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Quotes: Georgia Tech 64, Duke 59
2/21/2016 5:09:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Duke Head Coach Joanne P. McCallie
Opening Statement:
Opening Statement:
“It was a tough game, a hard fought game, a very physical game, and we did some really good things at times throughout. We just didn't quite put it together in the sequence that we probably needed to. Obviously some turnovers in the first half slowed us down a great deal, a better job of that in the second half. But the O-boards obviously pretty critical there, it made a big difference. It is interesting how the game is played sometimes. People were very wise. Shooting 46 percent is very good, obviously we didn't take as many shots. But we forced them into 30 percent shooting, which is also very good, unfortunately the three-point shooting was a little bit better than that, which cost us that shot contesting in the corners. There are some good lessons for us to learn, and obviously very disappointing on Senior Day. With Mercedes [Riggs] and what she has given our program, and Amber [Henson] what she has given our program over her time it is very hurtful.”
On the plan to defend three-point shooting:
“Absolutely, we contest those shots. We do a lot of in face corner contesting. It is really disappointing it was one person. Sometimes a team can be hot but you know she hit six and the next person hits two and nothing much happened so I think the most disappointing thing wasn't so much the location, but that we didn't handle 55 [ Antonia Peresson]. I mean 55 earned the right to get a lot of attention, whether she was in the corner or in transition for that matter, and it is very disappointing to not get that done.”
On learning lessons:
“I beg to differ with your thinking, sports is about learning lessons, life lessons, and they can be pretty difficult sometimes. So if you are not learning I don't know why you would be playing. So we are going to learn all through this season all through next season and all through whatever we can. This is not professional basketball, it is collegiate basketball and these kids have done a remarkable job of reinventing themselves as we have had to deal with some difficult situations, so I'm very proud of them for that. Adversity strikes, and it did again today with number 55 but perhaps the hot shooter next time will get a little more attention, or perhaps we will get a few more offensive rebounds, but you know you play these games because we are trying to get better as a team and as people and take those lessons.”
On balancing the rotation in light of injuries:
“Well it is part of it, it is a battle out there and everyone is fighting so you just try to move on and look for the next person to contribute. Fortunately, it seemed like everyone came back. Angela did something, Crystal [Primm] various things occurred but it was great to see people come back and fight. It is also good to see people step up when others couldn't, that's an important part of being a team. I think we just got out of ourselves a little bit with the turnovers. Starting the game 10-0 was fantastic but we just didn't really handle that well. We didn't continue to attack the same way, we turned the ball over and got a little careless and then you go from there.”
On Faith Suggs's playing time:
“When someone gets hurt like that you get a little concerned, the first thing you think is concussion. So you back off a little bit mentally, and then others, Crystal was doing a pretty good job defending, for example, and some others, but that is unfortunate she didn't get more time, but I hope she is okay.”
Graduate Student Forward Amber Henson
On the takeaways from this game:
Graduate Student Forward Amber Henson
On the takeaways from this game:
“I think it's just staying with what's working and not breaking out of what we're doing well. I think there were times where we got out of the scheme we were running. Just sticking with the game plan, no matter if we're up or down, is important.”
On Duke's handling of Georgia Tech's physicality:
“I don't think it rattled us, we've played physical teams before. 'Rattled' is definitely not the right word. I do think we could've handled it better, especially on the offensive boards.”
Redshirt Sophomore Guard Rebecca Greenwell
On what Duke needs to work on before its next game:
Redshirt Sophomore Guard Rebecca Greenwell
On what Duke needs to work on before its next game:
“I think we need to take this week and focus on the aspects of the game we need to work on. Turnovers, especially; we really just need to value the ball more. We can't have games with 20 or more turnovers anymore. In terms of tangibles, boxing out and preventing offensive boards can make or break a game. We just need to work on intangibles.”
On Duke's ability to make a run in the ACC Tournament:
“We're fine. We know what it feels like when we play well together. It's just getting there and doing the intangibles.”
On her chemistry with Angela Salvadores:
“We got off to a good start. I'm confident Angela can knock down the three, I think we play well off of each other. We'll try to continue to do that.”
