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vs South Dakota State
Quotes: Duke 90, UT Martin 45
3/19/2011 5:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Duke Head Coach Joanne P. McCallie
Opening Statement:
“It was a good game, and obviously we were very excited to play again after a long time being off. I was extremely impressed with our team in the second half. To hold any team, at this level, to 14 second-half points is a tremendous accomplishment. To also hold down their go-to players, and not allow them to score, was terrific. To see us create 25 assists for each other, finding each other, playing off each other, and only have eight turnovers, shows great, intelligent play. The second half was pretty much the direction we are moving, and we need to build off that second half and grow it to 40 minutes.”
On interrupting a fast break to call a time out and what was said to the team at halftime:
“Halftime was very aggressive. I was furious. The defense we were playing at that time was absolutely horrific, relative to getting beat with one-on-one stops. I think Jasmine [Thomas] pretty much covered it that them getting to the free-throw line, helping off-shooters, allowing 20 to hit that three in the right side, was just not sharp. I did not like anything in that first half to be honest with you, so I spoke about that. And then that time-out, I do not know exactly what was part of that, but something that ticked me off. I am not at all concerned about our offense right now, but I sure as heck want our defense to be up to par because it is going to need to be, and I just do not think that in the first half it was in any way.”
On being able to play all five freshmen at once since playing Albany in December:
“They are really good. I wanted to ask you all, historically, has there ever been five freshman in an NCAA tournament, playing at the same time on the women's side? I mean I would like you to find it if you can, because I would like to know if they made history toady. UT-Martin did not have five freshmen on the floor, they have eight [freshmen], but they did not play them together. I was curious if you would look that up because I think our players are really good. I think our freshmen are sophomores now. I think that they are much more competitive, and there is no comparison to December and where we were then to where we are now. They really are motivating. Tricia Liston was playing the four, having never practiced it. That is what is unique about these guys, these five women.”
On concerns for the next game and what needs to be improved:
“One-on-one stops. I am not a big fan of help. I know the value of help-side but just tremendous pride in our one-on-one stops, and tremendous pride in our shot contesting, especially the three-ball. These are teams all in this tournament that have four people, and sometimes five, shooting three-point shots, and spreading the floor so much, but I think we have the ability to play great man-to-man defense. We played it mostly today, about 65 percent, and I would like to see our ball pressure, our one-on-one stops, and our physical abilities to really come out. When we play our match-ups I want to see that too. I did see that more a little bit when we played one of our match-ups today, but the whole physical nature of the game, the dominance, rebounding, getting to the free-throw line, being strong with the ball all needs a certain edginess that I want to see, and that I think is very important during this time of year.”
On the various combinations of players on the court:
“I am just going with 11 players that I completely believe in. There is no doghouse because they can all play and sometimes there are just different combinations. I thought that Haley [Peters] and Kathleen [Scheer] played beautifully together. They fed off of each other and they are very quick in their cutting and looking for the basketball, and also in defending. I thought that Allison [Vernerey] did some good things too, and of course Krystal [Thomas] did as well. We talked about going 11 for 11, and what that means is everybody being ready to give what they can give, and I believe in it. I guess you can say I am always looking for new things because that would be true. The stat of 43 points to 15, we want that. We want that stat, we want an opposing bench, we want people to be concerned about us. We want people to wear down and wonder if they can play against us for 40 minutes. We want to create that environment, which is really hard to do.”
On getting the team focused:
“I don't think a coach ever knows [if the players will remain focused], but you are willing to do whatever it takes to get them focused. There was a lack of sharpness, and I think that in the first half, I do not attribute that to anything but just being out there because it had been a couple of weeks since we had played. Sometimes you have to get your feet right and I understand. I definitely felt a complete refocus at halftime to what we do.”
On the positives of the game and getting too confident about beating a team by 45 points:
“I think that our team understands very clearly [what they have to do]. We watched more film in December and January, and this is one of those things where I have had to show them less and less film because they believe it more. They already understand that they played 20 minutes. They got that very clearly. They played a great 20 minutes of basketball and they know it. But they know that is not what it is about to go beyond and going to the higher level. I feel that they will be motivated to do better, to play better, and to come out of the blocks better for the next game. I feel that in them as a group because that is how they operate. As you saw there is terrific leadership. Jasmine [Thomas] is on it. Jasmine is already thinking it. When I am saying it, she is already thinking it, which carries over well. Krystal [Thomas] and Karima [Christmas] also [have great leadership]. Haley [Peters], and our young players lead pretty well also. So I think they will be hungry, and they will be ready. I think we will handle that.”
