Quotes: Duke 70, Florida State 38

Duke Coach Joanne P. McCallie

On tonight's win...
“It was a very exciting, interesting game, and very thorough defensively. That's very, very important to us. I thought there was some great defensive play, and I thought there was some great offensive play. The rebounding was solid as well. I was extremely pleased with our bench in terms of the activity and what people coming off the bench did and how they played. Whether it was Bridgette [Mitchell], Karima [Christmas], K.J. [Keturah Jackson], Emily ? anybody that came off the bench I thought was fantastic. Chante [Black] continues to be extremely dominant and to show how important it is to be consistent, so Chante's game was extremely consistent and very focused, and it's great to see. That's an important thing for us to learn and go from as everyone tries to reset levels of going at night in and night out. So, lots of things we can improve on offensively. I'm not too worried about that because I like the looks that we got. Again, just a great team, aggressive game. I think it's really important to play aggressive at this time.”

On controlling the tempo...
“I think defense and rebounding really does control the tempo, and I think the first group set the tone. I thought the first ten minutes were excruciatingly intense from our standpoint causing a lot of missed shots. I think anytime you can really defend and get other teams out of sync that's a very positive thing, and the great thing about it tonight is that it was continued. The tone was set and then regardless of whom we put in, they followed suit. The intensity was kept to get the 23% shooting from the floor and to accomplish holding any team, Florida State's a very good team, and we had to do some great things to hold any team to 38 points. This team has to be very proud of that.”

On labeling this game as one of Duke's best this season...
“This was one of [our best games] for sure. When you combine the shooting percentage, the actual total points, and the rebounding, then yes, probably.”

On the scoring lulls...
“The lulls were self-imposed. We missed lay-ups. I mean if we had made all our lay-ups you would not have seen any lulls. It was a self-imposed thing. We were a little bit fast, a little bit quick. And some of our passing, 18 turnovers is too high. And we weren't passing to each other with sort of a thoughtfulness. I think you need to set your teammate up a little bit. When it's self-imposed, and you still put 70 points on the board then I feel pretty strongly that that's a good sign and that we'll iron those things out.”

On playing at Maryland on Monday...
“It's very exciting. We're getting better every game. It's good timing for us. We need to be on the road again. It's good to be home, don't misunderstand me; it's great to be home. But now it's time for us to be on the road again, and obviously they're an excellent opponent, but that's what it's all about. We've got to carry over lessons. We've got to pull from this game and improve from this game, which we will tomorrow. And then just sort out the scouting report. They've got quite a few players that will be on the scouting report. So we'll have a good time trying to learn those and get ready. Consistency is a lesson. You've got to play every minute. We'll look at the film and see how we created assists for each other, how we did great things, and maybe made some bad decisions as well. When it's in our control, if the defense steals the ball from you, that's one thing. When you give it to the opponent, that's something to learn from. So, we'll always break down a few items and get right on Maryland. Obviously they haven't been beat in awhile, since I can tell, and I don't think they've lost at home this year. So, off we go.”

Sophomore Bridgette Mitchell

On mental approach to increased playing time:
“I think coming off the bench you always have to be ready when your number's called so today my number just happened to be called more frequently than it has been and I just was ready.”

Junior Chante Black

On demanding the ball more:
“I'm always working to demand the ball, but there's always times when I'm not really demanding it. I think that in the second half I could have probably demanded it more, but as a team we still played extremely well.”

On working on her passing game:
“I want to give back to the guards. They give to me all the time so I want to give back to them.”

On playing against Florida State forward Jacinta Monroe:
“That's always a focus to go out and shut down who you're going up against so, of course, that was my main focus. Hopefully that will continue to carry over into every game that we play from here on out.”

On upcoming game against Maryland:
“We as a team are excited to go in and they do have, definitely, some of the best post players, not only in the conference but in the U.S. Hopefully we'll just continue to carry over what we've been doing. That's our focus, to always shut down those players.”

Florida State Coach Sue Semrau

Opening Statement:
“I haven't been that embarrassed in a long time coaching a team that was wearing a Florida State uniform. I don't care that we only had one senior and one junior on the floor. I don't care that we are playing without a couple of our starters. I think that the fact that our shots weren't dropping; we allowed that to get to us in a big, big way. I compliment Duke's transition game. I thought that's really where they beat us.”

On missing free throws forcing FSU to force things:
“I don't think [missing free throws] forced us to force things more. It was more disappointing. We weren't hitting field goals; we weren't hitting free throws. I thought the disappointment on a very young group out there really showed, especially on the defensive end of the floor. You can make up [for missing shots] if you make stops on defense.”

On Duke's Pressing Defense:
“We knew they were going to press. We knew what to do against the press, and we didn't do a good job of drawing two to us and then kicking it. I thought their pressure bothered us and we have to do a better job of handling it.”

On Chante Black's performance:
“Incredible, Incredible, She was not only a dominant scorer but she was dominant rebounder. I thought she did a nice job defending. She has come back from whatever injury it was last year and is a force. One of the best post players, I think, in the ACC.”