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9 p.m.
Women's Basketball
vs LSU
Quotes: Duke 66, Boston College 53
2/13/2011 4:30:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Duke Head Coach Joanne P. McCallie
Opening Statement:
“Just a great basketball game. I was telling the team, it was a lot like an ACC Tournament game relative to our turnaround time traveling from Wake and playing this game and having to practice. I thought at times, it looked like that – just sort of rough-and-tumble, very physical. I was proud of our team rebounding strongly, the assists, the sharing of the basketball and particularly coming out in the second half and setting the tone for the half. I thought Krystal [Thomas] was outstanding in doing exactly what Krystal can do. She was explosive and aggressive, and it was fun to watch. For [Allison Vernerey], it was terrific to see her out there attacking as well and getting position. For Karima, I just think that's the funniest double-double ever because it's just like she's a covert agent. It was kind of a quiet double-double, it was extremely effective and speaks volumes to the intensity that she was putting out on the floor. So, I do want to say the juniors, I really felt made a huge difference. I thought Shay [Selby] came in and just sort of mixed it up. She has a little bit of an attitude, which is a pleasant thing, and she kind of talked to her teammates a little bit. I also thought Kathleen Scheer comes in and passes the ball and gets four assists, and she was very active moving our post around. I thought a lot of people made contributions, and of course Jasmine [Thomas] was steady and getting rebounds for us and taking care of the finish. There was just a lot of everybody in this game.”
On what Kathleen Scheer offers off the bench:
“Energy is so important. You've got to give a lot for your team to be great. I think [Kathleen Scheer] off the bench, coming in and giving enormous defensive energy, she's active making plays, working with the other post she's playing with. Offensively, just trying to relax and move the basketball. She moves herself so well, so that's good and people have to guard her, but then she's looking for people, looking for teammates, it's exactly what we need, and it's exactly what I've been preaching because we need to be 18 through 24 assists. We need to be up in there for us to be a very successful team in postseason. So we're starting to break into that, and Kathleen just really has a knack for it. I hope she continues it and grows it a bit.”
On how Duke was able to take charge in the second half:
“I just think you have to give a lot of credit to Chelsea Gray drawing D and delivering the ball. Under the circumstances of not playing great and having to fight against a very good opponent, I thought it was excellent. To command so quickly in the second half, to take charge right away, I felt that we were in control and we were in charge. They're a very good team, and they've done some very nice things this year so it's never easy. That was a strong second half.”
On a rotation starting to form:
“Sometimes yes, I think there's some [consistency] and I think there can be more. At this time of year, I was just telling the team, practices are shorter and you have a lot less time to impress so our intensity needs to jack up so everybody can be ready. I think it's going to be different people [in] different games. I think you've got a core established, and there will be different people every game. I don't want to close any doors, but I also want to motivate people to really take the opportunities they have in front of them.”
On the play of post players Allison Vernerey and Krystal Thomas:
“It's really great to have Ali [Allison Vernerey] and Krystal [Thomas] play together. It's been evolving throughout the season, but they're very hard to guard for a variety of reasons in terms of what they offer each other and how to guard both of them when they're both moving so well. We've just got to really grow that. I liked this game for that reason; it was very indicative of a lot of post games that will be out there in the future in the NCAA Tournament and things of that nature. It had the post feel of that kind of play. I just think Krystal now can do a lot, and I think the more they can play together, the more they can understand where they're going. Krystal's also a very excellent passer, and I know today she was finishing doing things, but that's another thing that's going to come into play. When they start to double or go after Krystal, her being able to dump and receive; there's a lot we can build from this.”
Duke Senior Krystal Thomas
On the plan to contain Caroyln Swords:
“The plan was just to limit her touches. Obviously she's a prolific scorer, especially around the basket. Our plan was to keep the ball out of her hands as much as we could, give her no easy looks and make her work on every possession, both offensively and defensively. Also being up front and not letting the guards have easy looks to dump it to her so she could set up and make whatever moves she wanted to. They started going to her in the beginning and I got a couple tip and steals off the front end. Then she was second guessing her moves because she didn't know where I was. Then she kinda stopped posting all together. I don't want to say altogether, but as aggressively as she normally would.”
On how it felt to beat a team like Boston College:
“I would say for me, I was a complete no show in the game last year. So I just knew personally that I wanted to come out and play and be here and not be someone that Coach P can't put in and have to sit on the bench the entire game.”
Duke Sophomore Allison Vernerey
On the plan to contain Caroyln Swords:
“I think being physical was very important. Krystal [Thomas] was on her most of the time and I had the other post. Krystal was physical and stayed active. She didn't let Swords set up and get into her game and take the game to us.”
On how it felt to beat a team like Boston College:
“For the team, especially for the post, there was a challenge. Obviously those players are really good and everybody knows it and talks about it. I think we really wanted to show that we could do something against that.”
On her confidence:
“My confidence is good. I'm not really worrying about that too much. I think we were trying to go somewhere as a team and right now I'm the one who has been scoring a little bit more. I think as a team we're progressing and getting better and that's what makes it feel good and upgrade the confidence of everybody.”