On playing zone defense and UT-Martin not being able to answer to it:
“[Having trouble with defending a zone defense] happens a lot because it is hard to do. One of the things these women should be applauded for is that we are the most multiple defensive team in the country, without question, and I think that being able to mix and match what you do is part of the fun. Most people are more prepared for man-to-man and they run their sets and they play against man-to-man more, so if you can really attack people with different weapons, I think you can be more successful. I know that our team has a great deal of confidence in their matchups, and I know that they have a great deal of confidence in the man-to-man defense, and I think what you saw was the best of both worlds in the second half. The first half I did not make any changes because I was too mad to. I was so mad about how we were playing that I was not going to make a change. You just have to deal with it and say 'let's go.' Sometimes you can over-coach this game, and that was a point to get on to them, but the reality is that we were not doing what we should have been doing.”
Duke Senior Jasmine Thomas
On what Duke prevented UT Martin from doing in the second half that they didn't in the first:
“I think we did a better job shutting down penetration. I think in the first half we let them get into the paint too much and then they were finishing inside and getting to the free throw line from us fouling them but they were also getting more kick outs off of our missed rotations on defensive. So I think in the second half we definitely did a better job on penetration.”
On using assists as a point of emphasis:
“I think we're right on pace. I think in both halves of that game offensively we really did a good job of moving the ball, finding open players, inside and out, off the pass. I think we would like to see us get to the free throw line a little more, but I think from an assist standpoint we are definitely moving the ball better.”
On keeping UT Martin's small, quick guards in front of her:
“It definitely was difficult. They had good quickness and they could handle the ball and they kept you on your heels because they could either blow by you or pull up and hit a jumper. They were definitely great guards. However we do have some experience playing quick guards in our conference so that's something that we've been working on all season but it's always hard and something you have to focus on.”
Duke Senior Krystal Thomas
On taking advantage of Duke's size:
“We could have exploited it more. I mean that by the posts could have done a better job of posting and finishing inside the lane and getting rebounds. If you look down at the post rebounds they aren't very impressive. We could have better. I thought overall the team did a good job of getting into the paint and most everyone had a height advantage across the board. So I think everyone did a good job of exploiting this.”
On the changes made at half time:
“I just think that in the second half we came out with the mindset of focusing on defense. Our defense was very lax in the first half and we allowed UT Martin to execute much more effectively than we wanted to. The second half we made an emphasis to stop the penetration, to contest their shots, as well as limiting them to one shot.”
On preparing for Marist's big players:
“We're fortunate enough to have played amazing post players all season. We'll be ready for whatever Marist has for us. We haven't looked at Marist yet so we'll go back to the film room and kind of look at what their posts do well. We'll be ready for whatever they throw at us. We've been faced with various kinds of posts throughout the season so we'll be ready for whatever happens on Monday night.”
Duke Freshman Haley Peters
On her first NCAA Tournament game:
“To me it didn't really feel that different. We played in a great tournament a little more than a week ago. It just felt like it was another game. I think something that changed at halftime for me was I stepped up my intensity a bit because I felt like this is the most important time of the year and we need to be on top of our game, we can't just be messing around with teams. And at the end when it was all five of us in together it was fun. Chelsea pointed it out first. We always have fun when we're in together. We like to play with each other and we like to spend a lot of time together off the court. I thought we did a nice job there, it was fun.”
UT Martin Head Coach Kevin McMillan
On NCAA experience and preparing for the future:
“Well you hope it's going to motivate them in the offseason. You hope that they're going to get in the gym and shoot, work on their ball handling, and get in the weight room and do things to prepare for this opportunity should they ever get it again. These kids came to UT Martin with a lot of faith and dream I guess you could say. We talked about what we could do and now that we've done this we're going to have to decide—they're going to have to decide if they want to do something more. The biggest thing we can do is probably win 3 or 4 more games in the regular season and not be a 15 seed to be honest with you. I hope they go into it saying 'alright let's see if we can get a 13 seed' because there are a few more upsets in the 4-13 game than there are in the 2-15 game.”
