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Women's Basketball
vs Countdown to Craziness
Quotes: Duke 71, Marist 66
3/21/2011 11:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Duke Head Coach Joanne P. McCallie
Opening Statement:
“[I] just want to say it was a terrific basketball game. I'm very, very proud of our team and our resolve, particularly in the second ten minutes of the second half and also the last four or five minutes down the stretch. So many people contributed, as you know. Jasmine [Thomas] was always attacking, always in attack mode, and just so competitive and really carried us in a time where the margin became a little bit wider. She made incredible plays on both sides of the ball which she has done all year long. I thought Krystal [Thomas] in the second half gave us enormous energy with her put backs and her fight and her willingness to make some really, really hard plays down the stretch. I thought Chelsea [Gray] played very poised and aggressive, and obviously she made some tremendous plays. Particularly her steal; that steal looked familiar from another game. So it was great to have that. I also want to say that I feel very bad about Erica Allenspach because she's a terrific basketball player and you never want to see a player of that caliber go down like she did. She did not return to the game, as you know. And I think they played very inspired basketball for her. I did not like that, the idea of a great player going down. I thought their team really rose to the occasion and really played fantastic basketball. So we're very excited. Our rebounding picked up. We had some balance in scoring. We can play a whole lot better, and we look forward to the next opportunity.”
On what Marist did in the first half to disrupt Duke's game:
“I thought they came out really strong. I thought they played us. Their game was higher than what they did against Iowa State and I thought it was an elevated game. They made shots all first half, I mean 44 percent, so they were much more on target than us. We were 32 percent. We turned the ball over when they doubled on occasion. The biggest thing we did was we didn't go inside and move it more. We settled for a lot of outside shots. Some of those shots were rushed and they weren't followed up on put backs. So it's just a tough game with two really good teams going at it. It was just a very okay, average first half. There was nothing exciting about it. They had 31 points. I thought we should have done a better job and we should have had more than 26. We didn't make free throws at that time. So again, it was certainly not an A game, but theirs was an A effort. I think sometimes you can overrun shooters. You can get a little too excited. I thought our effort was there a little bit. Not completely, but I thought we were trying hard to do the right things but sometimes rushing too much. And I didn't think we were attacking the basket. We only had three free throw attempts at the half and I wasn't happy about that. So we talked a lot about that at half time. You can't be this pretty team, you know, pretty basketball, jump shots, jump shots. Now I know that favored them because that was their style, and that's what they've done all year long. But we needed to be aggressive. We need to get to the line. We need to get lane shots and get in there. And I think in the second half you saw us do that a lot.”
On the players loosening up at the end and Chelsea Gray's performance in the last four minutes:
“I just feel like we've been together a long time. We've been in many, many close games. I think we're very comfortable with it. I don't know what people are thinking, but at this time, it's not about blow outs and leads. Anything can happen in a game. I think we are very comfortable. And I think our team did slow down a little bit and execute and just relax and enjoy the opportunity. So I felt very good about that. Our senior leadership, Jasmine's experience, and even if Jas goes too fast once, she steps back and readjusts herself and attacks in a different way because she's got so much quickness. I always tell her she's her own worst enemy because she's so fast and quick and she can do so much. I really thought Krystal too was huge. When you start getting paint points that powerful, it takes the pressure off other people. Getting to Chelsea, talk about taking the pressure off. I thought it was funny that we ran a play and watching the play unfold, she shoots and makes a three. I said 'Well that's the best play.' Without a screen, without anything, she just, Chelsea just has that in her. She's a very, very special player. She's battled injury all year long. She's been a warrior about that, and I'm really happy for her. And then she followed it up with a steal. There was a steal from Chelsea at one end and then a steal from Jas. So I'm not the least bit surprised. I'm very proud and I always say we have really good players. So I'm happy they're on our team.”
