Quotes: Duke 61, Texas A&M 58

Duke Head Coach Joanne P. McCallie:

Opening Statement:
"Just a great fight, a great game. We were very honored, at Duke, to host the Jimmy V. The only women's game to have that kind of representation, you know, and to be part of Jimmy V. I kept thinking today about Jimmy V and his passion, and the way he affected people, and the way I saw him affect people. And it was just interesting. I said to myself, 'You know, he would really like two undefeated teams playing against each other. And he'd like a crowd and excitement and passion.' He probably would have liked a couple overtimes or something like that. But this team deserves a lot of credit for fighting out a very difficult game, a very physical game. Outrebounding A&M, a very excellent rebounding team. And also making huge plays. The shot that Jas [Thomas] put down, it was nothing short of amazing, relative to the pressure that she had on her. And Karima's [Christmas] 11 rebounds and her leadership throughout was amazing. And I felt all three seniors seemed to really understand what this level is all about. And the young players are learning it. They had signs of great things, but at the same time, it was pretty intense out there and so there was a lot for them to learn as newcomers to this type of level."

On Chelsea Gray's performance:
"No she's a very confident player. She's always been that way, worked hard through high school, and obviously recognized. She's also a very unsatisfied player, relative to what she wants to accomplish. I think that's a pretty good combination, to be confident but yet to be not satisfied and ready to get better. And I will also say she's a competitor. She takes risks out there. There's some passes she threw that didn't quite work, only because we probably haven't had as much time on the floor with Chelsea. But at the same sense as you said, she had huge rebounds, scores, confidence and wanting to take tough shots. She's got some ice in her veins. She does."

On the defense in the last 53 seconds of game:
"Just a great, great team defense. Leadership by Jasmine, by Karima, experience on the floor, a lot of talking, communication. You knew it was a difficulty with 23 [Danielle Adams], they were going to iso her any way possible. She's a pretty talented player. So it had to be a team defensive effort, and I just thought our team hung very, very tough. We showed a lot of guts, even when things didn't go our way at certain instances. I thought there was great poise. You know we talked about offensive poise. I thought there was great defensive poise by our team to read what they were doing, to not overextend. I thought we closed the gap well. So I just thought it was overall a solid execution."

On using Krystal Thomas and Allison Vernerey on the floor together:
"Yeah I think they did a great job out there together. You know, Krystal's been steady and had an excellent game no doubt. And Allison has been coming on strong, and when you put the two of them out there together defensively, that becomes much more of an issue for someone like 23 [Adams] or 21 [Adaora Elonu] on their team. So it was the right time for that and I thought they both executed and played hard and made it more difficult to have scorers in the paint."

On winning while shooting 31 percent:
"Well let's just put it this way, think about where we'll be when we shoot 48 to 50 percent and play that kind of defense. And I think that's a matter of time. We've got, what I call, statistical fluctuations right now relative to subs. We've got a lot of different people trying to assimilate and that's going to disrupt continuity a little bit. And to give them credit, their defense is very, very good too. So that's a lot working against you at this time of year. Hopefully we can control the part about how we get our continuity, and then be better against a team that defends like this in the future, offensively that is."

On the win:
"Well, I mean, outcomes are a lot of fun and this team deserves it, they played so hard. And there's no doubt about it, it's a great feeling, it's a great opportunity. I just love the direction we're moving. I mean that's how I am as a coach. There's a long list of great teams we're going to play. And so it's not like you can get overly excited about any of them. You sort of enjoy them tonight, it's a nice time to sit back and look at the film. But you definitely move on. I mean it's a long season, and there's a long way to go for us to be where we want to be so we can be our best team at the end of March and early April."

Texas A&M Coach Gary Blair:

Opening statements:
"This was as good as it gets. Neither team shot the ball well. A lot of that was because of the defense being played and the early game in December. This was as good of a ball game as Connecticut and Baylor played and when you got four teams like ourselves that are willing to risk and play each other on home and homes, that's what you have in women's basketball and we need more of this. This was a great television audience so hopefully they weren't watching New England and the Jets, they were sitting and watching this game. But, I was proud of my kids. When everything was going wrong for us and they went on that 14-0 run, we've been there before, this is a veteran team of juniors and seniors that are at least playing the minutes. And I thought we made a couple shots at the end, they weren't beautiful shots but we got in and regrouped at half and made a few adjustments. Their 3-2 zone was giving us some problems because it was keeping us outside way too much and the thing is our guards have to penetrate that 3-2 zone and we were just standing there always waiting for the next person to make the pass. On the play that we ran wide open, we call it low stack, she sets the screen, goes to the corner, Adora [Elonu] hit that wide open shot, she passes it inside the ball goes out of bounds and it's our ball.