On the impact of Duke's depth in the second half:
“If I'm Duke, that game went according to script that that little team is probably going to come out here and fight and claw and scratch and if we don't let it get out of hand—out of hand meaning tied at the half or something like that—we're eventually going to wear them down. I think that's what you saw. You can only battle for so long before that size laying on you and pushing, it's going to wear you out. We needed the officials to call it as tight as anything in the world, which might have gotten them to where they couldn't exert some of that power over us but they're not going to do that in the NCAA tournament, they're just not. I just didn't know much gas we had in the tank. You hope that your adrenaline will kick in and that you can find ways to fight in the second half and make a shot or two. The thing about this game is that once the snowball got rolling it was gone. We didn't have much of an answer. Once the snowball was rolling we just jumped right in the middle of it and our arms were flailing and it looked like we were rolling down a big hill. I think the first half was a testament to what our kids can do and I thought the second half was a testament to what Duke could do.”
On his team's effort and execution over the 40 minutes:
“I was disappointed in us, that's why I called those timeouts. I was disappointed that we kind of started hanging our heads a little in the second half. That's the only thing I was disappointed in. In the first half we didn't play as well as we can play and we were down 10. I felt pretty good about that, but I was worried about the gas that was left in the tank. Then in the second half, the only thing was that I thought was we kind of started feeling sorry for ourselves and there's no reason to start hanging your head over anything. With such a young team this year, we focused on every single day at practice, we focused on every drill because they're so young, and I've said this a couple times, if a butterfly flies by, our whole team runs after it like my little 18-month girl does. I got disappointed in them because what they were doing was starting to look around and see everything and that's not what we've done all year long let's not start doing it now. But you know, it was a pretty big butterfly.”
On recruiting a post player:
“Well if there are any post players out there that can score, we've got some pretty good guards and what you saw from Duke was they said 'you can't score in there so I dare you to throw it in there.' So if you can score, you need to call us. The difference in the game was when they spread out in that zone where you attack it in the middle. Who are we going to put in the middle? We're going to put someone in there that's 5'10”? We put Butler in there at 5'4” because when they spread out in that zone, that's where you attack it and we didn't have an answer for it so I was saying 'chunk it up there and see if it goes in.' You need a six foot, 6'1”, 6'2” kid in the middle right there that can catch it in the high post that can turn and do stuff. We didn't have that. I told the kids—I don't even think they listened to me after the game—that Duke went to that zone and wouldn't come out of it and the reason they wouldn't come out of it because they're going to have a hard time guarding you two little guards. If they go in and we're going to spread the floor out, they're going to have a hard time guarding you and I don't think they believed me, honestly. In the second half, they didn't play man, they went zone. I said, Duke's a great team and a great program but if they stay man against you the whole game, I don't know. They went to something they had that was really going to bother us and we needed that post game.”
On how a post player would affect the numbers as a team:
“What a big post player would do is make that court shrink. You throw it in there to them, somebody's going to go in a double, they're going to kick it and you'll get a wide open shot. We haven't had that all year. We struggled at the beginning of the year trying to get someone in there to do it and it was kind of like—I've got that little toy for my girl, that little red and blue thing with all the yellow shapes in it and you pull it and they all fall down then you put them back in—she takes a star and tries to put it in the circle and it won't work. She keeps jamming it in there and it won't go. That's what we were doing trying to have a post player. I have post players on the bench but they wouldn't do it; we were just jamming that thing in there. We went to a little lineup about 10 games ago, all of a sudden we start playing well, shooting the ball well. We don't have an inside presence but we're winning games, we're clicking and we're flowing. When we were getting ready for this matchup we looked at our team and said these kids need to be playing but that's not what we did to start playing well. I'm the old-fashioned thing of dance with who brung ya so we were still playing those little kids. The problem is that when that zone spread out, you're backing up three steps and shooting it from the cheap seats.”