On what the freshmen were feeling when the game was going Marist's way:
“I think it's an amazing learning experience whether you're on the floor like Chelsea was and Haley was or whether you're on the bench, that's worth a lot. You just can't practice that, the experience of the crowd and the adjustments made, the huddles and everything about it, so I'm thrilled. The more experience our young players can get, the better. Again, I do believe they're super sophomores now. I don't believe we have any freshmen. But again, at the same time, I think those games are extremely valuable and teach so much.”
On possibly underestimating Marist who came in as a 10 seed:
“No, no, I think our team is growing and learning new situations, situations they've never been in before. I know I've talked about our young people being sophomores, but they still have never been in this situation before. And I think the games are different. Maybe UT Martin there was a little bit of not a focus because they maybe think things should go a certain way. But in this game, very different. We were pressing too hard. We were rushing out shots. We were trying to make things happen before they naturally could. And that's a different circumstance than the first game with UT Martin which was a bit of a casual play, which you can't stand for. This half time I wasn't totally happy with them. I wasn't happy with the attack and the balance. There were different issues at this half time than last game. That's just how it is sometimes.”
Duke Senior Jasmine Thomas
On being down by 13 points to start the game and then scoring six straight points:
“I could just feel that we were kind of in a situation where nothing was really going right. We weren't getting stops and we weren't scoring on offense. I think I just went into attack mode and just tried to make plays, and I did.”
On the experience of a tough schedule this season:
“We have experience in the last five minutes against some tough teams, but I don't think we have played a team like Marist. This was a first time experience for us and I think this is good that we got down and were able to survive and advance because we will see more teams that are cable of shooting like they did down the stretch.”
On what allowed the team to dig deep and come back from being down:
“I would say that a word describes it: togetherness. We use the word together a lot in our program. We say it in huddles, we say it before halftime, we say it before the game. I just think that's what's important down the stretch for this team, that we come together better than we do in the rest of the game, which is something that we need to get better at and something we have been trying to get better at all year. But that last five minutes you just see everybody move together on defense and on offense.”
On Chelsea Gray's performance:
“I think Chelsea's tough. She's capable of making big plays; we've seen it all year long and I just think that she is comfortable in any situation. For a freshman, you couldn't ask for more than that in a freshman. Whatever situation we put her in, whether it's making a steal on defense or making a play on offense, she is capable of doing that and she's comfortable handling the ball at any time in the game.”
Duke Senior Krystal Thomas
On her thoughts of going to the free throw line at the end of the game:
“I was thinking just hit the shots. They needed to go in to extend our lead, so it wasn't about anything else but putting the free throws in.”
On the feeling of the team:
“This is March; it's survive and advance time. You can't say well woulda, coulda, shoulda because we are advancing and the other team is not. So we will take the fact that we did win. Now obviously we have tons of things to get better. We have to take our last 40 minutes and expand that headed to Philly or else we won't like the outcome. We are definitely survive and advance.”
On what the team did different down the stretch that they didn't do before then:
“I would say that when you have been in this situation before, I think we are looser as a team where some teams may get tighter down the stretch because they know the game's ending and we have to make every play, but I think that kind of excites us and it fuels us and we know we have to get the stop to win and we've been in this situation before so I would say that we just get more relaxed.”
Duke Freshman Chelsea Gray
On what she did in the second half and down the stretch:
“The steals got me going I mean, Coach P stressed defense in the locker room and that's what I wanted to do, just come out there and play “D” and that's what we had to do in order to get the room. That gave me momentum and then I knocked down a three and that got me excited from there and ready to go.”
On how she felt when Marist would respond after Duke making a run:
“I just knew that we had to make stops and we had to chip away at the lead and take it each possession at a time and we have been in that situation before in Raleigh when we played N.C. State. So I think we handled it quite the same. We just needed to go out and play defense and make stops and come down and be poised and get scores.”
