Postgame Quotes vs. Virginia Tech
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Jan. 21, 2018
Head Coach Joanne Boyle
Opening Statement:
“It was a very hard-fought game by two teams. I give a lot of credit to Virginia Tech. We knew how they have been in every game and they fight, so we never expected them to go away. I’m really proud of our team and how the resilience showed up down the stretch.”
On the play to Moses out of final timeout:
“I don’t even remember. We just put this play in this week. We had watched them hard-hedge ball screens, and it was just the time to use it. We set Lauren (Moses) up for a reversal and a slip screen and if she didn’t get it then Jocelyn (Willoughby) was going to set a running ball screen and we were going to stay in our continuity offense. Lauren had great timing and JB delivered the ball to her and she just had a great finish. I think we could finally take a deep breath. We went back into the buzz. I think we got a turnover or stop and got a cushion and just maintained what we needed to do down the stretch.”
On the possibility of having an NCAA tournament team on her hands:
“For sure. I think it speaks volumes to their maturity and how hard they work to come back. It’s hard to hear that you’re not in, but it’s another thing to think what are you going to do with it. Scheduling that non-conference schedule was purposeful. We wanted to challenge ourselves. Even though you come out a little less than you hope for, you can’t change the experience. I think that’s what is paying off and giving us dividends here every day, knowing that we can be in every game no matter who we are playing. In any off-season, it’s just what kind of work are we doing.”
Sophomore Guard Jocelyn Willoughby
On Virginia Tech defense in the second half:
“I think they definitely turned up the defense, and we expected that in the second half, especially after we had such a good first half shooting wise. Whenever you start out that hot, it’s really hard to maintain it for the rest of the game. We knew we wouldn’t be shooting as good of a percentage, but we didn’t expect to go that cold either.”
On beating Virginia Tech, an in-state rival:
“It’s always a good feeling. Any win is, especially over our rival. We know that we are representing more than just the women’s basketball team. We are representing UVA in the rivalry. It was a good win for us, and we are looking to building off of it.”
Senior Guard Aliyah Huland El
On the last two minutes:
“I’ve got a lot of words, but really it was just about trying to get stops on the defensive end. They were sending five to the board and it was hard. On that end we needed to get stops and on offense we had to take the shots. We had to be disciplined as well.”
On Virginia defense:
“We stayed in our own game. We did buzz and fives, we call fives man. We really wanted to up the tempo. We wanted to force turnovers and jump the ball. They typically play four out and one in and we wanted to make sure that we were guarding as well against their drives as their shooters.”