Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball versus South Dakota State on December 18, 2025 at 7 p.m.
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7 p.m.
Women's Basketball
vs South Dakota State
Quotes: Duke 118, EA Sports 73
11/2/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Duke Head Coach Gail Goestenkors
Opening Statements
“Overall, I'm just really pleased with our first effort. Obviously, we need to do a better job adjusting to when the game's called really tight. The first half took forever and we were just putting them on the free throw line too much. I thought we did a much better job in the second half. The stat that stands out to me is 35 assists. I think this is the best passing team we've probably ever had, so that's really nice. I think it's going to help our post as well because they all seem to have one eye on the post. I also thought we had some nice breaks and some nice feeds inside to our post players. Overall, I'm pleased with our effort. We've got a lot of things that we can take from this and work on.”
On Duke's Depth At The Point Guard Position
“It feels good to know that if somebody's not taking care of the basketball we can sub them out. There are other quality players waiting to come in, whereas last year our guards, all of our players really, knew that even if they made mistakes they would continue to play and wouldn't be held accountable. It is really nice to have the depth that we do this year.”
On The Return Of Junior Guard Lindsey Harding
“She does a great job setting the tone for us on both ends of the floor. She's had those experiences ? she's been to the Final Four ? so she knows what it takes to play at the elite level. It's just nice to have her back out on the court again.”
On How The Defense Can Improve
“We didn't always play smart, our rotations were a little slow, and we put them on the free throw line too much ? unnecessary fouls. We need to learn to be aggressive without fouling.”
Junior Alison Bales
On Her Improved Offensive Game
“That was the main focus for me this summer was becoming more aggressive offensively. Today was a good step in the right direction as far as reaching that goal.”
Freshman Abby Waner
On First Game Nerves
“I don't know if it was apparent in my first shot, that went five yards past the basket, but I was a little nervous. Once I got into the flow of the game, I really had my teammates there to pick me up. Once you get into the flow of things, you just kind of forget about it and play ball.”
On Feeding The Ball To The Post Players
“I think our team chemistry has come a really long way. I feel really comfortable passing inside because I know all of our posts have great hands. We just have an exciting team, and I think if we can move the ball well, we will be successful.”
Junior Lindsey Harding
On Open Court Looks
“To me, our team is so easy to play with. Even though I've never played with Abby, I know where she is on the floor. I know that when I get the ball, she's somewhere on the floor wide open. Coach G emphasized to us that we have to keep running the floor. We know someone's going to be open because we're running extremely hard and we're a really quick team.”
Players Mentioned
C
/ Women's Basketball
G
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