Marist Head Coach Brian Giorgis
Opening Statement:
“I thought it was one of the best performances that our kids have had in any game all season. For us to overcome the adversity of losing the straw that stirs our drink [the injury to Erica Allenspach] and to not only play with them, but to increase the lead was tremendous. Unfortunately it is a 40 minute game and we just ran out of gas in the end. Leanne [Ockenden] did a great job of subbing late in the game, and we just have so many young kids that haven't been in that situation before, so it was hard for us. I haven't ever been more proud of our team. To take a top five team in the country on their home floor to the wire, with people playing out of position, was great. We weren't even sure who would take the ball out of bounds. Erica is just so vital to us, and does so many things for us that don't show up in a box score. If someone had told me that Erica Allenspach only played 13 minutes and had only two points, most people would have thought that it would have been a 30-point blowout. If this team isn't a top 25 team then I don't know who is.”
For someone like Erica, how hard was it to see her college career end on the bench, knowing how bad she wanted to be playing?
“It was extremely hard, considering that we never have kids get hurt. The thing that we were most stunned with was that we had an injury. We have been so fortunate to not have anybody get hurt this season. Erica is our leader and was everything to us. We survived the shock, and were still able to have a five-point halftime lead. I . She carried us through the MAAC tournament. We didn't play like this in the MAAC Tournament. We always played not to lose and we said that she carried us to this point, so now it's our turn to carry the load she left. We opened an 11 point lead and took it at them. It was incredible to see how our team responded. They really grew up a lot today, especially against a team that is this good and in an environment like this. It was one of the most incredible things that I have been able to witness, it was just too bad that we didn't win, and got wore down. Their athleticism just took over.”
Every time Duke made a run your team responded. Comment on how you guys were able to do that:
“Each time we'd get the three we'd get the four. Then bang we'd hit a three and then a couple times we'd come back and get another bucket to get it up there. Jasmine [Thomas] played 38 minutes and you know that when people are playing the quantity minutes that they did you knew that they were a little worried. Unfortunately, like I said we ran out of gas. If someone would have told me that with nine seconds left I'd have a freshman – if Erica is the best three-point shooter is not there – Leanne Ockenden is the one I want shooting the three. I would take that 99 times over to have that open of a look to tie the game.”
What does it say about your team that they were able to counter every punch that Duke threw at them?
“I think it says a lot about our team. We lost a lot of great players last season, and a lot of coaches didn't think we would be here. To be able to play the way we did this season was incredible. We beat a lot of good teams, and to go up against Duke on their home court, after what they did in the first round, and outplay them for 38 minutes was incredible. I just hope we earned some respect for our program tonight.”
Christmas went out with two fouls in the first half and it seemed like you guys capitalized on it. Talk about her impact that she had in the second half. Also was there anything Duke did in the second half that threw you guys off?
“You could see in our motion that it got a lot slower. People started resting on offense, and that is a recipe for disaster against them. That's my fault for not playing more people; I tried to keep as much experience in as possible. I thought our freshman did a good job, but they just wore us down in the end.”
What did you know about the injury to Erica at halftime?
“We knew that they took her to get x-rays and they were negative, but she was still doubtful for the rest of the game. We knew at halftime that she wasn't coming back.”
What are your thoughts on next season?
“I told them to remember the feeling in the locker room. We went to a chapel last night and the priest talked about a mountain top moment, and that was our theme for the game. We wanted to shock the basketball world. I think we showed that we are a tough little team. We have the best fans in the game. We sold out most of our home games this season with almost 3,000 people per game. They come rocking all the time. You can see that we make a lot of noise. I love them to death and I can't say enough about them, we have the most wonderful fans. We were like Hickory in Hoosiers tonight.”
Marist Junior Corielle Yarde
On this being her best performance considering the stage:
“I don't know if I would say that. I mean I was just going extra hard because Erica Allenspach has done so much for us and to see her go down in the first half was hard and we needed people to step up.”
On what her team proved about itself:
“I'm really excited for next season. Everybody seemed to come together. The young ones stepped up and they didn't play like freshmen, in my opinion. They stepped up when we really needed them. Everyone played strong 40 minutes throughout the game. I'm really excited for next season.”
