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 96, Southern 27
3/19/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Opening Statement:
“I thought this was a good start for us. Initially in the first half we had good energy, we just didn't have great focus. A lot of layups and shots we usually make were missed, so I was really frustrated with that. But I felt like it was us getting the rust off, having not played in two weeks. We talked about that at halftime, that we needed to do a better job of that in the second half. And I thought we did do a better job in the second half of that.”
General Outlook on Game:
Lindsey Harding, Junior Guard: “This was a very important game for us, just to get started. There are six games all the way through the championship, and we wanted to start it off right. As the game progressed, we started focusing on what we had to do to get better.”
General Outlook on Game:
Coach Goestenkors: “It was good for us mentally, we haven't blown a team out in awhile and I think it was good for our confidence. We're coming off a couple of tough games and we have been working really hard.”
On strategy in rotating players:
Coach Goestenkoers: “I felt like the entire team had two great weeks of practice. I wanted to get them in and once we got the big lead, I wanted to rest some of our starters and reward the other girls for their effort.”
Sandy Pugh
Opening Statement:
“It has been a long year and the season definitely did not end the way I hoped, but it rarely never does. We came in all season long, battled battled battled, we've had our ups and downs. Tonight Rolanda wasn't feeling well, but things happen. The other players have to step up to the table and they didn't. We were so out of sync all game. I think the size of their team caused a lot of problems for us defensively. This allowed us to not be able to get into a good rhythm. I thought we had some easy looks at the basket that we didn't take. When youre playing a team like that, the shots don't come frequently, so you have to take advantage of them when you get them. Aside from a couple of seniors, this team is very young and I look forward to working with them next season.”
On caliber it takes to be a top-seeded team:
Tiffany Jones: “For me it wasn't really hard because I played with most of the girls before. But I mean it takes the whole team. Like Coach said, we have a young team and they didn't know the game was going to be that aggressive. They really weren't ready for it.”
On Duke's defense:
Jones: “It was a different look for me, as they were trapping all our off the ball screens. They were trapping very aggressively also. Usually we see soft traps, so when you see two 6-2 girls coming to trap you, it is kind of hard for people, especially me a small point guard for me to see over. It was something I had to adjust, and it took awhile for me to adjust to it.”
On overall team performance:
Coach Pugh: “The bottom line is we didn't get it done. We didn't do what we needed to do. I can't harp on this game. I told our players at the end of the game that Duke is supposedly the best team in the country, a number one seed. Duke is top of the line, they are wide open, and I was very very disappointed in our overall effort. I was very disappointed in our overall ability to work inside. I'll bet Coach Gail doesn't have to coach effort with her team. When you have to coach effort day in and day out, you can't compete on this level. And that is one of the things we will have to address next season. Am I disappointed? Of course. Did I expect to be sitting in the winner's chair? Well, I knew in Duke we were getting a beast by the tail. The most important thing is I wanted the kids to go out and play hard.”
Players Mentioned
G
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