UT Martin Senior Alecia Weatherley
On her emotion of UT Martin making its first NCAA appearance:
“Two years ago I wasn't even playing ball and to think that this is where I have ended my career, it's emotions of sadness because it's over, but I'm happy this happened.”
On the progression of UT Martin as a program:
“I knew that when I first decided to come to UTM that the program had not been doing as well as it could have been doing, and when Coach McMillan got the job, I took the opportunity to come to the team because I knew what was fixing to happen was going to be great and I didn't want to miss my chance to be on the team. I knew that if I was still living in Nashville and reading the papers on how great UTM's become, I was going to be really kicking myself for it.”
UT Martin Freshman Heather Butler
On what she learned from being one of the smaller players on the floor:
“Well we have kind of been facing that all year when we played Louisville. It's not anything different because I am usually the shortest player on the floor every game, but I couldn't go in there intimidated, and I didn't. You know we went in there thinking we had to battle and we did that in the first half, we kind of slowed down in the second. It was really a good experience and I definitely learned a lot of things playing against such a big team and new moves I need to work on and things we all need to work on as a team facing such a big opponent.”
On the difference between the first half and the second half:
“Well we came out like I said ready to battle and I think in the first half we were making shots, but not every shot, but we were keeping up with them. It was like a ten point difference and that was good for us. But in the second half we started out not doing good, and they hit shot after shot and I think that definitely got us down and not feeling confident, but we had to keep our heads held high. You know they just kept making shots and we just kept missing them.”
On not making shots and how the experience in the NCAA will help her later down the road:
“When I was shooting in the game or whatever I was nervous but I still had to keep shooting because Coach would probably sit me on the bench if I didn't. Like these coming years we are coming back, which we are definitely going to try to come back, I definitely think it's going to help me out because now I have experience on my shoulders and I know what level we need to play on to keep up with these ACC and SEC players.”
On what Coach McMillan told the team when they were down during timeouts:
“Basically we need to keep battling. Don't even worry about the score, it may a 30 or 40 difference but we still need to get out there and fight and battle.”
Opening Statement:
“It was a good game, and obviously we were very excited to play again after a long time being off. I was extremely impressed with our team in the second half. To hold any team, at this level, to 14 second-half points is a tremendous accomplishment. To also hold down their go-to players, and not allow them to score, was terrific. To see us create 25 assists for each other, finding each other, playing off each other, and only have eight turnovers, shows great, intelligent play. The second half was pretty much the direction we are moving, and we need to build off that second half and grow it to 40 minutes.”
On interrupting a fast break to call a time out and what was said to the team at halftime:
“Halftime was very aggressive. I was furious. The defense we were playing at that time was absolutely horrific, relative to getting beat with one-on-one stops. I think Jasmine [Thomas] pretty much covered it that them getting to the free-throw line, helping off-shooters, allowing 20 to hit that three in the right side, was just not sharp. I did not like anything in that first half to be honest with you, so I spoke about that. And then that time-out, I do not know exactly what was part of that, but something that ticked me off. I am not at all concerned about our offense right now, but I sure as heck want our defense to be up to par because it is going to need to be, and I just do not think that in the first half it was in any way.”
On being able to play all five freshmen at once since playing Albany in December:
“They are really good. I wanted to ask you all, historically, has there ever been five freshman in an NCAA tournament, playing at the same time on the women's side? I mean I would like you to find it if you can, because I would like to know if they made history toady. UT-Martin did not have five freshmen on the floor, they have eight [freshmen], but they did not play them together. I was curious if you would look that up because I think our players are really good. I think our freshmen are sophomores now. I think that they are much more competitive, and there is no comparison to December and where we were then to where we are now. They really are motivating. Tricia Liston was playing the four, having never practiced it. That is what is unique about these guys, these five women.”
On concerns for the next game and what needs to be improved:
“One-on-one stops. I am not a big fan of help. I know the value of help-side but just tremendous pride in our one-on-one stops, and tremendous pride in our shot contesting, especially the three-ball. These are teams all in this tournament that have four people, and sometimes five, shooting three-point shots, and spreading the floor so much, but I think we have the ability to play great man-to-man defense. We played it mostly today, about 65 percent, and I would like to see our ball pressure, our one-on-one stops, and our physical abilities to really come out. When we play our match-ups I want to see that too. I did see that more a little bit when we played one of our match-ups today, but the whole physical nature of the game, the dominance, rebounding, getting to the free-throw line, being strong with the ball all needs a certain edginess that I want to see, and that I think is very important during this time of year.”
