Quotes: Duke 60, Georgia Tech 34

Duke Head Coach Joanne P. McCallie

Opening statement
“It was just a great team game. I thought the first half was critical in the way our team dictated defensively and holding a team to 18 percent shooting in a half usually bodes well for intensity and developing some things there. There was great balance in our scoring and great balance in our shot selection in terms of moving the basketball as well. So overall a great effort by everybody. Obviously there are things we can improve on, but I was really pleased to see us get to the free throw line 24 times as well. It was a very physical game and we really didn't go to the free throw line too often in the first half so we were a bit better in the second half and that was good.”

On why she called a timeout after a 10-0 Georgia Tech run
“I think the team knew at that time that we had gotten a little bit careless with the basketball on a few occasions and they had taken advantage of that. It was nothing special, I think the team regrouped and said ?Hey, wait a minute, let's focus,' and I think everybody did. It was a good pause, we needed that pause because we were just a little bit out of the flow and giving them some looks we don't want to give folks. We want people to work hard for what they get and so I thought everybody did a good job of doing that.”

On the team adjusting to Chante's absence after two quick fouls
“I just think that the team was working hard to be together, focused and sharing the basketball. I think we learned a lot and we played a lot better today than we did against N.C. State. Regardless of outcome it was a much better basketball game, so I think the team is very focused on doing those things. Obviously we miss [Chante Black] if she is out, but I think a lot of people stepped up, kept moving the ball, kept attacking their press and kept some good fundamental basketball going so we could be in attack mode even without [Chante] on the floor. [Chante] did a good job when I put her back in as well. She did a good job moving and not getting trouble with a quick third foul.”

On whether it's good for the team to have Chante out for a stretch as long as it doesn't cost Duke the game
“I think what's good is maybe the experience. Like I told [Chante], different times, different situations we might hold you, we might put you back in, it depends. I thought she showed great maturity and I think a team has to be able to handle anything. You cannot predict really what is going to happen out there so the more situations we get in it's probably good for us, but I prefer to have [Chante] on the floor.”

On Carrem Gay's play
“She really did play big. She played great defense, very physical. I was very pleased with [Carrem's] intensity off the bench. I thought she did a great job, very good defensively.”

On what Georgia Tech couldn't do that they did in its win over North Carolina
“I thought we kept more poise on offense and didn't quick shoot as much. That last game was just fire, fire, fire, so there was a lot of scrambling for loose balls and opportunistic situations that arose from the film that I saw. I think just maintaining poise and focus and make them defend as much as possible even when they're trapping a lot. You've got to move the ball and get the quality opportunities and the quality shots and I think the team really tried to do that. It's different if a team has to play 20 seconds of defense versus eight seconds.”

On defensive strategy
“Just different looks, different opportunities and trying to mix it up a little bit and keep people off balance. Work on our game and work on our different defenses. I thought we got better in our defenses today which is really good, so just trying to mix it up and keep people off balance as much as possible.”

On the passing of Kay Yow
“I've known Coach Yow throughout my coaching career. She's always been one of the pioneers in terms of a very experienced coach. I've always admired her longevity. I coached against her in the NCAA Tournament the year they went to the Final Four. I was at Maine that time coaching and I just remember talking to her after that game. Just her interest in other people I guess for me. We were out of the NCAA Tournament after they beat us and I remember just some of the things she said. Often people don't say too much, but she did. My other strong memory of course was her welcoming me to the conference and talking about the conference a little bit. Sitting down next to me at my first meeting luncheon when she said ?I think I should sit next to you' and I said ?That would probably be a good idea.' That kind of jovial warmth that she personified is the way I remember her. When we [USA Basketball] went to Russia and played and the way she followed that team I couldn't get over. Nobody knew our scores or what happened to us. When I came back to recruit in July, she would say ?Tell me about that game with Russia, and what about that game with Australia. What about your first game with Australia?' I'm looking at her wondering ?How do you follow these things?' Of course she had great admiration for USA Basketball, but she was just really into it and I just get a really good feeling when I think of Kay Yow. I admire her longevity, something I never will achieve. I will never achieve the years she has had. It's overwhelming. And the fact that she shared her story like she has. A lot of people close up and are afraid to share. She really really shared all aspects of what she went through and I think came to peace on her terms. That's what I would like to believe.”

