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Nov. 26, 2017

Recap | Final Stats

Virginia Head Coach Joanne Boyle

Opening Statement:
“Congrats to Duquesne. I am really just disappointed. I thought we played a really good first half, but we have these lulls in the third quarter recently. We have to correct that in order to be the team we want to be and that has to start in practice tomorrow.”

On picking up play for the next games:
“I think we played a good game yesterday. I thought we played a good first half but I think what is happening is we are not coming out strong in the third quarter. If you look at our history of third quarters, it’s not our best quarter. We have to come out more dialed in. I don’t think Duquesne did anything different. They made zero adjustments on the offensive floor, we just had break downs. Everyone is tired, but you have to fight through the fatigue and have a will to do it. We are capable of doing it, we just have to have the will. The score is zero to zero when you come out and you have to set a level of intensity that we just are not doing. We come down and we take quick shots and that just creates even more transition for a team, especially one like Duquesne who thrives in transition. It is happening on both ends of the floor but we are definitely not getting stops on defense. Then on the other the end of the floor, we are allowing them to play through the shot clock. Our identity is our rebounding, our defense and our effort. The scoring will come but we have to decide for 40 minutes that we are going to take ownership to that third quarter.”

On the effect of Duquesne’s Chassidy Omogrosso on Virginia’s defense:
“She is a great player. Two of their guards combined for 47 points, and they scored 74 points total. We knew that we had to shut down two of the three guards that really scored the ball for them. Again, not calling on switches, not getting hands up. We had some miscommunication early. She had some early transition threes, where she wasn’t even really guarded. I think she is a very heavy player, very strong willed. She really makes them go and has this attitude about her that is conducive to your team thriving off that.”

On guard play:
“Yes, obviously we are down a guard without Amandine, and she would have brought that athleticism, length and the combo guard so that it is another guard that is in that rotation. But, we have veterans on the team as well, we just have to decide that we are going to be true to our identity.”

Virginia Guard Allyah Huland El

On end game mindset:
“Honestly, I’m just focused on the rim at that point, focused on making the shot and then getting a defensive stop.”

On second half play:
“Duquesne, credit to them, they came out with a lot of energy and a lot of intensity. They executed their plays offensively and got stops defensively. They scored, I think, on three straight possessions, and we didn’t. I think that was the difference.”

On third quarter lull:
“We talk about the third quarter lull, that is what we have named it in the past couple years, and we focus on the third quarter as part of our practice to try and make sure our intensity is up. It is definitely something on the forefront of our minds. At this point, all we have to do is focus on actually making it better and getting defensive stops whether we are tired or not. We have to do better.”

On upcoming Maryland game:
“For us, it is the next play. We are going to watch film individually, focusing on what the mistakes we made today were and the focusing on fixing them (the mistakes). For Maryland, our coaches do a good job of preparing us for the scout. At this point, it is on us to execute it.”

Virginia Guard J’Kyra Brown

On getting through scoring droughts:
“It definitely starts with defense. That’s what we stress every day in practice, the defense is what starts our offense. I think at times we do get away from that and that’s where we have our ups and downs. The third quarter is what we need to focus on more going into these next few games.”

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