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Women's Basketball
vs Countdown to Craziness
Quotes: Duke 96, UNC 56
2/6/2012 9:18:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Duke Head Coach Joanne P. McCallie
Opening statement:
"I just thought we really played good basketball tonight. Great team game. I tell you, the team really fed off each other. There was very few play-calling, a lot of creation by the team in finding the open player. Twenty-three assists and getting back to that number and higher is what we've been talking about, and I felt that everybody stepped up, and also did the dirty work - the rebounding, the things that are really, really important, of course, in a game. Individually, I thought Chelsea [Gray] was just rock-solid. She was in control of the game. She made great decisions. She tried to create. She found openings by being patient. Elizabeth [Williams] was just very, very aggressive in what she did, attacking all the time and rebounding so strongly for us - as well as Chelsea did. And then I thought Tricia [Liston] was so ice in her veins. Just so calm and cool and excited to move the ball and do whatever she was going to do at that time. So a lot of different people stepped up, as you can see. Pretty good defensive effort anytime you hold somebody to 56 points. Terrific crowd. Would like to have this crowd more often because it's a pretty special crowd and they really enjoyed the team, which you could see was evident. There was sort of a mutual enjoyment there, and that's great."
On how the team has improved since playing Connecticut:
"I think it's a developing thing. Yes, I think we learned a lot of lessons in that game, and that will continue to teach us a lot of things because that was very disappointing to all of us. But it's what you make of it, and it's what you learn and what we'll continue to learn. Rebounding is critically important. Two things that really need to happen is you really need to rebound. Obviously you're going to play some pretty good D, but you've got to move that ball and you've got to find each other. The reason we shot so well is a lot of easy buckets. There was a lot of easy looks with no defense because of the way we were passing the ball. And I think that's important - you've got to find that."
On switching to zone defense early in the game:
"For us, actually, I thought we were a little bit hyper early. And so I actually switched to that for us, not for our opponent, to settle us down because we were going fast. And we were getting some great looks, but they weren't exactly balanced and things, so just trying to switch it up a little bit, get some continuity out there, get a feel for the game and go from there."
On the team's focus in the second half:
"There were a few more turnovers in the second half. I think we had 12 in the second half and six in the first. But I thought there was a pretty good, actually a very good focus after we got past the first three minutes. The focus changed and then it didn't change. I really didn't think it changed. We played more people and we did more things. But I thought there was a good, strong focus. I thought the team was trying to do certain things, meaning play off each other and run things and execute on defense. So I thought they stayed there, they stayed in that moment all the way through."
On how this game ranks in her career at Duke:
"With Chelsea, I would say offensively absolutely - the offensive side of the ball. But I would also say that, to me though, this team's capabilities - remember we've had 36 assists. So there's a high upside to this team, I believe, if everybody's really cranking on all cylinders. But no doubt it was a great offensive game. It wasn't a bad defensive game - it was solid. But it was a great offensive game."
On the crowd turnout in Cameron and what her message is to the students:
"The message is to come see us as much as possible. I'll even cook for them and I can't cook [laughs]. We love the students. Duke is great that way. There's so many interesting students here from all over and it's a neat spot. And to see people come out and act as they did and have so much fun, hopefully they'll come back over and over again. We don't have that many home games left, really. So I hope they can enjoy them. For the most part, we're going to be on the road. But we're definitely excited about that."
Freshman Center Elizabeth Williams
On playing in her first rivalry game and the matchups on the floor:
"Well, I think in my first rivalry game, like Coach P said, we did come out with a lot of energy; Cameron was loud. I think everyone was excited to come and play in this game. As far as the matchups, you just kind of just have to play fearless, but you have to play smart at the same time. Chay Shegog - she's an experienced player. She's a solid post, so I just tried to do what I needed to do. It was definitely a team effort, defensively, playing against her. That's really what we tried to do."
On what her feeling was going into the game:
"I was excited, but at the same time, it's really about us and our team getting better, so I just tried to do what I do: get those early blocks and set the tone."
On her five assists in the game:
"We knew coming in they were going to double a lot, so I tried to be really patient and kick it out, and of course everyone was hitting - Chelsea [Gray]; Richa [Jackson]. I was excited for my teammates. I'll kick it out. It's not about me, it's really about the team."
Sophomore Guard Chelsea Gray
On choosing to take a really deep three-point shot:
"Well, Tricia [Liston] found me in transition. I was wide open, so I just shot it. We were just feeding off each other, and [were] at the right spots at the right time and filling the lanes really well. We attacked the rack from the beginning and they started collapsing, so we kicked it out and knocked down the shots."