On earning respect and showing the country what Marist is capable of:
“Oh definitely. We made a statement tonight, even though we didn't win. We played hard for 40 minutes.
We stayed with Duke in a place like this with their entire home crowd there to support them. It was really loud in there and they went on runs, but we played through it. It was a huge statement.”
On being just one stop away from taking control of the game:
“At halftime we were saying that we had to play possession by possession. We were trying to win every possession. Throughout the second half that is all we were thinking – try to box out and play possession by possession. I think we did a fairly good job of it. We got a little tired towards the end, but I'm proud.”
On Marist fans:
“To be honest, it has been like that all season. They have come out to every game. They are so into it. At some points they are even more into it than we are; that's how good they are. I just want to say thank you to all of them. They are they there every game. This game we needed them the most and they came through. It was great to have them right behind us too.”
Marist Sophomore Kate Oliver
On her thoughts when Erica Allenspach went down:
“It is a devastating thing to see your best player go down. That is for sure. When it comes down to it we knew that we can't just rely on her. We had to keep pushing through. We didn't know if she was going to be coming back on the floor. She has carried our team, as you have seen. She carried us through the MAC Tournament and we just really wanted to come out there and carry her through this and really just do this for her.”
On her success with her step out:
“It really comes down to head and heart. We were just working our butts off and trying as hard as we could. I was doing whatever I could to get open and I guess that is just what I came up with.”
On running out of gas:
“We definitely got tired. It has been a long week. But Duke just didn't let up and we knew that was going to happen. We knew that weren't going to just roll over and let us have it. It just came down to the pressure at the end. That just beat us.”
On having fun in the NCAA Tournament:
“I had a ball. It was fantastic. The fact that we were playing Duke at Duke is fantastic in itself. Being right up there with them is what you play basketball for. To have that feeling of not knowing if you are going to win or lose makes you put your all on the line. That is exactly what we play for. The fact that it didn't go our way just makes us want to win that much harder next year.”
Opening Statement:
“[I] just want to say it was a terrific basketball game. I'm very, very proud of our team and our resolve, particularly in the second ten minutes of the second half and also the last four or five minutes down the stretch. So many people contributed, as you know. Jasmine [Thomas] was always attacking, always in attack mode, and just so competitive and really carried us in a time where the margin became a little bit wider. She made incredible plays on both sides of the ball which she has done all year long. I thought Krystal [Thomas] in the second half gave us enormous energy with her put backs and her fight and her willingness to make some really, really hard plays down the stretch. I thought Chelsea [Gray] played very poised and aggressive, and obviously she made some tremendous plays. Particularly her steal; that steal looked familiar from another game. So it was great to have that. I also want to say that I feel very bad about Erica Allenspach because she's a terrific basketball player and you never want to see a player of that caliber go down like she did. She did not return to the game, as you know. And I think they played very inspired basketball for her. I did not like that, the idea of a great player going down. I thought their team really rose to the occasion and really played fantastic basketball. So we're very excited. Our rebounding picked up. We had some balance in scoring. We can play a whole lot better, and we look forward to the next opportunity.”
On what Marist did in the first half to disrupt Duke's game:
“I thought they came out really strong. I thought they played us. Their game was higher than what they did against Iowa State and I thought it was an elevated game. They made shots all first half, I mean 44 percent, so they were much more on target than us. We were 32 percent. We turned the ball over when they doubled on occasion. The biggest thing we did was we didn't go inside and move it more. We settled for a lot of outside shots. Some of those shots were rushed and they weren't followed up on put backs. So it's just a tough game with two really good teams going at it. It was just a very okay, average first half. There was nothing exciting about it. They had 31 points. I thought we should have done a better job and we should have had more than 26. We didn't make free throws at that time. So again, it was certainly not an A game, but theirs was an A effort. I think sometimes you can overrun shooters. You can get a little too excited. I thought our effort was there a little bit. Not completely, but I thought we were trying hard to do the right things but sometimes rushing too much. And I didn't think we were attacking the basket. We only had three free throw attempts at the half and I wasn't happy about that. So we talked a lot about that at half time. You can't be this pretty team, you know, pretty basketball, jump shots, jump shots. Now I know that favored them because that was their style, and that's what they've done all year long. But we needed to be aggressive. We need to get to the line. We need to get lane shots and get in there. And I think in the second half you saw us do that a lot.”