Boston College Head Coach Sylvia Crawley
Opening Statement:
“I think we did our part in the first half. The second half when we were in our zone, I thought Duke found a way to penetrate within our zone and started penetrating baseline, distanced our post players for easy layups and once we had those breakdowns within our zone defense, I think it changed the momentum of the game. For the most part, I thought our players fought hard. Duke is a great team. Now we see why they are fifth in the nation. They're a tough team to stop. We tried to key in on [Jasmine] Thomas and they had a lot of other players step up for them tonight.”
On Boston College senior Jaclyn Thoman:
“Jac Thoman, she's a senior so her will to win right now is really carrying our team. I thought she played hard the whole game. She gave us everything she had tonight. She ended the game with 21 points and six rebounds, which is one of her highs in terms of rebounding so we tried to run some plays for her. We felt like she had the hot hand and get the ball in her hands where she was in position to score. I thought we ran out of gas a little bit in the second half though. We played two defense on the make and miss, and it's tough to do that off of a missed shot, especially when you have a great athlete like [Jasmine] Thomas pushing the ball down the floor really hard. So unfortunately we didn't come up with the win but there definitely are some things that we can hang our hat on for today's game.”
On Duke shutting down Boston College's Carolyn Swords:
“In the first half she was 2-for-2. When we got the ball to her, she was effective. Duke just made it very difficult for us to get that ball inside. Whenever she was open, we missed the pass to get it to her and we turned it over. So we just really struggled with getting the ball inside. And they had bigs on her. When she turned to score there, they have shot blockers. They're tough to score over. We'll watch film to see kind of what they did to her, but I think it's just a matter of her being aggressive and turning and scoring.”
On what Boston College needs to do to get an NCAA bid:
“I think our team has to move from good to great. We're seventh in the conference. We're comfortable being seventh. I think we gotta turn it up a notch. In the ACC, I think as the year progresses it gets tougher and tougher. And, you know, team's right now, some of the teams that are on the bottom, they're scraping to not be that bottom team. And the teams on the top, they are working towards the tournament. So it's another level right now, and when you get to the ACC Tournament, it's another level. And so I think our teams needs to figure out how to get to that next level. How to turn it up just another notch. And, you know, we're going to talk about this. You know, this is something that we'll work on in practice. Just turn it up a notch in practice every, single day so that when we come out to play against ACC teams, they're ready to play on that level. But I think that's what it's going to take to move from good to great. We're comfortable in the middle and we've got to figure out what we can do to kind of just get them to move up just another notch.”
Opening Statement:
“Just a great basketball game. I was telling the team, it was a lot like an ACC Tournament game relative to our turnaround time traveling from Wake and playing this game and having to practice. I thought at times, it looked like that – just sort of rough-and-tumble, very physical. I was proud of our team rebounding strongly, the assists, the sharing of the basketball and particularly coming out in the second half and setting the tone for the half. I thought Krystal [Thomas] was outstanding in doing exactly what Krystal can do. She was explosive and aggressive, and it was fun to watch. For [Allison Vernerey], it was terrific to see her out there attacking as well and getting position. For Karima, I just think that's the funniest double-double ever because it's just like she's a covert agent. It was kind of a quiet double-double, it was extremely effective and speaks volumes to the intensity that she was putting out on the floor. So, I do want to say the juniors, I really felt made a huge difference. I thought Shay [Selby] came in and just sort of mixed it up. She has a little bit of an attitude, which is a pleasant thing, and she kind of talked to her teammates a little bit. I also thought Kathleen Scheer comes in and passes the ball and gets four assists, and she was very active moving our post around. I thought a lot of people made contributions, and of course Jasmine [Thomas] was steady and getting rebounds for us and taking care of the finish. There was just a lot of everybody in this game.”
On what Kathleen Scheer offers off the bench:
“Energy is so important. You've got to give a lot for your team to be great. I think [Kathleen Scheer] off the bench, coming in and giving enormous defensive energy, she's active making plays, working with the other post she's playing with. Offensively, just trying to relax and move the basketball. She moves herself so well, so that's good and people have to guard her, but then she's looking for people, looking for teammates, it's exactly what we need, and it's exactly what I've been preaching because we need to be 18 through 24 assists. We need to be up in there for us to be a very successful team in postseason. So we're starting to break into that, and Kathleen just really has a knack for it. I hope she continues it and grows it a bit.”
On how Duke was able to take charge in the second half:
“I just think you have to give a lot of credit to Chelsea Gray drawing D and delivering the ball. Under the circumstances of not playing great and having to fight against a very good opponent, I thought it was excellent. To command so quickly in the second half, to take charge right away, I felt that we were in control and we were in charge. They're a very good team, and they've done some very nice things this year so it's never easy. That was a strong second half.”
On a rotation starting to form:
“Sometimes yes, I think there's some [consistency] and I think there can be more. At this time of year, I was just telling the team, practices are shorter and you have a lot less time to impress so our intensity needs to jack up so everybody can be ready. I think it's going to be different people [in] different games. I think you've got a core established, and there will be different people every game. I don't want to close any doors, but I also want to motivate people to really take the opportunities they have in front of them.”
