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Women's Basketball
vs South Dakota State
Quotes
11/27/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Duke Quotes
Head Coach Gail Goestenkors
Opening Statement
“I thought this was a really good game for us to play. It was a different style than we had seen in the past. I thought Auburn did an excellent job. They had a great game plan, really tried to take the air out of the ball, slow the game down. It's obvious that we love the transition game, so I think they did a good job just walking the ball down the floor, playing a zone. I think in the first half we kind of fell into their hands. We played their tempo. I thought in the second half when we picked up full court with our press, I thought we really changed the tempo of the game, which is what we wanted to do, and we became much more aggressive on both ends of the floor. I'm proud of the team. I thought we made some good adjustments at halftime, as far as just having that attack mindset and getting on the offensive glass. We had 15 offensive rebounds in the second half. The first half, I thought we were standing around a little bit, weren't really making them pay for sitting in the 2-3 zone. So I'm just proud of the team and I give Auburn a lot of credit. They're a young team, but they've got a lot of potential, great size, and it was good for us to just play against a different style.”
On playing in a closer game than the previous four
“I think that was really good for us. Of course, I'd like for them all to be blowouts, but I think we needed to see how we respond in certain situations, and I thought the team responded very, very well. I think it was good for us to have a closer game.”
On Duke's 22-0 run after Auburn cut the lead to seven
“We became more aggressive and we started pressing. We picked up the pace a little bit, and I think that was just the key to the game.”
On the value of depth at the point guard position when facing a press
“That's who we want to be this year. We knew from last season that we were going to have a lot of depth this year and that's when we made the decision that we were going to become more of a pressing team. We've always been a transition team, but really looked to push the ball more because we wanted to utilize our depth. If we're going to slow it down, if we're not going to press, you don't really need a deep bench. In order to utilize our bench we need the up-tempo game. It's very important. It's vital to what we want to do and who we want to be.”
On the team's growth through its first five games
“I feel like we're making progress everyday. I feel like we're getting better. I still feel like we've got a long way to go. We have spurts of greatness. The way we started the second half is the way I want to play for 40 minutes. We're definitely not there yet. We're not in that kind of shape yet and we're still sometimes not quite sure on the rotations, but that just comes through experience. I guess I feel like we're where we need to be right now but not where we want to be to do the things we want to do.”
Mistie Williams
On going up against Auburn's height
“Personally, I go against it everyday in practice so I had some experience that definitely helped us. We played them last year and we had some trouble with their height. They got a lot of blocked shots last year, so over the last couple of days in practice we focused on our counter moves because that what was basically going to help us. We can't just drop step to the basket and be wide open like we usually can. We definitely worked on counter moves and they worked for us.”
On playing five games in ten days
“The week has been pretty good; we've learned a lot about what our team is really strong at and then things that we are weak at as well. Tonight was one of the best defensive efforts that we, the team, has had collectively. We've really been working on that in practice and over the course of the five games in ten days, we definitely have seen improvements. I'm excited about that.”
On the 22-0 run in the second half
“You don't even realize how tiring it is to run back and forth on each play. We got really emotional at that point and really excited and really just wanted the ball again and again and again. We love the press actually and that was the first time that we really had a team like that this year, where we kept scoring over and over on the press. It's really a great feeling.”
On receiving the MVP of the tournament award
“It was an honor to receive it, but my team did a great job in the tournament. I mean I couldn't just score those points or steals without them, so they did a great job in helping me out. Like Mistie [Williams], she had twelve points and Monique had fourteen. We just have a great team.”
Auburn Quotes
Head Coach Nell Fortner
Opening statement
“I don't think there's any doubt. I think that Duke is the No. 1 team in the country. They have all the pieces. I think this is the best team (head coach Gail Goestenkors) has had. I know they've been ranked No. 1 to start the season many years, but I think this is her best overall team. She's got it inside, outside, point guard, everything. And depth, quality depth coming off the bench, so all the credit to them. They can put the defense on you, and when they turn up the volume, there's not much you can do about it, and that's what they did in the second half. We didn't respond, so I give them all the credit. They're a great team.”
On Duke's run in the second half
“We couldn't handle the press. We just couldn't get the ball where we wanted to in the press. Their size is very good. You've got guards who can't see over the trap or through the trap, and it really makes a big difference. They cover you up quick and don't let you pass it where you want to pass it. They're very effective in that, very aggressive, very physical, and it's obviously very effective.”
On Duke's Lindsey Harding
“I think she's the difference-maker from last year to this year because her game and her shooting have improved so much. She is shooting the ball so well. Yesterday, I don't even know if she missed. She just has great leadership abilities. She carries herself with tremendous confidence, she leads her team, she doesn't make any mistakes. She has no turnovers and seven assists. What more can you ask out of your point guard? And she can score if you leave her open. She has a great energy about her and a sense of wanting to be that leader, and when you get that on your team, that's just a wonderful thing.”
On using entire 30 seconds on offense
“That was the only way I felt like we could stay in the ball game with them, to try to limit their possessions. We did that in the first half, but in the second half, we gave up 24 offensive rebounds and turned the ball over 29 times. Holding the ball isn't going to do you much good when you do that. That really hurt us in the second half.”
Freshman Guard Whitney Boddie
On full court pressure
“It was really difficult. They're just intense. It was hard getting open, trying to get the ball, and when you did get the ball, they just sandwiched you. I couldn't really see over the defense. Honestly, they did rattle us a little bit. We lost our composure, but I think we'll learn a lot from this game.
On Lindsey Harding
“She's a great point guard. She's very poised on the court. Like coach said, she doesn't make a lot of mistakes. She didn't have any turnovers, and she had seven assists tonight, so she's like the calming force on that team. I guess in that situation, if their team started getting rattled, she probably would have been the one to settle them down. That's kind of how I want to be in the future. She's a great player.”
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