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Women's Basketball
vs South Dakota State
Quotes: Duke 74, Syracuse 72
1/8/2015 9:21:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Duke Head Coach Joanne P. McCallie
Opening Statement:
“That was a hard-fought game for us. I think it's a lesson in what turnovers can do and how they can impact a game. Also in rebounding, it's very difficult to see us being outrebounded. That's supposed to be our forte. It was not tonight. There were a lot of long rebounds that occurred, and we didn't adjust to getting to them as quickly as we would have liked. I do like the way our team was tough. At times, they made plays down the stretch. Becca (Greenwell) in particular, that rebound that Amber (Henson) pulled at the end, things like that. I think it's really important for us to have experiences in all sorts of types of games. That's important to us. But 25 turnovers, especially the points off of the turnovers. Good lessons for us to learn from.”
On what Syracuse's press did differently to force Duke into turnovers:
“It wasn't different. We were different. In the first 10 minutes, we were superb and cut right through it and did what we were supposed to do. I just felt like we got out of what we do. We knew they were pressing with a zone press most of the game. They did a little bit of man press and we were able to exploit that on the long pass, but the bottom line is you have to execute throughout, and I just think we did not do that. We had pockets of the game where we completely executed, got a paint score and did great, and then other times dribbled into three people. The inconsistency of our action is something that we will look on in the film. In the case of the zone presses that they had, there was no need to dribble at all. All you had to do was move the ball right through it. But at times, I thought we just did things outside of ourselves. Look at the turnovers. Two seniors had 10 turnovers. That can't happen. So we're going to look back at that and ask ourselves why, and what we're going to see is we're doing things that we don't need to do. It's one thing to attack; it's another thing to make sure your I.Q. is high. During pockets in the game, our I.Q. was a little bit lower and we were attacking in a fashion that wasn't the best way.”
On turnovers being caused by trying to do too much:
“There's no question. Look at the Kentucky game as a prime example. I think their pressure was pretty significant, but we handled it in a way that we didn't step outside of ourselves. I just think that, in reality, we have to understand that we're playing in the moment. We went up 15 and relaxed, and that's not what you do. If you go up 15, you put the pedal to the metal and you keep doing what got you there. We didn't do that.”
On Mercedes Riggs' energy:
“I think she's great. She brings fabulous energy. She's the only person you have to turn down on the team, and that's not a good thing. We're always turning people up to play defense, but sometimes you have to turn her down a little bit because she has so much energy. I really think it helps the team. You can ask them, but as a coach, I really appreciate the fact that she has that energy and that she's willing to play tough.”
Duke Redshirt Freshman Rebecca Greenwell
On recovering tough rebounds:
“Throughout the game, Amber [Henson] kept saying, “the screener's open, the screener's open,” so the last play of the game I decided to slip and Amber saw me and got the ball to me. I wasn't really thinking too much about it on the free throw line, I was more concentrated on the other end because it kept reminding me of South Carolina and I didn't want to relive that. I'm proud of how tough we were, and I'm really proud of Amber for pulling down that rebound.”
On shooting three-pointers:
“When I hit one or two, it increased my confidence, but I just try to take smart shots, not just force it because I'm feeling hot.”
On the intensity of regular season games:
“I think every game is going to be a fight, and it's going to come down to the wire because we play in the toughest conference, so we just have to treat every game like it's our hardest game of the season. From watching last year and from the seniors' leadership, we talk about how we're trying to win the ACC regular season and tournament, so we just have to come out ready to play every game.”
Duke Freshman Azurá Stevens
On her lessened productivity in the second half:
“Late in the first half I fell on my foot so that was bothering me, but I probably could have played more aggressively.”
On moving on with the season:
“We always say every game is 40 minutes, you can't just play for one half or the other. It has to be both.”
Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman:
Opening Statement
“Well obviously when you come into a venue like this and you know you're playing one of the best women's basketball teams in the country you know you have to compete at a high level. And I felt that our kids came out this game and did a great job of competing especially in the second half. Overall, you just have to give Duke a lot of credit, they did what they had to do at the end of the game, they made plays to win the basketball game, but I felt overall we made some plays down the stretch. I felt our pressure got us back in the ball game, and Brianna Butler was amazing. She made some big shots for us and kept us in that basketball game. So all I ask my kids is to give maximum effort and compete every possession, and I thought that's what we did. So we have to continue to do that and that's the only way we are going to be successful in the conference. It's the best basketball conference in the country by far, I don't know what people are writing, but that's what it is. So night in and night out you have to come a play hard, and you have to make plays, and we made some, but down the stretch Duke made some and we had a little miscue on defense and scrambled a little bit, but I thought we did a good job of recovering, and at least we made them earn the last free throws that they got. But I thought we had an unbelievable look at the end of the game, Butler made the right play, they doubled her she threw the ball down to Diamond [Henderson] in the corner who is very capable of making a shot, and she is a really good player off the bounce and that gave us the opportunity to shoot the ball, get a rebound, and a put back. Everything that we wanted fell in place for us except for the ball, and we have to live with that. We have to go home and get better, and get ready for the next game.”
On rebounding intensity:
“Rebounding wise, that was one of our goals. We knew we had to rebound, if we didn't rebound, we had no shot. I told them if we don't rebound we get blown out. I don't care what percentage we shoot because you can't let Liz [Elizabeth Williams] keep touching the ball in the paint and getting put backs because she is one of the premier scorers inside the paint. So you can't let her get easy ones, and a put back is an easy one because no one is guarding you nine times out of 10 when you get an offensive rebound. So that was our game plan, we knew we had to do that. We had the same game plan against South Carolina, just focus on our rebounding. And win the turnover battle and we'll have a chance to win the game, and we had a chance to win the game
Syracuse junior guard Brianna Butler:
On the final play of the game:
“I thought Diamond took the right shot at the time. Two people came out and doubled me, and she was wide open, and any other night I would give to her every day to hit that midrange, that's her game. It just didn't fall, and Cornelia [Fondren] had a great rebound at the end to put it up, but it just didn't fall.”
On her confidence shooting:
“I just usually try to shoot the ball with confidence no matter what time I shoot the ball. I think it was my second shot that went in. You definitely feel confident seeing the ball go in against a great team like Duke."
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