On the players loosening up at the end and Chelsea Gray's performance in the last four minutes:
“I just feel like we've been together a long time. We've been in many, many close games. I think we're very comfortable with it. I don't know what people are thinking, but at this time, it's not about blow outs and leads. Anything can happen in a game. I think we are very comfortable. And I think our team did slow down a little bit and execute and just relax and enjoy the opportunity. So I felt very good about that. Our senior leadership, Jasmine's experience, and even if Jas goes too fast once, she steps back and readjusts herself and attacks in a different way because she's got so much quickness. I always tell her she's her own worst enemy because she's so fast and quick and she can do so much. I really thought Krystal too was huge. When you start getting paint points that powerful, it takes the pressure off other people. Getting to Chelsea, talk about taking the pressure off. I thought it was funny that we ran a play and watching the play unfold, she shoots and makes a three. I said 'Well that's the best play.' Without a screen, without anything, she just, Chelsea just has that in her. She's a very, very special player. She's battled injury all year long. She's been a warrior about that, and I'm really happy for her. And then she followed it up with a steal. There was a steal from Chelsea at one end and then a steal from Jas. So I'm not the least bit surprised. I'm very proud and I always say we have really good players. So I'm happy they're on our team.”
On what the freshmen were feeling when the game was going Marist's way:
“I think it's an amazing learning experience whether you're on the floor like Chelsea was and Haley was or whether you're on the bench, that's worth a lot. You just can't practice that, the experience of the crowd and the adjustments made, the huddles and everything about it, so I'm thrilled. The more experience our young players can get, the better. Again, I do believe they're super sophomores now. I don't believe we have any freshmen. But again, at the same time, I think those games are extremely valuable and teach so much.”
On possibly underestimating Marist who came in as a 10 seed:
“No, no, I think our team is growing and learning new situations, situations they've never been in before. I know I've talked about our young people being sophomores, but they still have never been in this situation before. And I think the games are different. Maybe UT Martin there was a little bit of not a focus because they maybe think things should go a certain way. But in this game, very different. We were pressing too hard. We were rushing out shots. We were trying to make things happen before they naturally could. And that's a different circumstance than the first game with UT Martin which was a bit of a casual play, which you can't stand for. This half time I wasn't totally happy with them. I wasn't happy with the attack and the balance. There were different issues at this half time than last game. That's just how it is sometimes.”
Duke Senior Jasmine Thomas
On being down by 13 points to start the game and then scoring six straight points:
“I could just feel that we were kind of in a situation where nothing was really going right. We weren't getting stops and we weren't scoring on offense. I think I just went into attack mode and just tried to make plays, and I did.”
On the experience of a tough schedule this season:
“We have experience in the last five minutes against some tough teams, but I don't think we have played a team like Marist. This was a first time experience for us and I think this is good that we got down and were able to survive and advance because we will see more teams that are cable of shooting like they did down the stretch.”
On what allowed the team to dig deep and come back from being down:
“I would say that a word describes it: togetherness. We use the word together a lot in our program. We say it in huddles, we say it before halftime, we say it before the game. I just think that's what's important down the stretch for this team, that we come together better than we do in the rest of the game, which is something that we need to get better at and something we have been trying to get better at all year. But that last five minutes you just see everybody move together on defense and on offense.”
On Chelsea Gray's performance:
“I think Chelsea's tough. She's capable of making big plays; we've seen it all year long and I just think that she is comfortable in any situation. For a freshman, you couldn't ask for more than that in a freshman. Whatever situation we put her in, whether it's making a steal on defense or making a play on offense, she is capable of doing that and she's comfortable handling the ball at any time in the game.”