On if it felt like every shot being put up was going in:
"I thought we did a pretty good job of moving the basketball. It was pretty much as simple as that."
On if this was the best overall game Duke has played this year:
"I wouldn't say that per se. I would just say that we were knocking down shots like it was nothing. It was a good offensive game I would say."
Sophomore Guard Tricia Liston
On what got her going offensively despite coming off the bench:
"I think just feeding off the energy from my teammates, as well as the fans; Cameron was crazy today. Once Chelsea [Gray] started hitting shots and then getting it to me, and I was hitting shots, and giving it back; everyone was going off each other. The energy that I felt was just awesome."
On her individual performance, specifically against North Carolina:
"It was good I guess. I just had more fun playing out there with my team and everything because I think everyone had a good game, and you could tell that we really felt the chemistry on the court, more so than we have in other games, I think. That shows by the assists, also, but just being out there - it felt good."
On if it makes a difference starting or coming off the bench:
"I don't think so. I think it was just one of those games, but it does help coming off the bench, seeing what they're doing on the court - both our team and their team - what I can do better, and what I can being to the game that will help us, and not take away anything from the start of the game."
North Carolina Head Coach Sylvia Hatchell
Opening statement
"I think we're a better team than what we showed tonight. 3-point shooting was unbelievable, they got 30 points from the three and we got 6. I thought we started off good in the first five minutes, we did some good things, and then they started popping shots and making threes. We weren't scoring and lost a lot of our energy because a lot of times we get our energy for our defense off our offense. I kept thinking Duke was going to miss some shots once in a while, and they hardly missed any. Duke is a great offensive team, but I think we're a lot better team than we showed tonight. We have to keep working and getting better.
We weren't getting the ball into Chay (Shegog) at first like we wanted to. She was six for nine and didn't get enough touches. This may be the second or third time in the whole year that we were outrebounded. We've got a lot more games to play, in fact we have to get on a plane tomorrow afternoon and go to Miami. Our doubles are Duke-Miami, one and two in the conference, Maryland, which is third, and North Carolina State... we definitely have the hardest ACC schedule, but that will only make us better come tournament time."
On Duke's switch to zone defense and UNC's response:
"There's a big hole in the middle of the zone, you just have to time it and get it in there. Last year we were very successful at doing that, but we just have to keep working on getting the ball in there, and our covers going through at the right time. At times when we got it in there we were successful at doing that. They're just big. They're big on the perimeter, they're big at guard. They're big and they can shoot, and that was a tremendous difference in the game.
On the change of UNC defense and the opening of weak-side shots for Duke:
"We tried to get some more energy in there, we picked them up full court man to man and that's when they started getting a lot of the weak-side shots. They were beating us off the dribble, we were rotating and then they were hitting the ball across. When all that happened I had all of my subs in, I played them a lot."
North Carolina Center Chay Shegog
On the game
"They changed defenses, they really threw a lot of different things at us and we didn't execute well, I think that's the main thing. Then they just took off, I mean great teams do that."
On lessons learned from game
"Really just keep our heads up. We know a lot of things like defensive break downs we messed up a lot on those and execution, we have to listen and execute whatever Coach gives us. I just really hope we keep our heads up and turn around and go to Miami and do better."
On Duke's Elizabeth Williams
"I was excited for the match up. She's a great player, even though she's a freshman, she has shown throughout the year that she can hang with a lot of the older upperclassmen. I was just really excited to play Duke, not just because of the rivalry but because they're a great team."
North Carolina Guard Krista Gross
On game getting out of hand
"Yea, for sure, we came out pretty strong and then those threes, they just didn't miss in the first half and that kind of just let them take off. Those kind of plays are just huge momentum plays and those really hurt us."
On team's confidence
"I think it's tough to play defense, solid defense, and then they're [Duke] hitting crazy shots. You put that work into something and then they got a lucky shot, not saying that all their shots were lucky, they were definitely great shots, but they got a lot of buzzer beater for the shot clock and that kind of stuff. It does hurt a little bit, I feel like it might have hurt our confidence a little bit, certain bit, taking the wind out of our sail a little bit."
On Chay Shegog
"She means a lot to our team, especially our freshmen; they really look up to her, I mean our whole team looks up to her, and we know she's the player that we depend on and she has accepted that role. She's probably the key player on our team."
On Duke-Carolina Rivalry
"It's the Duke-Carolina game, everybody is extra excited, so it happens in the beginning of the game usually. We have younger players, stuff like that, and you just get so excited for this rivalry that in the beginning you tend to pass the ball a little too hard or give the ball up a little too soon, the timing just isn't there, you're not completely comfortable yet."
Players Mentioned
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