On whether this was the best defensive game of the season
“I think the Temple game was defensively profound. I think the 18 percent in the first half was pretty profound because they find a way to score, they're a very good team so that was pretty special.”

Duke senior Abby Waner
On the passing of N.C. State Head Coach Kay Yow:
“My sophomore year, we lost to [NC State] in the ACC Tournament, and I think she took a turn for the worse right around then. I think it was that same year that [NC State] also beat North Carolina, and they dedicated the court to her. They took Carolina to overtime; this year they took us to overtime. I have never seen anything like that in sports, where a team can pull together and play for someone. This isn't to take away from what they are as a team. I don't want to be clich?, but you can feel the inspiration that she gives to those girls, so when we lost to them, it wasn't fun to be on the other end of it, but it really, truly was a special thing to see the impact that she had on those girls. The tremors of [her passing] are felt across women's college basketball, and it's a very sad thing for one of the pioneers of the women's game to pass away, but it's important for everybody to know what she left behind, and I think that a 20-year fight with cancer is strength on levels that I have never seen. It's very sad, and we're thinking about NC State and Coach Yow and her family and friends.”

On her senior year and what this team has meant to her:
“This is an incredibly special team, and I say that after playing with three other teams. I have never been closer to all 11 girls on this team, and so in that way, there is a chemistry that's almost brewing, that you can feel getting stronger and better. We'll work on one aspect in one game, and another [game] in a different way. We're on an ascent, I guess you could say, and we haven't peaked yet, except in that we are very, very strong. So I think that we're a dangerous team, but we're still not playing at our best, and that's different from the other teams that I've played with. I'm very excited to see where we are in two weeks, in three weeks, in the ACC Tournament, and in our preparation for the NCAA Tournament.”

Duke Sophomore Jasmine Thomas
On the passing of N.C. State Head Coach Kay Yow:
“I never got the chance to really know Coach Yow. I got the chance to meet her during my senior year of high school at the WBCA, and it was a great experience because she was one of the coaches there who would actually come up and talk to the players, so it was really good to see her, to meet her, and to run into her before she passed.”

Georgia Tech Head Coach MaChelle Joseph
Opening Statement:
“I have to give Duke a lot of credit. I think defensively Chante Black is really special inside and Abby Waner provides a lot of leadership for this team. One of the things I said early on in the year is that we're going as our freshmen and sophomores go, and it's pretty tough when you're on the road at Duke and you come in here and my 10 freshmen and sophomores haven't played here before and don't understand the environment. I think that Duke did a great job of taking us out of the things that we like to do. We weren't able to run or get easy baskets in transition and that really stifled us offensively. They played a lot of matchup zone, which we struggled to score against. The bright spot was that we were able to outrebound them. We outrebounded North Carolina and we outrebounded Duke, the two top rebounding teams in the league, so we're feeling pretty good about that. We're going to continue to get better. We got some good quality minutes for some young players. I have to give Duke a lot of credit, I think they're a very good team; they're deep, they're athletic, they have size, and they have great leadership and that makes a big difference.”

On the North Carolina game and the emotions that were carried over:
“That was a huge game for us and it took a lot of emotion out of us. When you have 10 freshmen and sophomores who were the primary people playing in that game, for them to have come back from 15 points down in the second half and beat that team, it is hard when you don't have tremendous leadership or experience to help you recover that quickly from something like that and then play at Duke. It's a tough swing when you have North Carolina at home then turn around and play Duke. For a young team that's never been in Cameron that's an even tougher challenge. I don't think that there was much carry over as to how we played against North Carolina, but I was proud of the fact that we never quit playing. We played for 40 minutes and we got better as the game wore on. That's what I was looking for today.”

On the early foul trouble of Alex Montgomery and substitutions:
“That's the earliest that we've had to go offense-defense in a game. We've done it throughout the first half when Jacqua [Williams] or Alex [Montgomery] would get into foul trouble. We get a lot of confidence and swagger from her [Montgomery]. She's our leading rebounder, she's been averaging a double-double all year long, she makes us go on offense. With her sitting on the bench and having to substitute, we couldn't get any flow. It seemed like we were really searching out there to find some kind of offense.”

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