouraging me.”
Freshman forward Chelsea Shine
On the first three games:
“It is good for us as freshman to adjust to all the different types of play so we can adjust when it comes time for ACC play. It was good for us to go on the road and play in front of huge crowds. It was good for us to learn and experience it this early on.”
Senior center Aisha Mohammed
On intensity and blocked shots:
“That is the intensity we want to set off all season. The ODU game was a message to everyone when we got beat by them. We are happy it happened now instead of in ACC or NCAA play. We need to continue to play together.”