Head coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton, Alexia Smith and Kaydan Lawson

UVA HEAD COACH AMAKA AGUGUA-HAMILTON
Opening Statement:
Just really proud of our group. We really bought into the defensive side of the ball. We played some great defense, especially on Jewel [Spear], made things tough for her, that was what the game plan was. We made shots when we needed to and played together when we needed to. I thought we handled adversity. We saw some adversity in that second quarter. Third quarter, we came out swinging and I just really liked our attention to detail.”

On the team’s start to the season:
“I think we’re right where we want to be, 3-0. I told players this too, we don’t need to be playing our best basketball until February. End of February, going into March, is when you want to be peaking. I’m happy with how we’re playing. The positive part is that we haven’t even come close to reaching our ceiling. We have so much growth left, a lot of work to do, but we’re still playing good enough to win games and win them convincingly. That’s a great thing. I just want to continue to see us get better. But, I’m happy. I’m happy. I think our players are happy. We have good chemistry, good camaraderie, and people are stepping up.”

On the key to getting ahead early:
“Energy. Playing together. Doing the little things, like defending and rebounding, hustle plays. Also being able to take the adjustments that we make at halftime and implement them in the second half. Our players do a great job of that. When we talk about maybe a certain play that we want to tweak, or maybe a defensive assignment, we do a great job of carrying that over onto the court.”

On coming in building up the program:
“I’m just really proud of our group. [Building up] culture, again. We talked about that all the time, culture wins, and I truly believe that. That’s how you sustain greatness for years and years to come. It’s about them buying in, which they have since day one, and then leaving a legacy. There’s so much that we can do this season. Our ceiling is so high. I want them to be put on the record books for leaving a legacy and bringing UVA women’s basketball back. I’m really proud of them through three. We still have a lot of games left in our season. We’re celebrating this one tonight, and then we move on to the next one. I just want to keep it rolling, but I know we have a lot of games left and we’ve just got to continue to get better.”

 

Junior Guard Kaydan Lawson
On the runs the team went on throughout the game:
“Like Coach Mox said, energy is what helped us get back to a lead. At halftime in the locker room we talked a lot about rebounding and coming together because we didn’t feel like we were together in the first half. So, we came out with energy and ready to play together, executing Coach’s plays, going to the basket, and punching gaps to get people open.”

On her improvement from last season:
“It’s a combination of things. To start, the coaching staff change, and Coach Mox has allowed us to be more open so that everybody is contributing. It’s a true team effort and that’s what has allowed me to get open more and make shots.”

On getting more comfortable from three-point range:
“I would say very comfortable, especially because we’ve been getting jump cuts. Since Coach Mox got hired, we’ve been working on threes, making sure that I’m more consistent in the moment, and having my teammates helping me get open. When I’m able to get open it’s easy to just knock that down for us.”

 

Junior Guard Alexia Smith
On defending Wake Forest and creating scoring droughts:
“It really brings us energy when we’re on defense. We know our principles in being on defense and bringing the energy on defense will help us with our offense a lot.”