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Women's Basketball
vs Countdown to Craziness
Quotes: Maryland 76, Duke 69
2/17/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Duke Coach Joanne P. McCallie
Opening Statement:
“It was an interesting game ? a lot of different runs and excitement to it. I think our team played very, very hard, did some really nice things down the stretch but I think the overall issues are consistent, and frustrating, and need to change in regard to rebounding, in regard to free throw attempts, in regard to focus defensively. Had we met our defensive goals we would have had success tonight. I think we've got some good lessons, obviously painful lessons, but ones to take and grow from. I definitely think we matured as a team, however I will say that there's no question we matured through the game, but yet at the same time we matured, we didn't take care of some things through the game to put us in the best position.”
On Maryland's rebounding edge:
“That rebounding edge is not something that can happen and you still be successful against a top team so that's frustrating. There's not one member of our team that got enough rebounds to be able to walk away and feel that they did so and until we commit to it and hold the belief system that these rebounds are going to determine games that's going to hold us in terms of going to the highest level.”
On being close to getting over the hump:
“I think absolutely there were many opportunities which we'll look at as we were within six and trying to forge ahead, many throughout the game. But I think that overall though, you've got to have the free throw attempts behind you, you've got to have the rebounding behind you. Those are pretty fundamental to great success at the highest level. You look at any of the top five teams ? we've played them all and now I guess we're going to round two as we play them all ? but it's a consistent theme and we've got to want to be that and then either watch film more or make choices that indicate that that's very, very important.”
On attacking Maryland's defense:
“Well, you've got to get good spacing, number one, and at the same time, you've got to get second shot opportunities, number two because you can't be banking on one shot every time. We did okay with the second shot, we had 13, but a bunch of those second shots came late. I don't believe we had a consistent attack of two shots at the basket, which is what you're going to need in that instance. But spacing, inside-out play, really attack the high post ? high post was wide open ? lots of opportunities there, saw some lobs over the top to Chante (Black) from high post but you know, executing is what I'm saying, and showing some patience. I really think there were times that we bailed Maryland out a little bit by shooting quick, which means you don't have to play much defense if you can get the ball quick, off you go. I think we need to be more patient.”
On lack of patience being due to early deficit:
“I think we matured through the game. I actually thought we did that early, more than late. I think the “no scoreboard” mentality of just focusing on the play and in the moment, I felt that much more in the second half than I felt in the first half. I definitely think we got up and down and kind of crazy on occasion in the first half. That might not have been the best thing for us. You know, it's like I said, lessons and maturity, poise, leadership. All that stuff is really, really important.”
On maturing through the game:
“Maturity and poise. You need to keep your poise on defense, defending people and checking people and communicating. You need to keep your poise on offense, moving the ball, getting people involved. For much of the game we had good poise. I thought we had fantastic poise at the end of the game as we were trying to turn it back in our favor. The reality is that when you play at this level, against this kind of opponent, you're going to have to have it for 40 minutes. We can't have a four-minute lapse. That will cost you.”
Junior Guard Abby Waner
On Maryland getting tired at the end of the game:
“They had four players play over 36 minutes. They're going to be tired at the end of the game. That's when our pressure really picked up too. If we can start that earlier, make them work a little harder in the first half, then I think we'll be able to get some more turnovers. I think our press really exploited that.”
On Kristi Toliver's back-to-back threes:
“She's a great shooter and she has that high release and she fades away so it's really tough to defend. She's also a great penetrator. That's a dagger, when you hit back-to-back threes like that. I think that there's a chance we we'll see them again so stuff like that you have to take note of and change for the next game.”
On what's preventing the team from putting a 40-minute game together:
“I don't think I can say it's one thing in particular. At this point in the season we don't have that many games left to try to put it together. I think we're going to take a look at this film, like we do after every game, and change what we can and work on our mistakes. It's a process and, like I said, we don't have much more time, but I think that we're going to be able to put it together right in time.”
Assistant Coach Daron Park
Opening Statement:
"What an unbelievable accomplishment that this team did today, obviously led by upperclassmen. We talked for the past three days about competing for 40 minutes, we talked about trying to dictate the energy, we talked about being tough and basically getting defensive stops. Tonight's game was a wonderful basketball game played by two very, very good teams, and I absolutely can't say enough about this team and the group of seniors and the leadership that they bring."
On Maryland's inside presence:
"For the last year as a team, it's been, take what the defense gives you. There have been teams that we've played this year that have done a very nice job limiting our touches inside and we've had to go to our perimeter a little. Tonight, obviously every time we set foot on the court, we wanted to establish and inside-out game, and we got Crystal [Langhorne] touches early that got her rolling a little bit, and we fed off of it as long as they allowed us to."
On defensive goals:
"Defensively, our goal was to try to limit their attacks to the paint, both with post touches and with dribble penetration. I thought our game plan was executed beautifully in the first half. It seemed like we forced them to settle for jump shots which maybe isn't their first choice. The best thing we did was that once that ball went up, we went and rebounded the basketball. It was absolutely our game plan from start to finish and to try to limit the ability for them to get the ball in the paint."
On the birth of Coach Brenda Frese's twins:
"It's funny because as I was sitting in the hotel room after shoot around today reflecting on what has happened, part of me almost felt like the game was very secondary today, given the miracle of life that we had a small chance to experience. I have not talked to Coach; I had some text messages with her husband after shoot around and that's pretty much the extent of it. We tried to focus on the task at hand, which is obviously what she would have wanted."
On rebounding:
"Well, it was probably the difference when it was all said and done. Especially in the first half, I thought that we were definitely the aggressors on the boards. It was a concerted effort on our part to stress that when you go on the road, you've got to do everything 10 times better than you do at home, and that goes for rebounding. You have to credit this team and these players to understand that value. Especially in the women's games, it's almost demoralizing when you defend somebody so well for 20-some seconds and then you give up an offensive rebound that leads to a score."
On Duke's near comeback in the second half:
"We knew they were never going to quit. We talked a lot at halftime about making sure we tried to maintain a cushion and keep our lead or even extend our lead, because we were going to be challenged at some point during the second half. When it did happen, I don't think it surprised us. We tried to stay composed, we tried to continue to run the clock and shorten the game as much as we could, and then make sure we were strong with the ball and made free throws."
On fatigue:
"It's a long season, regardless of who you are. There are some teams that are well equipped to go deep into a rotation. Maybe back in November when we were playing 14 games in 31 days, that might have been an issue, but the last two weeks, I thought we've done a great job playing smart at practice with what we've done and with rest. In an environment like this, I asked them before the game if they could play 40 minutes, would they, and to a person, they said "Absolutely.' "
Crystal Langhorne
On the birth of Coach Frese's twins:
"Honestly, I think Coach B would have wanted us to focus on this game and win this game. Now that we did, we can try and contact her. We were pretty excited about it; we found out about it at shoot around. Before the game we were like, 'Let's take that energy of new life and bring it to the game. Birth of new babies, birth of new energy.' "
Kristi Toliver
On her three pointers:
"It kind of just ended up happening at first, and then just continued. Keep doing it until somebody stops you. The mentality I had was to be extremely focused and also extremely aggressive."
On Duke's pressure defense:
"Obviously they did an extremely good job pressuring me. They did a great job pressuring me and I knew that coming in."
Laura Harper
On sweeping Duke during the regular season:
"I know as a senior, never getting to win at Cameron is a really big deal. Coming in here and doing that is something so special for us, and I know as a team we feel great about that. They'll be ready, they're gonna bounce back, and we might end up seeing them again. It's going to be an equally tough fight so I'm excited for another good game."
Players Mentioned
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