On the play of post players Allison Vernerey and Krystal Thomas:
“It's really great to have Ali [Allison Vernerey] and Krystal [Thomas] play together. It's been evolving throughout the season, but they're very hard to guard for a variety of reasons in terms of what they offer each other and how to guard both of them when they're both moving so well. We've just got to really grow that. I liked this game for that reason; it was very indicative of a lot of post games that will be out there in the future in the NCAA Tournament and things of that nature. It had the post feel of that kind of play. I just think Krystal now can do a lot, and I think the more they can play together, the more they can understand where they're going. Krystal's also a very excellent passer, and I know today she was finishing doing things, but that's another thing that's going to come into play. When they start to double or go after Krystal, her being able to dump and receive; there's a lot we can build from this.”
Duke Senior Krystal Thomas
On the plan to contain Caroyln Swords:
“The plan was just to limit her touches. Obviously she's a prolific scorer, especially around the basket. Our plan was to keep the ball out of her hands as much as we could, give her no easy looks and make her work on every possession, both offensively and defensively. Also being up front and not letting the guards have easy looks to dump it to her so she could set up and make whatever moves she wanted to. They started going to her in the beginning and I got a couple tip and steals off the front end. Then she was second guessing her moves because she didn't know where I was. Then she kinda stopped posting all together. I don't want to say altogether, but as aggressively as she normally would.”
On how it felt to beat a team like Boston College:
“I would say for me, I was a complete no show in the game last year. So I just knew personally that I wanted to come out and play and be here and not be someone that Coach P can't put in and have to sit on the bench the entire game.”
Duke Sophomore Allison Vernerey
On the plan to contain Caroyln Swords:
“I think being physical was very important. Krystal [Thomas] was on her most of the time and I had the other post. Krystal was physical and stayed active. She didn't let Swords set up and get into her game and take the game to us.”
On how it felt to beat a team like Boston College:
“For the team, especially for the post, there was a challenge. Obviously those players are really good and everybody knows it and talks about it. I think we really wanted to show that we could do something against that.”
On her confidence:
“My confidence is good. I'm not really worrying about that too much. I think we were trying to go somewhere as a team and right now I'm the one who has been scoring a little bit more. I think as a team we're progressing and getting better and that's what makes it feel good and upgrade the confidence of everybody.”
Boston College Head Coach Sylvia Crawley
Opening Statement:
“I think we did our part in the first half. The second half when we were in our zone, I thought Duke found a way to penetrate within our zone and started penetrating baseline, distanced our post players for easy layups and once we had those breakdowns within our zone defense, I think it changed the momentum of the game. For the most part, I thought our players fought hard. Duke is a great team. Now we see why they are fifth in the nation. They're a tough team to stop. We tried to key in on [Jasmine] Thomas and they had a lot of other players step up for them tonight.”
On Boston College senior Jaclyn Thoman:
“Jac Thoman, she's a senior so her will to win right now is really carrying our team. I thought she played hard the whole game. She gave us everything she had tonight. She ended the game with 21 points and six rebounds, which is one of her highs in terms of rebounding so we tried to run some plays for her. We felt like she had the hot hand and get the ball in her hands where she was in position to score. I thought we ran out of gas a little bit in the second half though. We played two defense on the make and miss, and it's tough to do that off of a missed shot, especially when you have a great athlete like [Jasmine] Thomas pushing the ball down the floor really hard. So unfortunately we didn't come up with the win but there definitely are some things that we can hang our hat on for today's game.”
On Duke shutting down Boston College's Carolyn Swords:
“In the first half she was 2-for-2. When we got the ball to her, she was effective. Duke just made it very difficult for us to get that ball inside. Whenever she was open, we missed the pass to get it to her and we turned it over. So we just really struggled with getting the ball inside. And they had bigs on her. When she turned to score there, they have shot blockers. They're tough to score over. We'll watch film to see kind of what they did to her, but I think it's just a matter of her being aggressive and turning and scoring.”
On what Boston College needs to do to get an NCAA bid:
“I think our team has to move from good to great. We're seventh in the conference. We're comfortable being seventh. I think we gotta turn it up a notch. In the ACC, I think as the year progresses it gets tougher and tougher. And, you know, team's right now, some of the teams that are on the bottom, they're scraping to not be that bottom team. And the teams on the top, they are working towards the tournament. So it's another level right now, and when you get to the ACC Tournament, it's another level. And so I think our teams needs to figure out how to get to that next level. How to turn it up just another notch. And, you know, we're going to talk about this. You know, this is something that we'll work on in practice. Just turn it up a notch in practice every, single day so that when we come out to play against ACC teams, they're ready to play on that level. But I think that's what it's going to take to move from good to great. We're comfortable in the middle and we've got to figure out what we can do to kind of just get them to move up just another notch.”
Players Mentioned
G/F
/ Women's Basketball
C
/ Women's Basketball
C
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