"Then we run the perfect inbounds play. I got the best kid I think in America that I would want to shoot that shot and it just didn't get in. I want to give Duke a lot of credit for being able to come back and adjust to us. Jasmine Thomas was having a poor shooting night just like [Sydney Colson], but she hit the jumper that you had to have. Karima Christmas was just a beast on the boards the whole night. We could not block her out. You give a lot of credit to that kid. We were able to get into transition by getting the defensive boards early, and that's how we were scoring. Because they were sending four to the boards and we were beating them down the court. But it was a good game for television and I hope it was a good game for you guys and ladies."

On Duke's change in style and not a full-court pressure:
"They came down to our place last year and tried that stuff and we won that battle in transition. It was a great basketball game and it should have been on national television. The first game of the year, both teams played so much better at our place, whether we won or lost, than what was played tonight. Tonight was just a heavy weight fight. This was between those two boxers that won't face each other, and Pacquiao and Mayweather. This is what it was. And I love playing teams like that. I hope we can keep the series going because this is special coming into this house and playing where so many great players and games have been played. I'm an old history buff. This is the Boston Garden, this is Wrigley Field, this is Fenway Park, this is what it's about. And you all make it by writing about it and getting it out there. But I'm proud of these kids right here, these kids are special seniors right here. [Colson and Adams] made a couple mistakes, but there is nobody I would want in the ball game that I would want to take that shot in the end and at least create that shot then this kid (Adams) right here because she will create offense."

On Sydney Colson's foul trouble and adjusting to her absence:
"It was huge. There was no excuse for her foul. We were playing solid and just trying to get it down to the last five minutes. And when she made that fourth foul with 16 something left to go, it was just a reach in foul. But she knows, we've had that problem a lot of the years because she either strips them or goes the other way with them. And that's just something we've got to get better on and she knows it. But it was a foul and it hurt us, her sitting down.

"Sydney Carter is a pretty good point guard. She's leading the Big 12 in assist/turnover ratio. She hit the first shot of the game trying to come out of her shooting slump. Those two have shared the position for a long time, we've got no problem with Carter playing the point."

On the difference between last year and this year:
"We were able to stay in transition the whole game last year. They kept pressing us and pressing us and we kept breaking it and breaking it. We'd get the rebounds and make the plays. When you're at home that basket is pretty big and when you're on the road it's pretty small."

On Duke's defense:
"They're big they just stretch out and stretch out. You can't lob over it, we have to bounce pass it against the zone and we were not doing a good job at all. Because our guards were 30 feet from the basket instead of about 19-9 trying to run the offense a little closer. We'll work on that because we see that in the Big 12 as well. Duke is by far the best team we've played and they're very good. [Chelsea] Gray played very well for them too. I don't care what her stats were, but I thought she played very well."

Duke Senior Jasmine Thomas:

On putting team on her back:
"I actually don't feel like I had to put the team on my back. I feel like various people made plays down the stretch. Karima (Christmas) had a key steal at the top of the key at the end of the game on defense that actually was a big play for us, and Chelsea (Gray) with her free throws. Everyone pretty much played big to come up with the win."

On game winning shot:
"That shot, it was the end of the shot clock, had to make a play, had to put a shot up, no time to pass it, and I just put it in."

On importance of game after losing last year:
"You think about it. It's always something in the back of your mind, the previous games. Especially last year, we by no means played the way we wanted to. We just had to be more focused tonight; focused on not doing the same things we did last year. Being better, staying focused, and finishing the game out."

On key free throws at end:
"I feel like early in the season, I did have problems with my free throws. Shooting them over and over, and putting in reps, and I wasn't hitting them in practice. But that never really came into my mind. When it comes down to hitting a free throw to either increase your lead or at the end of a game you have to just relax and hit the shots."

On the lack of flow in the game:
"It doesn't help. You prefer having a flow. But when it comes down to a tight situation where you have to focus on one play at a time, it kind of helps because we go into a timeout, come out and get a defensive stop. Go into a time out, come out and run this play on offense, and it forces you to slow down and execute."

On toughness of schedule preparing for this game:
"There is always something you can take away from every game, whether it's pretty, whether it goes the way you want it to or not. I just think on the road, we still all work, and we learn that you just have to close out games. At Wisconsin, we never had a lead that we thought was a comfortable lead. We always thought the game was close, and it would come down to possessions. I think that helped us in coming into games like this, knowing we can close games out."

On the progress of the freshmen:
"I think they're coming along well. From the time they've got here, they've adapted well, they knew what to expect. They just worked so hard, and are hungry to learn and hungry to play. That's all you can ask for from freshmen. That's why they're going to be so good."

Duke Senior Karima Christmas:

On her steal at last play:
"I think I was just at the right place at the right time, really. I tried to play tight, not let them get a shot off, but just being in that spot, in that spot was what made me come up with that steal."

On being from Houston, and now having bragging rights:
"It's not something I think I'd really brag about, but it does feel good to finally get a win. All my time here at Duke, we haven't gotten a win against them until now."