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Women's Basketball
vs Countdown to Craziness
Quotes: Duke 62, Temple 52
3/20/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Duke Coach Gail Goestenkors
Opening Statement
“It was a very physical game. We are glad to be moving on. Give Temple a lot of credit. They make you play ugly because they are so physical. They are very gritty and they have a lot of pride. It was a good game for us to play.”
On Carrem Gay
“Carrem was really big. Her best game was back at Maryland, and she dislocated her shoulder. After that she was more tentative, and so we worked on getting her confidence back.We needed her to help take pressure off of Alison Bales, and to play consistently and aggressively.”
On Lindsey Harding reaching a record number of wins at Duke and also making the national team
“She has been one of many great players in Duke history. It shows the consistency not only of Lindsey but also of the Duke program. As far as being named to the national team, she was very excited and very anxious. But I will be there with her, and so will Alana Beard, so we can help calm some of those jitters.”
On improving play as the tournament progresses
“I think we are still growing. You saw some things tonight that you hadn't seen before. Because we are young, we are continuing to improve. We are trying to work back into our rhythm and get all the kinks out. We are certainly going to have to play much better in Greensboro.”
On the play of Alison Bales
“She has been having good practices. Their physical play was a factor for her tonight. They got into her head mentally and that affected her game physically. She will grow from this and adjust because she is a smart player.”
On disrupting Temple's offensive sets
“We changed up our defense quite a bit. We went from a soft press to zone to man-to-man. We gave them a variety of looks to keep them off balance.”
On stopping the Temple penetration
“We stepped up. It got be a five-point game, and we knew we had to make some shots. Brittany Mitch caused them some problems, and she did a good job on both ends. We played smaller and quicker.”
On the physical game
“It was a great game for us to play. We had to fight for everything; they didn't give anything to us. Their physical play was something we hadn't seen in a while. I think player-for-player they are the most physical team we have faced.”
On hitting a few big shots
“I was just taking what I was given. As a team we were moving the ball around well. Those shots happened to be open, and luckily I hit them.”
On the team's role players
“Our bench did a really good job. They played well defensively and moved the ball around well.”
On preparing for the next round
“We are going to take the things we need to work on from this game and go over them. Our next game is going to be hard-fought and very intense.”
On the team's defensive effort
“They were doing a good job getting the ball inside, so we wanted to force them to take difficult shots.”
On the team's offense
“We were kind of in a little slump for a while. Most of my shots were short. In practice I worked on taking better shots and slowing down.”
On being more assertive
“I felt I needed to shoot my way back into a rhythm. I was just taking what they gave me.”
On recording the most wins in the Duke program's history
“I've had great players help me reach those wins.”
Temple Coach Dawn Staley
On Temple's stretch opening the game:
Our players were really hyped up for this game. It was hard for us since Duke had so many of their fans here. They started out quicker than we normally would. We were able to get some shots in the beginning of the game; we were just short on them. Duke shoots fast. They have great players. We had opportunities to get into the game; I just wish we would have capitalized on them.
On the game plan versus Duke's guards:
Well, for Lindsey Harding, she is an offensive-minded point guard. We wanted her to keep her mind on the offense and not shoot the ball like we know she can. We were satisfied with our half-court defense on her. Carrem Gay really stepped up for them and was cleaning up all of their missed shots.
On the future of Temple basketball:
I am feeling confident right now. I mean I am tired of losing games like this one tonight. We are going to be in basketball games whether we are playing the No. 1 team or the No. 200 team. We are a program in need of a big win. Once we are able to get a big win, our program will move up. It is just hard trying to get over this hump.
On this season:
This season is a really proud moment in my mind. We came in with no expectations, not knowing what sort of season we would have. We worked towards our goals. There weren't too many basketball games where we didn't play our hearts out. We could have been smarter in certain situations. I am proud to be associated with this team and these young ladies.
Lady Comfort
On her match-up with Alison Bales:
I knew going into this game I was going to have to be physical with her. I couldn't let her get into her zone. I had to play my game and keep her out of hers.
Kamesha Hairston
On cutting Duke's lead to five points:
It was tough to cut into their lead. They are a very good team and we were very excited to close it within five points.
Fatima Maddox
On cutting Duke's lead to five points:
We were able to steal the intensity a little bit from them. We just needed to execute a little better down the stretch.
Players Mentioned
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