Feb. 8, 2010

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Post-Game  Quotes

Maryland vs. RV/#24 Virginia

Monday, Feb. 8, 2010

College Park, Md. (Comcast Center)

Maryland Head Coach Brenda Frese

 Opening statement:

“Like we talked about in the locker room, it was the Monica Wright show in the second half. Obviously she was unstoppable. She just really put her team on her back and it was very difficult obviously. We couldn't find a way to be able to stop her. Once we did, she was so unselfish in terms of gaining that momentum for her teammates, in terms of getting them wide open shots. But we sound like a broken record. We continue to do some of the same mistakes : slow starts second half. Starting out the game with two illegal screens, just letting momentum turn which right now, we are having a hard time stopping runs. We just got to keep getting better.”

On having freshmen in the game :

“I thought their pressure, especially in the second half gave us problems. We had seven turnovers at halftime and then down 14 in the second half. Obviously it was hard to get into that offensive flow, in terms of every time we were turning the ball over. So, yeah, you look at how many freshmen are on the floor, we are just not clicking together.”

On the performance of Jackie Nared and Tianna Hawkins :

“I think the exciting thing right now is where Tianna and Jackie's game are growing. Those two, specifically as freshmen, you are really seeing them turn the corner. Understanding what it takes and seeing the confidence that Tianna is playing with.  I love the toughness, double-double tonight. She is understanding how talented she is and backing it up with the toughness. The tenacity on defense [is] that we need. She is just making huge strides and I'm really proud of her.”

Freshman guard Tianna Hawkins

On her open shots:

“I guess watching the scout videos so I knew how each player was defending. Just whenever I felt I had an open shot I would take it. If I had to drive, I would just take the drive so it just came to me. I took all the shots available.”

Senior Guard Lori Bjork

On her limited three-pointers

“First of all, teams are not going to let me shoot wide open three's. They are not going to leave me and I understand that. So I tried to attack the basket a little bit and had some success with that. The shots, a couple of them I missed. As a shooter, you think those are going in. Maybe some are a little bit quick, but that's my job, to shoot three's if I think they are there. So next game against Wake Forest, I could be six for six. I don't worry about the numbers.”

Virginia Head Coach Debbie Ryan

On tonight's game:

“I think that we started the game today with a lot of energy and that was evident in the way we played great defense to start the game and set a tone. Then Maryland came back with some really inspired play on the offensive end and we had to buckle back down just to get into halftime down three. Then we came out in the second half and that was a real key for us, we knew that we wanted to make that first segment in the second half our best of the game and we were really able to do that and we separated at that point and just didn't let them back in. I was really proud of my team tonight and I thought that we had great performances by a number of players and everybody contributed in a lot of different ways. Every single player that played tonight put points on the board and that's all I can ask from my players.”

On run to start the second half:

“You have to remember we came out in the first half and had a huge run so I wasn't concerned with the fact. I knew that Maryland was going to throw their best punch at us and I wasn't expecting to walk out of here without Maryland competing but I knew that we'd be fine. I didn't say much. We made a couple of adjustments. We talked about the right players taking the right shots at the right time.”

On foul trouble:

“I don't think we've had this many fouls the whole year. It took us out of our rhythm a little bit and obviously took us out of our game because it just changed the complexion of the game completely.”

On finishing the game strongly:

“I just think we were really ready to play defensively tonight. I think that was the key to the game. We really put a lot of emphasis on the defensive end and it sort of fueled our offense in a lot of ways. We got a lot of fast break points and that was something we really focused on; capitalizing on turnovers.”

Virginia Senior Monica Wright

On becoming the fourth leading scorer all-time in UVA history:

“I actually didn't know that but once again, I'm honored to be in that category.”

On second half run:

“As a team we make it a point to start off the second half strong and get out to a great lead so we're not trying to play catch up throughout the second half so I definitely took it upon myself and my teammates gave me great looks and made it possible for me by setting screens and setting me up for great shots. I felt like I was in the zone.”