Postgame Quotes
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Women’s Basketball Postgame Quotes
February 5, 2009
No. 4 Duke 81, No. 15 Virginia 67
Virginia Head Coach Debbie Ryan
Opening Statement:
“I just think that they were better than we were tonight. We had a great start, and they went to the match-up zone, which bothered us for a little while. The pressure bothered us for a little while, but we were still in the game. We made a nice run in the second half and it was down to three with about eleven minutes to go. We didn’t get some of the things we needed from other parts of our team, and basically, we did not defend, and that’s the only way we score. We score only when we defend and rebound. That is our game.”
On crucial defending:
“I just think that the key part of the game when we were down three with a chance to cut it, and we don’t get a stop. And then they score, we don’t get a stop again and they score again. We just couldn’t get stops. We were deficient defensively tonight. I really don’t think that we defended tonight. This was just on us. We didn’t defend.”
On moving past the loss:
“We’ll have to see what we do with it. We’ll be fine. We just have to get more from some other people defensively.”
On getting more out of role players:
“We’re going to take what the defense gives us. Some players do have to step up offensively.”
Virginia Guard Monica Wright
On bouncing back with the quick turnaround Sunday vs. Virginia Tech:
“You can’t dwell on it, we’re going to have to get better and learn how to maintain defensive pressure and limit breakdowns. Be able to think through it and attack.”
On the pressure of scoring:
“It shouldn’t be about pressure, or anything other than giving 110 percent of what you do best.”
Virginia Forward Lyndra Littles
On the difference in the game:
“We didn’t defend penetration well, we didn’t defend in the paint. We didn’t get it done the way that we needed to get it done. Duke’s a great team, but when we want to be we are a great defensive team.”
On Duke limiting UVa’s transition game:
“That’s what we want to do – we are a transition team. We want to run and get lay-ups. But if we don’t get stops and rebounds, then we can’t do that.”
Virginia Guard Britnee Millner:
On the team’s defensive breakdowns:
“We kind of just gave up middle penetration. We were more focused on helping that we gave up the middle way too much.”
Duke Head Coach Joanne P. McCallie
Opening Statement:
“I am very proud of our team after overcoming a 13-2 start. I was extremely happy with our guard play and their decision-making, and also the tempo of the game. Overall there was some excellent guard play and good rebounding. There were some areas to improve on because we could not slow down Virginia’s two key players but we were able to stop some others with good team defense.”
On overcoming slow start:
“I think it is important to stay focused. I was proud of this team because we were very focused on defending, rebounding, and fighting. The game is all about runs. It was too early to worry about anything after the slow start.”
On defending Virginia:
“We played great team defense. Everybody playing their role was one of the keys tonight. “
Duke Guard Abby Waner
On second half:
“I think we played well. We just continued from the second 10 minutes of the first half. We were on each other all game making sure we did not let them back in it. There was good carry over from half to half.”
On pulling away in second half:
“We saw different players step up tonight. We had to keep our poise and composure. There is nothing like stopping the run and taking the wind out of a team like we ended up doing to Virginia in the second half.”
Duke Guard Jasmine Thomas
On getting to the basket:
“I was focused on getting into the paint and getting to the basket. In the first half I settled for outside shots and then after seeing my teammates get into the paint I started attacking as well.”