Duke Senior Krystal Thomas
On her thoughts of going to the free throw line at the end of the game:
“I was thinking just hit the shots. They needed to go in to extend our lead, so it wasn't about anything else but putting the free throws in.”
On the feeling of the team:
“This is March; it's survive and advance time. You can't say well woulda, coulda, shoulda because we are advancing and the other team is not. So we will take the fact that we did win. Now obviously we have tons of things to get better. We have to take our last 40 minutes and expand that headed to Philly or else we won't like the outcome. We are definitely survive and advance.”
On what the team did different down the stretch that they didn't do before then:
“I would say that when you have been in this situation before, I think we are looser as a team where some teams may get tighter down the stretch because they know the game's ending and we have to make every play, but I think that kind of excites us and it fuels us and we know we have to get the stop to win and we've been in this situation before so I would say that we just get more relaxed.”
Duke Freshman Chelsea Gray
On what she did in the second half and down the stretch:
“The steals got me going I mean, Coach P stressed defense in the locker room and that's what I wanted to do, just come out there and play “D” and that's what we had to do in order to get the room. That gave me momentum and then I knocked down a three and that got me excited from there and ready to go.”
On how she felt when Marist would respond after Duke making a run:
“I just knew that we had to make stops and we had to chip away at the lead and take it each possession at a time and we have been in that situation before in Raleigh when we played N.C. State. So I think we handled it quite the same. We just needed to go out and play defense and make stops and come down and be poised and get scores.”
Marist Head Coach Brian Giorgis
Opening Statement:
“I thought it was one of the best performances that our kids have had in any game all season. For us to overcome the adversity of losing the straw that stirs our drink [the injury to Erica Allenspach] and to not only play with them, but to increase the lead was tremendous. Unfortunately it is a 40 minute game and we just ran out of gas in the end. Leanne [Ockenden] did a great job of subbing late in the game, and we just have so many young kids that haven't been in that situation before, so it was hard for us. I haven't ever been more proud of our team. To take a top five team in the country on their home floor to the wire, with people playing out of position, was great. We weren't even sure who would take the ball out of bounds. Erica is just so vital to us, and does so many things for us that don't show up in a box score. If someone had told me that Erica Allenspach only played 13 minutes and had only two points, most people would have thought that it would have been a 30-point blowout. If this team isn't a top 25 team then I don't know who is.”
For someone like Erica, how hard was it to see her college career end on the bench, knowing how bad she wanted to be playing?
“It was extremely hard, considering that we never have kids get hurt. The thing that we were most stunned with was that we had an injury. We have been so fortunate to not have anybody get hurt this season. Erica is our leader and was everything to us. We survived the shock, and were still able to have a five-point halftime lead. I . She carried us through the MAAC tournament. We didn't play like this in the MAAC Tournament. We always played not to lose and we said that she carried us to this point, so now it's our turn to carry the load she left. We opened an 11 point lead and took it at them. It was incredible to see how our team responded. They really grew up a lot today, especially against a team that is this good and in an environment like this. It was one of the most incredible things that I have been able to witness, it was just too bad that we didn't win, and got wore down. Their athleticism just took over.”
Every time Duke made a run your team responded. Comment on how you guys were able to do that:
“Each time we'd get the three we'd get the four. Then bang we'd hit a three and then a couple times we'd come back and get another bucket to get it up there. Jasmine [Thomas] played 38 minutes and you know that when people are playing the quantity minutes that they did you knew that they were a little worried. Unfortunately, like I said we ran out of gas. If someone would have told me that with nine seconds left I'd have a freshman – if Erica is the best three-point shooter is not there – Leanne Ockenden is the one I want shooting the three. I would take that 99 times over to have that open of a look to tie the game.”
What does it say about your team that they were able to counter every punch that Duke threw at them?
“I think it says a lot about our team. We lost a lot of great players last season, and a lot of coaches didn't think we would be here. To be able to play the way we did this season was incredible. We beat a lot of good teams, and to go up against Duke on their home court, after what they did in the first round, and outplay them for 38 minutes was incredible. I just hope we earned some respect for our program tonight.”
