Virginia vs. Boston College Postgame Quotes

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Postgame Quotes
Virginia 69, Boston College 58
Jan. 21, 2012

Virginia Head Coach Joanne Boyle
On Virginia’s resilience:
“We talked to the girls earlier about BC and about how they’re a team that doesn’t quit. That’s their personality. That’s a credit to (BC coach) Sylvia Crawley and what she is doing with them. They’re so close and a lot of times their games are 10-point games, but that was the one thing we talked to our girls about. (BC) is going to fight every possession and they did. In the second half, we really grinded it out and played smart and disciplined down the stretch.”

On the difference between the first and second halves:
“I think the biggest difference for us was that we were down on the boards the entire game and we really clawed back in the second half and we did a really good job at the free throw line.”

On Lexie Gerson’s play:
“She has had a lot of great games this year and this is just one of them. She is contributing in a lot of places for us and is having a great year. The one great thing about Lexie is that she’s a great anticipator.”

On the meaning behind this win:
“This is a great win because we are going into a tough stretch and everybody is right in that middle right now, fighting for spots. This is a good confidence builder going into next week at Georgia Tech.”

On Virginia’s shooting:
“We have to take shots when they come to us and I trust all of our guards. They know when to stop if they’re not shooting well. We’re a good shooting team but we just have to extend the defense. If we just pound it in all night, we are not going to extend the defense. We just have to play it different ways.”

Sophomore guard Ataira Franklin
On Virginia’s defense:
“I think our major focus was on defense. We really were focused on guarding the three, but we were giving them lanes to the basket. Once we picked it up on defense, everyone was able to get into a flow offensively.”

On hitting two 3-pointers:
“I feel like I always have a moment like that in the game. It’s just emotional. Every game you want to win. That game was a game that we needed to win. That was a game they felt they needed to win. Both teams were playing competitive. Both teams wanted it. We just really needed this game.”

On the team focusing in on rebounds:
“Definitely. When Coach gets serious, she gets serious. I think Lexie (Gerson) was definitely a spark for us on the boards. Lexie takes her role so seriously, and when she gets in her zone she is great for us as far as rebounding and steals. Telia (McCall) was great for us on the boards. We definitely had to pick it up after the halftime speech.”