Post Game Quotes: Virginia vs Wake Forest
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Feb. 25, 2013
UVa head coach Joanne Boyle:
On the game
“It was a battle, and I think both teams battled. A lot of credit to Wake Forest, I think they finished the game and that’s been our Achilles heel- we’re still trying to figure out how to do that. I’m proud of our kids fight but we need to figure out how to be smart down the stretch.”
On the mental game:
“We keep reliving the same horror film. We had the effort tonight but we have to be smarter. I told them in there that we need to understand that we have to value the possessions. In overtime we get eight possessions or six possessions, and we have an offensive foul and an illegal screen and we give them away offensively. Defensively we do everything right and then we put ourselves back in that situation. For whatever reason, were not thinking the game down the stretch.”
UVa player Ataira Franklin:
On the end of regulation
The plan was to get to the basket and score, but also try to draw the foul. There was some contact, but in a close game, a hard fought game by both teams, the ref isn’t going to call that. We fought hard and got a couple offensive boards but weren’t able to connect.
On shortage of players
Jaryn came in and played some great minutes, Sarah was great on the boards and had some big put backs and had a good all around game, Faith hit a big shot down the stretch, so I think our freshmen are stepping up for us. Like Sarah said, people need to step up and they did that for us tonight but at times we just need to be able to think the game.
UVa player Sarah Imovbioh:
On the end of regulation:
When Frankie missed the shot I felt like I had it, it was right there I just couldn’t finish, then Simone had it and just couldn’t finish. I feel like its just the little things that we don’t do that come back and hurts us.
On short-handed roster
Coach said in practice that we’re down a couple of players so we really just need to step up and today I think in the post we demanded the ball to do that. Coach also said we really need to rebound the ball in this game and in my mind I said I was just going to go after every rebound.
Wake Forest Head Coach Jen Hoover
On the victory:
I’m just so happy and proud of our players. It was a great game to be a part of because you had two teams that were really just hungry and fighting for our lives. I think you had great play after great play made by two teams. We are so excited to be on the right end of that. When Chelsea Douglas and Lakevia Boykin combine for 45 points, the aggressiveness of those two, and Asia Williams giving us 10 and 6 while that’s going on with your other two starters posting in double figures – we have a lot of players. We talked a lot this week about our focus and doing your role, and I thought we had a lot of players step up, especially in that second half.
On staying composed against such a strong rebounding team:
We talked about offensive rebounding, we had to limit their second chances. Sarah [Imovbioh] had a phenomenal game. She’s playing minutes now because of some injuries, but that’s what happens on great teams. When your players step up and for a kid to get 18 rebounds and 18 points against us, we have to look at that and correct that. But again, the resilience of our players to stay focused and in the moment I thought was key. I could look at them at time outs and tell that we were never out of the game.
On confidence moving forward:
This was big for us, because we needed to get one to get over the hump and get our confidence back. I thought in the second half we really got confident against that zone, and that’s good for us for the future. We have to go back and play the Virginia Tech team. They just beat Florida State very convincingly. We have a quick turnaround, they were off today I’m sure. We’ve got five seniors playing their last game at Joel Thursday night and that means a lot to us, and what they’ve put into this program. They’ve done something I was never able to do – we never beat Virginia when I was at Wake. I’m so proud of them and so excited for them.