Georgia Tech head coach MaChelle Joseph:
Opening Statement:
Georgia Tech head coach MaChelle Joseph:
Opening Statement:
“First of all, I want to say that this is not sweat. They poured water on me in the locker room, so I don't want anyone to think I'm up here [sweating]. But what an exciting opportunity for our young team, and you know we've been getting better and better all year long and we've weathered some storms, we've lost some really close games to the top teams in the ACC, and I felt like, in February, we really started playing better basketball. We were just not doing the little things to close out games. A missed box out here, a missed shot, a layup here, and I thought tonight with, our leading scorer—the ACC's leading scorer not shooting particularly well, I thought our other players stepped up and made plays.”
On Aaliyah Whiteside's limited minutes:
“Well we had gone on a run with her out of the game and her defense, not only was she not scoring, she just wasn't on point tonight. I mean 'Liyah showed up for us all year long, every game, game in and game out, and tonight, you know, I just felt like she wasn't having her best game and I just went with some other players. We've learned to build trust in each other. We trust some of these younger kids to step up and fill in minutes. I think early on in the year we were depending too much on Aaliyah and I think these other kids have kind of grown into their roles. And I thought she made some critical plays at the end of the game to help us win the game but, you know, she just wasn't herself tonight. I mean she got it done for us on the boards, 10 rebounds…10 rebounds and eight points on her worst night of the year is not too bad. But I just felt like, at that time we were on a run, and we had some good things going on the court, so that's where we got some separation.”
On taking advantage of Duke's lack of interior depth:
“Well I thought early on in the game, we took too many threes so we really started going inside, and I thought Zaire O'Neil, in the first half, kind of carried us inside and kind of got us going with her toughness and finishing. But you know, I think the thing with all of us in the ACC, you know we've all been hit by injuries, and we've all had to try to persevere through it, and you know, I think Duke is a very talented team, it's unfortunate the injuries they've had, I mean, you don't wish that on anybody. We've had our share of injuries this year, last year, but I think Duke fought hard, I give their team credit, they never gave up. I mean, they fought, and fought, and fought. I thought [Rebecca] Greenwell in the first half was really, really special. I thought she kind of got worn down a little bit in the second half because we were trying to deny her all over the floor. But I do think, you know, obviously in this league, depth is a factor. Especially at this time of the year.”
On Georgia Tech's and Duke's chances in the ACC Tournament:
“I think it depends on the recovery of [Azurá] Stevens. You know, when she comes back, that adds 20 more points. That's a different team, and I think they get a lot of confidence from her. So it just depends on her injury and when she gets back on the court. For us, I think we started to get better as the year went on. We have 11 underclassmen, and so we've really worked hard at—you know, we have three seniors, and so we've really worked hard at developing our depth and for the tournament, we say it's not over until it's over, and we've got two games left, and we'd love to finish this league out at .500, because anybody at .500 in this league has a chance of getting postseason play.”
On Duke's offensive rebounding:
“You know, one of the things we built this program on a long time ago was defensive rebounding, and we've kind of gotten away from that in the past couple of years. But this team, one of the things we started out—we were getting outrebounded early on in the season, every game, game in and game out, and we've really worked hard at being a tougher team, pursuing the basketball. And I thought tonight, I said, 'Whoever wins the battle of the boards will win the game.' And I felt like, that we were able to make those key plays. And right there in the stretch, what was it, about a two-minute stretch, under two minutes to play where we got four or five offensive rebounds.”
On making an offensive push in the fourth quarter:
“Well I thought we made some adjustments for Aaliyah [Whiteside], you know we were running some sets for her that she normally gets; those are usually automatic shots, two points. We switched her and Katerina Vuckovic in those positions because we have that versatility with those two; they can both play guard, they can both play post. And then we were able to open up the floor a little more for AT (Antonia Perreson) in the corner.”
Sophomore Antonia Peresson
Sophomore Antonia Peresson
On consistent three-point corner shot:
“I mean they told me to shoot when I was open. So, my team put me in the situation in which I was open and I just had to knock it down. So, it was not me, it was the team that made me open and I just had to shoot and knock it down.”
On pouring water on coach postgame:
“You know, we really wanted to win this game. We wanted to do it for our seniors. We wanted to turn it around because this was a huge game for us and I think we grew up today, we played together. I think everybody stepped up when we had to and we got a big win. We fought, we fought, we fought and we played tough and that's what mattered.”
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