Christmas went out with two fouls in the first half and it seemed like you guys capitalized on it. Talk about her impact that she had in the second half. Also was there anything Duke did in the second half that threw you guys off?
“You could see in our motion that it got a lot slower. People started resting on offense, and that is a recipe for disaster against them. That's my fault for not playing more people; I tried to keep as much experience in as possible. I thought our freshman did a good job, but they just wore us down in the end.”
What did you know about the injury to Erica at halftime?
“We knew that they took her to get x-rays and they were negative, but she was still doubtful for the rest of the game. We knew at halftime that she wasn't coming back.”
What are your thoughts on next season?
“I told them to remember the feeling in the locker room. We went to a chapel last night and the priest talked about a mountain top moment, and that was our theme for the game. We wanted to shock the basketball world. I think we showed that we are a tough little team. We have the best fans in the game. We sold out most of our home games this season with almost 3,000 people per game. They come rocking all the time. You can see that we make a lot of noise. I love them to death and I can't say enough about them, we have the most wonderful fans. We were like Hickory in Hoosiers tonight.”
Marist Junior Corielle Yarde
On this being her best performance considering the stage:
“I don't know if I would say that. I mean I was just going extra hard because Erica Allenspach has done so much for us and to see her go down in the first half was hard and we needed people to step up.”
On what her team proved about itself:
“I'm really excited for next season. Everybody seemed to come together. The young ones stepped up and they didn't play like freshmen, in my opinion. They stepped up when we really needed them. Everyone played strong 40 minutes throughout the game. I'm really excited for next season.”
On earning respect and showing the country what Marist is capable of:
“Oh definitely. We made a statement tonight, even though we didn't win. We played hard for 40 minutes.
We stayed with Duke in a place like this with their entire home crowd there to support them. It was really loud in there and they went on runs, but we played through it. It was a huge statement.”
On being just one stop away from taking control of the game:
“At halftime we were saying that we had to play possession by possession. We were trying to win every possession. Throughout the second half that is all we were thinking – try to box out and play possession by possession. I think we did a fairly good job of it. We got a little tired towards the end, but I'm proud.”
On Marist fans:
“To be honest, it has been like that all season. They have come out to every game. They are so into it. At some points they are even more into it than we are; that's how good they are. I just want to say thank you to all of them. They are they there every game. This game we needed them the most and they came through. It was great to have them right behind us too.”
Marist Sophomore Kate Oliver
On her thoughts when Erica Allenspach went down:
“It is a devastating thing to see your best player go down. That is for sure. When it comes down to it we knew that we can't just rely on her. We had to keep pushing through. We didn't know if she was going to be coming back on the floor. She has carried our team, as you have seen. She carried us through the MAC Tournament and we just really wanted to come out there and carry her through this and really just do this for her.”
On her success with her step out:
“It really comes down to head and heart. We were just working our butts off and trying as hard as we could. I was doing whatever I could to get open and I guess that is just what I came up with.”
On running out of gas:
“We definitely got tired. It has been a long week. But Duke just didn't let up and we knew that was going to happen. We knew that weren't going to just roll over and let us have it. It just came down to the pressure at the end. That just beat us.”
On having fun in the NCAA Tournament:
“I had a ball. It was fantastic. The fact that we were playing Duke at Duke is fantastic in itself. Being right up there with them is what you play basketball for. To have that feeling of not knowing if you are going to win or lose makes you put your all on the line. That is exactly what we play for. The fact that it didn't go our way just makes us want to win that much harder next year.”
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Basketball
C
/ Women's BasketballWomen's Basketball Season Ticket Holder Tailgate
Sunday, September 07
Duke WBB: Kara Lawson - 13 Gold Medals. One Standard
Thursday, August 14
Duke WBB Postgame: NCAA Tournament Elite Eight
Sunday, March 30
Duke WBB Postgame: NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen
Friday, March 28
