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Postgame Quotes: Duke 78, Quinnipiac 50
12/28/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Duke Head Coach Joanne P. McCallie
On her overall impression of the game:
"This was a really aggressive game for us, a really aggressive, intense game coming back from the break, and I was very glad to see that. We've had some excellent practices, and those carried over, especially in the first half. We're working on some things; we were able to work on some different looks on the full court. We're having fun trying to work on some things and get better."
On the play of Chante Black and Bridgette Mitchell:
"I thought Chante's intensity for 31 minutes was outstanding, and I thought Bridgette was incredible in what she did in the time she was on the floor in terms of her offensive rebounding, her shot selection, her balance and her intensity on defense. Those were huge lifts for our team, and I felt we got better today."
On the status of a “starting lineup”:
"With this team, I'm always open. I don't make a big deal about a starting lineup; I try to talk about who finishes in a game and who executes. There's a lot of different players who play on this team, and there's no hesitation to play them. You've got to fulfill certain positions, and ball-handling and reducing our turnovers is important to us, but right now, this is a good fit and if something else opens up, I'll look at that. I believe the players really know that, so they know that there's opportunity there. Hopefully they're more excited about finishing, like Bridgette (Mitchell) did today, because that's a very important thing to us. Whether you come off the bench or start, the bottom line is you want to be productive in your minutes, and Bridgette obviously was."
On the play of Joy Cheek, who had 15 points seven rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench:
"Joy's a player, that's what I attribute it to. She's started a ton of games for us, so I don't see us as having just five starters. She's played a lot of minutes, so we probably have six starters in actuality, and you could probably grow that when you see what Bridgette (Mitchell) and Karima (Christmas) and some of the other players are doing. You make the most of your minutes, and that's the most important thing you can bring to this team. I think Joy has really stepped up and done that, whether she's come off the bench or been in the starting lineup."
On Duke's defensive intensity:
"I thought it was outstanding, absolutely outstanding. You have to read and have that aggressiveness to rifle through and get into the passing lane to get steals. It was definitely a combination of a lot of things on the floor and great ball pressure. In our post, Chante (Black) can be so active, she plays defense like a guard in the open court, and it was a lot of fun to watch today."
Senior Chante Black
On her career-high eight steals:
“I wouldn't say that it's all me at all. I think my teammates ? especially the guards ? applied great pressure. Coach [Joanne P. McCallie] always talks about rotation and positioning, and I just tried to focus in on that. Because of [the guards'] pressure, they were forcing the other team to make bad decisions, and I was just there to pick up the ball and came up with the steals.”
On Quinnipiac defeating Hartford earlier this season:
“It was in the back of our minds. I was aware of it. I definitely wanted to win this game ? it was a focus thing.”
Junior Bridgette Mitchell
On scoring nine points in a seven-minute span:
“In terms of offense, I am always thinking defense first, and defense gets me going. The energy that I collect from defense was what allowed me to [score the points].”
On her three-point shot:
“I shot it with a lot of confidence. I was wide open, so I figured I'd throw it up. And our post players were rebounding really well, so I figured they'd get the rebound anyway.”
On holding Quinnipiac's leading scorer, Erin Kerner, scoreless:
“Usually with all teams we focus on their main players, limit their touches. We intend to do that with all of our opponents ? it wasn't just her.”
Qunnipiac Head Coach Tricia Fabbri
On Duke's defense
“They brought a lot of pressure obviously. I thought the first we were a little unsettled and I thought the second half we were extremely settled with not turning the ball over as frequently. They did obviously come after Erin [Kerner]. We struggled a little bit just because Brianna Rooney, the defensive player of the year, came down with the flu unfortunately. We also have lost a dynamite freshman guard in Felicia Barron so we were really thin and I think it was the pressure and having her to not be as rested. But I thought to start the game I thought the pressure was solid and it forced us into turnovers that are uncharacteristic of our team.”
On recovering from the pressure in the second half
“I think we settled down and took a deep breath and just realized let's go forward with the ball instead of looking back and leaning too much on Erin [Kerner]. I think we're a pretty good team in our own right, that we can catch and go forward and handle the pressure and bring it up and run our system. I thought we settled down and looked to go forward a little more and had more confidence handling and not having to lean so much on Erin [Kerner] just to bring it up.”
On second half play and Quinnipiac's defense
"I thought we did a great job off the glass and I though the zone was really effective for us today. When you're able to keep Abby Waner going 0-9 in the zone I thought we did a pretty solid job. Overall, for Duke to go 3-fo-19 I thought the second half the difference was the second shot. We were able to clean it up better and not give a second and third and fourth shot in some cases. I was really pleased that we were able to clean that aspect up. I thought Mandy Pennewell really got on track for us in the second half offensively and gave us a nice boost. Again, taking a deep breath and stop worrying about the name on the jersey you're playing and settle down and play some basketball and I thought we were able to do that. The second half we forced them into a lot of missed shots and we were able to battle and I thought we battled off the glass. And I think for us going forward as we get into league play, from here on in, once you do this against ? play a Michigan State, play a Duke, knocked off a Hartford and Providence, and Delaware of the Colonial?now it's all on us to get better from that aspect as we get into our NEC play.”
On Chante Black
"I just saw two long arms in the air a lot and we just don't have an answer for that right now. We attempted to double down, I thought to start the game in 30 and [Carrem] Gay was a little off so that didn't hurt us when we were playing man-to-man, but we obviously played more zone. We don't have an answer for a Chante Black, but I thought we battled and we hung and we were tougher off the glass with her in there in the second half."
Players Mentioned
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