On the various combinations of players on the court:
“I am just going with 11 players that I completely believe in. There is no doghouse because they can all play and sometimes there are just different combinations. I thought that Haley [Peters] and Kathleen [Scheer] played beautifully together. They fed off of each other and they are very quick in their cutting and looking for the basketball, and also in defending. I thought that Allison [Vernerey] did some good things too, and of course Krystal [Thomas] did as well. We talked about going 11 for 11, and what that means is everybody being ready to give what they can give, and I believe in it. I guess you can say I am always looking for new things because that would be true. The stat of 43 points to 15, we want that. We want that stat, we want an opposing bench, we want people to be concerned about us. We want people to wear down and wonder if they can play against us for 40 minutes. We want to create that environment, which is really hard to do.”
On getting the team focused:
“I don't think a coach ever knows [if the players will remain focused], but you are willing to do whatever it takes to get them focused. There was a lack of sharpness, and I think that in the first half, I do not attribute that to anything but just being out there because it had been a couple of weeks since we had played. Sometimes you have to get your feet right and I understand. I definitely felt a complete refocus at halftime to what we do.”
On the positives of the game and getting too confident about beating a team by 45 points:
“I think that our team understands very clearly [what they have to do]. We watched more film in December and January, and this is one of those things where I have had to show them less and less film because they believe it more. They already understand that they played 20 minutes. They got that very clearly. They played a great 20 minutes of basketball and they know it. But they know that is not what it is about to go beyond and going to the higher level. I feel that they will be motivated to do better, to play better, and to come out of the blocks better for the next game. I feel that in them as a group because that is how they operate. As you saw there is terrific leadership. Jasmine [Thomas] is on it. Jasmine is already thinking it. When I am saying it, she is already thinking it, which carries over well. Krystal [Thomas] and Karima [Christmas] also [have great leadership]. Haley [Peters], and our young players lead pretty well also. So I think they will be hungry, and they will be ready. I think we will handle that.”
On playing zone defense and UT-Martin not being able to answer to it:
“[Having trouble with defending a zone defense] happens a lot because it is hard to do. One of the things these women should be applauded for is that we are the most multiple defensive team in the country, without question, and I think that being able to mix and match what you do is part of the fun. Most people are more prepared for man-to-man and they run their sets and they play against man-to-man more, so if you can really attack people with different weapons, I think you can be more successful. I know that our team has a great deal of confidence in their matchups, and I know that they have a great deal of confidence in the man-to-man defense, and I think what you saw was the best of both worlds in the second half. The first half I did not make any changes because I was too mad to. I was so mad about how we were playing that I was not going to make a change. You just have to deal with it and say 'let's go.' Sometimes you can over-coach this game, and that was a point to get on to them, but the reality is that we were not doing what we should have been doing.”
Duke Senior Jasmine Thomas
On what Duke prevented UT Martin from doing in the second half that they didn't in the first:
“I think we did a better job shutting down penetration. I think in the first half we let them get into the paint too much and then they were finishing inside and getting to the free throw line from us fouling them but they were also getting more kick outs off of our missed rotations on defensive. So I think in the second half we definitely did a better job on penetration.”
On using assists as a point of emphasis:
“I think we're right on pace. I think in both halves of that game offensively we really did a good job of moving the ball, finding open players, inside and out, off the pass. I think we would like to see us get to the free throw line a little more, but I think from an assist standpoint we are definitely moving the ball better.”
On keeping UT Martin's small, quick guards in front of her:
“It definitely was difficult. They had good quickness and they could handle the ball and they kept you on your heels because they could either blow by you or pull up and hit a jumper. They were definitely great guards. However we do have some experience playing quick guards in our conference so that's something that we've been working on all season but it's always hard and something you have to focus on.”
