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Postgame Quotes
North Carolina at Virginia
Feb. 15, 2010

Virginia Head Coach Debbie Ryan
Opening remarks
“I know that Sylvia Hatchell-coached teams are not going to lose four in a row and come in here and just lay down and die. I knew this was the type of game it was going to be. I thought that we fought hard to get the lead before overtime and then they hit a three, it is just crazy what happened. It was just crazy. But we have had many games like this in the past – if you look at our past we have had double overtime and triple overtime games – it is just the way that the teams are matched up. I was really proud of my team tonight, I was especially proud of these two (Paulisha Kellum and Ariana Moorer). They had to run the team for me the entire night, they had to stay on the floor for long minutes, Ari had three fouls and she did not even pick up her fourth. She did a really good job of being intelligent. Paulisha was playing point guard, two guard, post player. She went from one position to another and we put her down there in the low post so that she could rebound. She does such a fabulous job of really being physical down there. I thought Monica Wright had a tremendous game offensively, with 33 points, we were pushing her all over the place also. But I really thought that the quiet hero tonight was Telia McCall. She goes for 20 rebounds – we told her all we needed her to do was to rebound and she really stepped up and hit two big free throws at the end, too. I was really proud of her. I think there were a lot of heroes tonight, a lot of people that played their butts off, and I could not have asked for anything more. One more thing I just want to say is that my staff did a fabulous job. Wendy Palmer had the scout. I was not here getting ready for this game. I was here on Sunday but probably in body only. My mother had surgery this week and I had to go home to help my family, so this was all them. I want to give [my staff] 100 percent of the credit.”

On breaking the 0-13 streak against North Carolina
“I think my team saw that graphic and decided that was enough.”

On the last play in regulation
“We actually were fouling her [Italee Lucas] all the way… and they did not call it. We were trying to foul with under eight to five seconds left, but could not get a foul call. But that is okay, we did the best we could, she hit it. She was on tonight.”

Virginia guard Paulisha Kellum
On playing down low as a small forward
“Rebounding is all about heart. It’s just about fighting and going to get the ball and that’s what I did. I knew our team needed defensive and offensive rebounding and that’s what I wanted to do – especially when I was playing the four position. I didn’t want to leave Telia McCall alone even if she had 11 offensive rebounds on her own. Rebounding is all about heart now matter how tall or big you are. It is all about heart.”

On how it feels to beat North Carolina for the first time in 14 games
“It feels great. We were reminded every day that we hadn’t beaten North Carolina in so many years. In my time here, we have never beaten UNC so it was a really good feeling and we needed this win.”

On when Italee Lucas hit the three to send the game into its first overtime
“It was a dagger but we just had to keep fighting. We couldn’t put our heads down; the game wasn’t over yet but in the end the buzzer ended and we came out with a victory.”

Virginia guard Ariana Moorer
On penetrating North Carolina’s defense and hitting lay ups
“Well I tried to look for teammates but when I saw openings I decided to take it hard to the rack. I was trying to get the foul but I didn’t get it – I just hit the lay up.”

On the team’s confidence:
“We all trust each other. When we can’t get it to Monica Wright, somebody else is going to be open. If they aren’t, you just trust that your teammates are going to help you get to the basket and that is what we did tonight. For instance, on one play Paulisha Kellum gave me a screen and I went straight to the basket.”

North Carolina head coach Sylvia Hatchell
On Monica Wright
“If you take her off of that team a lot of things change. She did not shoot very well, but she made her foul shots. She is a great player there is no doubt about that. I think she is the player of the year for the conference. I do not know anyone else who is better than her.”

On five straight losses for UNC
“We have to go to Wake Forest now, so we have to regroup. We have to keep competing and battling hard. We have to compete harder.”

On UNC mistakes
“We missed lay-ups, we missed foul shots. If we had made our foul shots we would have won by six or eight points. The biggest thing was rebounding. [UVa’s Telia] McCall had 20 rebounds. That is unbelievable. For a kid to get 20, that is just heart and going after it. But we have to do a better job rebounding, we have to make lay-ups, and we have to make foul shots.”

On guarding Monica Wright
“We tried to put different people on her and deny her the basketball. She is pretty tough to guard. She is great off the ball and has a great jump shot.”

North Carolina guard Italee Lucas
On her game-tying shot at the end of regulation
“It was an exciting feeling. I knew it was going in, and I was hoping for a good outcome. We worked hard and fought until the end.”

On facing Monica Wright
“She is tough and that is when you need good help defense. She is a great player and we did what we could against her.”

On five straight losses for UNC
“It is tough, but there are a lot of opportunities still ahead of us. We just have to keep pushing forward.”

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