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Post Game Quotes: Virginia vs No. 7 Maryland
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Feb. 17, 2013
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Virginia Head Coach Joanne Boyle
On the pace:
As long as we’re scoring at that pace then I’m ok. But then we have to start subbing, getting people rest here and there. Then Kelsey went down and it kind of stung everybody. Our foul trouble stars and our rotation gets so slim.
On Maryland’s dominance
They’re a great team and have great size. I think it’s a disappointment that we’re going on our fourth game scoring in the forties I think we’ve played fearful and I don’t know what has changed all of a sudden but we have to figure out that we can talk a good game and prep all we want but until we have a team that steps up and believes they can makes shots and layups and demand touches. If you’re not going to demand the ball and fight for the ball and demand touches then there are going to be long nights for us.
On toughness:
It’s like [Ataira Franklin] said- you’re teammate goes down and you fight for her. Then china started getting aggressive in the second half, and everyone needs to get on her bandwagon, everyone just stood around and watch China run around and fight for it, and Frankie is the only one who’s going to score points. We have four post players who have got to contribute.
Virginia Guard Ataira Franklin
On the second half:
The coaches always tell us the most important part of the game is the first five minutes of the first half and first five minutes of the second half. And were at a point where 12 is not a huge deficit. You score a few buckets and you’re within single digits, but they got some buckets in transition
On the impact of Kelsey Wolfe’s injury
I feel like it’s tough for us. Kelsey is a starter and plays major minutes. But that’s a point where you rally as a team and fight for her. We didn’t do that tonight. That’s the most disappointing thing- that we didn’t take pride in finishing the game for her
On toughness
All you can do is go out and play hard. I can’t say we did that tonight, at last not for a full 40 minutes or even a full 20 minutes. I don’t know what it was tonight, but I was frustrating.
Maryland Head Coach Brenda Frese
Opening Statement:
“We had a lot of fun tonight. I especially thought we had a dominant performance. I really liked how we ended before halftime, and the second half was one of our best twenty minutes that we’ve put together in a long time. I loved the energy that we were able to play with and I thought we dominated the glass. We were really able to make them have to take some difficult shots in the second half and we were really clicking on all cylinders.”
On Virginia cutting the lead to two:
“I felt like we needed to lock in a little bit more in terms of our effort. We were even on the boards at that point, and we were struggling with our rebounding as well as our defense. They were getting too much penetration in the first half. But this team responds, and they took the challenge and went on their own run.”
On Alyssa Thomas:
“She makes the game look so easy when we know it’s not. Her presence on the floor and scoring you could tell that she was really clicking. She was confident, taking good shots, and rebounding. I thought that she was really good in transition and she was giving great assists to her teammates. I thought she had a flawless night. We started a little slow so to have that punch from Alyssa early was key. But they continue to switch: Tianna [Hawkins] will have a night, and then Alyssa will have a night. They’re really unselfish, and they play for each other.”
Maryland forward Alyssa Thomas
On her game:
“The first couple shots always give you confidence, and then after that you just keep on going.”
On staying focused:
“We just get in the mindset to finish out the game strong. We know that Virginia is a three point shooting team, so they could get back in it at any point. So we just had to lock in and come out strong.”
Maryland center Alicia DeVaughn
On the defense tonight:
“Defensively, I thought we did a pretty good job. We had a couple dips, but we talked to each other and talked about what we needed to do: white-line, not allowing penetration, and we locked in and got on defense.”
On Alyssa Thomas’ performance:
“When Alyssa’s doing her thing? Yeah, we just kind of let her go ahead. We always follow up behind her so if she makes it or misses it we’ve got her back.”