Duke Senior Krystal Thomas
On taking advantage of Duke's size:
“We could have exploited it more. I mean that by the posts could have done a better job of posting and finishing inside the lane and getting rebounds. If you look down at the post rebounds they aren't very impressive. We could have better. I thought overall the team did a good job of getting into the paint and most everyone had a height advantage across the board. So I think everyone did a good job of exploiting this.”
On the changes made at half time:
“I just think that in the second half we came out with the mindset of focusing on defense. Our defense was very lax in the first half and we allowed UT Martin to execute much more effectively than we wanted to. The second half we made an emphasis to stop the penetration, to contest their shots, as well as limiting them to one shot.”
On preparing for Marist's big players:
“We're fortunate enough to have played amazing post players all season. We'll be ready for whatever Marist has for us. We haven't looked at Marist yet so we'll go back to the film room and kind of look at what their posts do well. We'll be ready for whatever they throw at us. We've been faced with various kinds of posts throughout the season so we'll be ready for whatever happens on Monday night.”
Duke Freshman Haley Peters
On her first NCAA Tournament game:
“To me it didn't really feel that different. We played in a great tournament a little more than a week ago. It just felt like it was another game. I think something that changed at halftime for me was I stepped up my intensity a bit because I felt like this is the most important time of the year and we need to be on top of our game, we can't just be messing around with teams. And at the end when it was all five of us in together it was fun. Chelsea pointed it out first. We always have fun when we're in together. We like to play with each other and we like to spend a lot of time together off the court. I thought we did a nice job there, it was fun.”
UT Martin Head Coach Kevin McMillan
On NCAA experience and preparing for the future:
“Well you hope it's going to motivate them in the offseason. You hope that they're going to get in the gym and shoot, work on their ball handling, and get in the weight room and do things to prepare for this opportunity should they ever get it again. These kids came to UT Martin with a lot of faith and dream I guess you could say. We talked about what we could do and now that we've done this we're going to have to decide—they're going to have to decide if they want to do something more. The biggest thing we can do is probably win 3 or 4 more games in the regular season and not be a 15 seed to be honest with you. I hope they go into it saying 'alright let's see if we can get a 13 seed' because there are a few more upsets in the 4-13 game than there are in the 2-15 game.”
On the impact of Duke's depth in the second half:
“If I'm Duke, that game went according to script that that little team is probably going to come out here and fight and claw and scratch and if we don't let it get out of hand—out of hand meaning tied at the half or something like that—we're eventually going to wear them down. I think that's what you saw. You can only battle for so long before that size laying on you and pushing, it's going to wear you out. We needed the officials to call it as tight as anything in the world, which might have gotten them to where they couldn't exert some of that power over us but they're not going to do that in the NCAA tournament, they're just not. I just didn't know much gas we had in the tank. You hope that your adrenaline will kick in and that you can find ways to fight in the second half and make a shot or two. The thing about this game is that once the snowball got rolling it was gone. We didn't have much of an answer. Once the snowball was rolling we just jumped right in the middle of it and our arms were flailing and it looked like we were rolling down a big hill. I think the first half was a testament to what our kids can do and I thought the second half was a testament to what Duke could do.”
On his team's effort and execution over the 40 minutes:
“I was disappointed in us, that's why I called those timeouts. I was disappointed that we kind of started hanging our heads a little in the second half. That's the only thing I was disappointed in. In the first half we didn't play as well as we can play and we were down 10. I felt pretty good about that, but I was worried about the gas that was left in the tank. Then in the second half, the only thing was that I thought was we kind of started feeling sorry for ourselves and there's no reason to start hanging your head over anything. With such a young team this year, we focused on every single day at practice, we focused on every drill because they're so young, and I've said this a couple times, if a butterfly flies by, our whole team runs after it like my little 18-month girl does. I got disappointed in them because what they were doing was starting to look around and see everything and that's not what we've done all year long let's not start doing it now. But you know, it was a pretty big butterfly.”
