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Feb. 18, 2018

Recap | Final Stats

Virginia Head Coach Joanne Boyle

Opening statement:
“It was a really tough game. It was not what we wanted and or expected. We came out strong, but made some crucial plays and got down a little bit. We just kind of lost ourselves and had a very scattered game overall for us. At this time of year you want to play solid, strong basketball, so we need to find our way back to that consistency.”

On the pressures of senior day:
“You don’t really know because you aren’t inside of their heads and you don’t know how they’re feeling about everything. You question about things prior to the game. I keep telling them that I’m not looking at this like the end of the season, I’m looking at this as the beginning. This is why you play. You get into the last five games of the season and you play inspired and know what’s ahead of you. I feel like we are playing like it’s the end of the season and there is nothing to be playing for. We all know that there is. We just have to find a way to play more inspired and just physically, mentally tougher. That’s our job to help them.”

On how this loss impacts the big picture:
“I don’t know, it’s hard to do the math on all of that. I feel like if we keep looking down the road too far, then we will keep catching ourselves. We just have to stay in the moment. We have two regular season games left, we have Louisville on Thursday and we have Wake Forest, and then an opportunity in the tournament. Obviously, our job is to get as many wins as possible before the tournament is over. We have to stay in the moment. We have to play inspired, and we have to know that every game is going to build our resume. I don’t know about today. I don’t know if it was just too much. As a coach, you’re always second guessing what you’re telling the team. We just need to be ourselves and be a mentally and physically tough team. We need to do the little things. If we do that, that’s where the wins have really showed up for us.”

On the development of Brianna Tinsley:
“She has gotten a lot more confident. I want her to really take the reins at point, so we can get Nikki off the ball. It’s just her being comfortable at that. She took good shots tonight and made them. She’s been really good about running our team, and she has gotten a lot more confident. I think she has been thrown into a lot of situations as a first year, and it’s only going to help her moving forward. The steadier she is, the more flexibility we have to play Nikki as the off-guard or JB or whoever we need.”

On looking back on this group of seniors:
“They have given a lot to the program. It’s not just based on one game. They came here and wanted to really lay a foundation and take this program to the next level. They have all contributed in different ways, so one game is not reflective of what they’ve done for this program from many standpoints. Again, we all want it for them, and they want it for themselves, we just need to figure out why we are finding ourselves in this inconsistent, up and down, emotionally, and if we can correct some of that stuff, then it will really help what we’re doing.”

Sophomore Guard Dominique Toussaint

On what changed when Miami went on a 20-1 run:
“I think it was just a lapse in our mental state. I think we kind of relaxed and were getting comfortable with that lead and they took advantage of that. Good teams will do that. I feel like we just had to focus more and they just took advantage of our lapse.”

On how to avoid scoring droughts:
“I feel like the momentum on the court when we huddle up and refocus ourselves will help us do what we have to do on the court. Individually we have to stay focused on the goal and the task at hand.”

On how much the last stretch of games has worn the team:
“Every team is tired at this point in the season. It’s getting down to the last stretch so you can’t really go with the excuse that we’re tired because everyone is tired.”

On feeling the pressure of being a bubble team:
“I feel like we are just taking one game at a time. It’s always in the back of our minds to make that tournament but when game day comes we are just focusing on that game. We don’t necessarily focus on the big picture, more just getting a win.”

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