Jan. 22, 2004
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Maryland Head Coach Brenda Frese
"It was just impressive to see the way Duke played. They just have a tremendous amount of depth and really wore us out. I thought we had a good game plan going in. We played hard for the first half, the first 10-15 minutes. The waves of people that they send in just really wore us out. Obviously, we've got to be able to do a better job rebounding. To get outrebounded the way we did had a lot to do with their athleticism and their talent. I'm proud of the fact that our kids never gave up. We're going to be able to learn from this and move on in conference play."
"Duke really knows how to play. You turn your head for a second and they're going to backdoor you. If you put the ball in front of you on the offensive end then they're going to steal it from you. They're just very intelligent, smart basketball players. Then you combine that with their work ethic, and you can see from their box they can play a lot of players and that just really wears you down."
On Iciss Tillis' play: "She's a tremendous player, and I'm glad to see that she was able to get out of her slump because they're going to need her against Tennessee. She's a hard match-up because she can shoot the three, she can put the ball on the deck... and if that helps them with Tennessee then we're all for it. She gives a lot of mismatch problems because she can post you up, and you saw with our guard-play that we just had a difficult time guarding her tonight."
On Alana Beard: "She's such a special player. She's taken Duke and women's basketball to new heights, and she just does so many things. The thing I respect is that even in a game like tonight, she just makes everyone around her better. She's an exciting player to watch and it's going to be sad to see her graduate-sad to see her graduate for what she's meant to the game."
On Duke having Monique Currie back: "It provides them with so much more depth. She's such a strong guard, and she really has a lot of key plays-getting on the offensive glass and rebound put-backs. She's just another hard match-up. When you've got five players averaging in double figures and more coming off the bench it presents difficult match-ups."
Maryland Freshman Shay Doron
On playing against Alana Beard: "I think it was a good experience for me. I definitely had to be focused when I was guarding her. We had a lot of good help defense, that helped me out a lot."
Duke Head Coach Gail Goestenkors
"I am really pleased with our overall effort. I thought we got great contributions from everyone on the team. I was really pleased with Alison Bales. She has been much more aggressive in practice. We wanted to give her some time tonight and her aggressiveness paid off. I'm really happy for her. I thought it was a good team effort. I thought Maryland came out ready to play. They hit threes early on and they really stretched our defense. I thought once we settled down we did a great job."
"We really have placed an emphasis on rebounding this season, particularly offensive rebounding. The goal of the game was to get 20 offensive rebounds and we got 21. We know we have to be a good rebounding team to do the things we want to do."
"Iciss (Tillis) let the game come to her. We have really been focusing on moving the ball the last couple of days. I think the more passes we make, the more comfortable everyone feels out there and she gets in the flow of the game. I was really happy for her. She has been working hard. I'm glad that the hard work has paid off for her."
On going into the Tennessee game: "I feel totally different than last year. Last year we didn't emphasize our post play at all. We have spent a good bit of time getting the ball into the post. In order to be successful we have to have great post presence on both ends of the floor."
"I think it is going to be a great match-up on Saturday. I think their post play is their strength as well. They've also got great guards and great shooters, but everything runs through their post. They get the ball into their post a great deal and they are very aggressive. I think our post defense and offense will be a key. We need to attack them on the other end."
Duke Senior Iciss Tillis
"I didn't think in the game. I went out there and played."
On her first three-pointer of the game: "I wasn't even thinking about it. I was like, 'If I miss I'm just going to try and get the rebound.'"
Duke Sophomore Mistie Bass
"Our point of emphasis is to always overpower the other team's post. Last year we weren't as strong as we are this year and I think we really take pride in our offensive and defensive post play."
Duke Senior Alana Beard
"I totally believe that we can't win a national championship without Iciss and I kept giving her encouraging words and letting her know that ... I was there for her and the team was there for her."
"When Iciss was at her best at the beginning of the year, she was just playing ball. She didn't think."
On the upcoming game against Tennessee: "The game is good for women's basketball. I don't think anyone had thought about it because we had Maryland to go and they were third in the ACC. Now it's our time to start thinking about the Tennessee game and what we have to do."
