Post Game Quotes: Virginia vs. Coppin State
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Dec. 18, 2012
Head Coach Joanne Boyle
Opening Statement
“You’re always glad to get the ‘W’, but we only really played three or four minutes in that game, so we really need to figure that out quick. Of the eight players that played, all eight are better than what they showed. Every team deals with injuries and if we outscored them 19-2 in three minutes, then I think we can play a much better game than that.”
On Coppin St.
“I felt they like, like other teams, came out ready to play. No one is scared to play us, and why should they be? They put forth that effort and energy early in the game and we held back.”
On the second half
“I think we figured out their defense in the second half. We had to make layups and take a deep breath. Towards the end, we got everything we wanted, but where was that earlier in the game. We’re still letting our defense affect our offense, and our offense affect our defense, and we need to get out of that mold a little bit.”
On Ataira Franklin
“We found out that she wouldn’t play today. She had to see the doctor about her concussion. He was going to release her, and she could have played, but he wanted to hold her out for one more day. But she will definitely be ready for Friday.”
Senior center Simone Egwu
On only have eight available players
“It was definitely tough, but it’s a place we’ve been before. We had this kind of struggle last year. One thing I will say is that I have absolute faith in my team whether we have to go to war with five. I have faith in every single person on and off the court.”
On what was said in the huddle when Coppin took a seven-point lead
“Just to keep playing hard. To pick it up where we weren’t playing well and keep our head in the game.”
On what caused the lull in the game
“I wish I had an answer to that question. If we knew, it wouldn’t have happened. I think they just came out with an unexpected amount of pressure that we weren’t prepared as much for as we thought we were and it kind of threw us off our game and kept riding us for a while.”
On how not having a full roster affected the game
“I think the thing is, not having a full roster is not a reason to lower expectations, and so what we’re going to take away from this game is things we need to improve on. There were definitely a lot of things we could have done better tonight. We are not going to treat it as, oh, we just happened to claw our way in there. We know there is a certain level of performance that we can attain and we want to be there all the time.”
On what the team learned tonight to take into the Alabama game
“Some things I think we learned, like I said, there is a certain level of performance that we are expected to be at at all times and ways to get back to that when you haven’t necessarily been feeling it the whole time. How to play through lulls like that and be tough.”
Junior guard Kelsey Wolfe
On her three-pointers at the end of the game
“The coaches and my teammates have confidence in me just to keep shooting. China set me up really well both times and I just had to knock them down. They were big shots, but if I’m open I’m going to shoot them.”
On what was said in the huddle while being down seven
“Definitely to pick it up on defense. We needed to get stops and scores and we needed to box out and rebound.”
On not having Ataira Franklin able to play
“It definitely affected us but I think Faith [Randolph] and Jaryn [Garner] stepped up big being first years. They came in with major minutes and played hard. I think they played well.”