On recruiting a post player:
“Well if there are any post players out there that can score, we've got some pretty good guards and what you saw from Duke was they said 'you can't score in there so I dare you to throw it in there.' So if you can score, you need to call us. The difference in the game was when they spread out in that zone where you attack it in the middle. Who are we going to put in the middle? We're going to put someone in there that's 5'10”? We put Butler in there at 5'4” because when they spread out in that zone, that's where you attack it and we didn't have an answer for it so I was saying 'chunk it up there and see if it goes in.' You need a six foot, 6'1”, 6'2” kid in the middle right there that can catch it in the high post that can turn and do stuff. We didn't have that. I told the kids—I don't even think they listened to me after the game—that Duke went to that zone and wouldn't come out of it and the reason they wouldn't come out of it because they're going to have a hard time guarding you two little guards. If they go in and we're going to spread the floor out, they're going to have a hard time guarding you and I don't think they believed me, honestly. In the second half, they didn't play man, they went zone. I said, Duke's a great team and a great program but if they stay man against you the whole game, I don't know. They went to something they had that was really going to bother us and we needed that post game.”
On how a post player would affect the numbers as a team:
“What a big post player would do is make that court shrink. You throw it in there to them, somebody's going to go in a double, they're going to kick it and you'll get a wide open shot. We haven't had that all year. We struggled at the beginning of the year trying to get someone in there to do it and it was kind of like—I've got that little toy for my girl, that little red and blue thing with all the yellow shapes in it and you pull it and they all fall down then you put them back in—she takes a star and tries to put it in the circle and it won't work. She keeps jamming it in there and it won't go. That's what we were doing trying to have a post player. I have post players on the bench but they wouldn't do it; we were just jamming that thing in there. We went to a little lineup about 10 games ago, all of a sudden we start playing well, shooting the ball well. We don't have an inside presence but we're winning games, we're clicking and we're flowing. When we were getting ready for this matchup we looked at our team and said these kids need to be playing but that's not what we did to start playing well. I'm the old-fashioned thing of dance with who brung ya so we were still playing those little kids. The problem is that when that zone spread out, you're backing up three steps and shooting it from the cheap seats.”
UT Martin Senior Alecia Weatherley
On her emotion of UT Martin making its first NCAA appearance:
“Two years ago I wasn't even playing ball and to think that this is where I have ended my career, it's emotions of sadness because it's over, but I'm happy this happened.”
On the progression of UT Martin as a program:
“I knew that when I first decided to come to UTM that the program had not been doing as well as it could have been doing, and when Coach McMillan got the job, I took the opportunity to come to the team because I knew what was fixing to happen was going to be great and I didn't want to miss my chance to be on the team. I knew that if I was still living in Nashville and reading the papers on how great UTM's become, I was going to be really kicking myself for it.”
UT Martin Freshman Heather Butler
On what she learned from being one of the smaller players on the floor:
“Well we have kind of been facing that all year when we played Louisville. It's not anything different because I am usually the shortest player on the floor every game, but I couldn't go in there intimidated, and I didn't. You know we went in there thinking we had to battle and we did that in the first half, we kind of slowed down in the second. It was really a good experience and I definitely learned a lot of things playing against such a big team and new moves I need to work on and things we all need to work on as a team facing such a big opponent.”
On the difference between the first half and the second half:
“Well we came out like I said ready to battle and I think in the first half we were making shots, but not every shot, but we were keeping up with them. It was like a ten point difference and that was good for us. But in the second half we started out not doing good, and they hit shot after shot and I think that definitely got us down and not feeling confident, but we had to keep our heads held high. You know they just kept making shots and we just kept missing them.”
On not making shots and how the experience in the NCAA will help her later down the road:
“When I was shooting in the game or whatever I was nervous but I still had to keep shooting because Coach would probably sit me on the bench if I didn't. Like these coming years we are coming back, which we are definitely going to try to come back, I definitely think it's going to help me out because now I have experience on my shoulders and I know what level we need to play on to keep up with these ACC and SEC players.”
On what Coach McMillan told the team when they were down during timeouts:
“Basically we need to keep battling. Don't even worry about the score, it may a 30 or 40 difference but we still need to get out there and fight and battle.”
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Basketball
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/ Women's BasketballKara Lawson on Bella Flemings
Monday, November 17
Kara Lawson on Taylor Sofilkanich
Sunday, November 16
Kara Lawson on Sanai Green
Thursday, November 13
Kara Lawson on Autumn Fleary
Wednesday, November 12
