Jan. 27, 2005
Recap |
Box Score
Head Coach Gail Goestenkors
Opening Statement
"We were just really happy to come away with a win. It was a really hard-fought game. I knew Maryland was a great team and they just keep coming at you at both ends of the court. We just feel very fortunate to come away with a win."
On the team's lack of execution
"I don't think that this was one of our better games as far as execution, particularly in the first half. I thought that we did a better job in the second half; we changed things up a little bit to give them some different looks. But in the first half, I think that I talked so much about being aggressive before the game that the team was intent on attacking the basket instead of executing the play. Like I said, I want to be aggressive, but we need to find that balance between aggressiveness and execution."
On the team's streak of games making at least one three-pointer ending
"It just wasn't our night. Normally we're a very good shooting team, and we've got a lot of players that can hit the three. It just wasn't our night, and fortunately it wasn't their night either. Streaks are made to be broken. I knew that someday it would be broken, so that doesn't really bother me."
On the team's sudden spurt of turnovers
"I think that it's a combination of things. Sometimes it was their defense, there were other times that we plain threw the ball out of bounds. I saw some passes that I hadn't seen in a long time. We had done a good job of taking care of the ball up until the Carolina game. Even tonight, a couple of Ali's [Bales] passes - she's a really good passer for us - she threw a couple where there wasn't really anybody with a white jersey that was in the area."
On competition in the ACC
"It's rated the number one conference in the country, and it is so for a reason. I'm surprised if we win by 20, and I'll be surprised the rest of the way. The teams that are aggressive and execute and have discipline are the ones that are going to come out on top."
Senior Forward Monique Currie
On the in-bound play with the score tied 55-55
"We just ran our play and set a good screen. We would like to be open when we run our plays."
On the win
"This game was definitely good for us especially coming off a loss. We stuck together at the end and pulled it off when it was tight. It's good to be in that situation because you never know it may come up again later on. It shows we have to move on and mature and forget about the last game and get better."
Freshman Guard Wanisha Smith
On the Carolina Game
"After the [Carolina] game, the coaches took my focus off the game and said, `you had a bad one'. I just tried to move on. I tried to do that today, even though I had four turnovers instead of eight, I tried to take their words into consideration."
On being from the Maryland area
"It's just another game to us. We didn't look at it like we're from that area so this is one of the better games. It's just another game for us that we have to play in conference so we just went out and played hard."
Maryland Head Coach Brenda Frese
Opening Statement
"What a great game, and I am just so proud of our team, the way we battled and competed for 40 minutes. And we really challenged our team in terms of being able to come out and compete for 40 minutes and really get it done on the defensive end. Duke is a great team and they have a lot of weapons, and just to be able to come out and play as hard as we did and have a chance to win at the end of the game, is what you look for, and I am excited by where this team is progressing too. "
On Monique Currie and her presence in the game
"She is a talented player, and we talked about it at every timeout. We knew they were going to her. But with Duke they also have a lot of weapons, and Monique is not selfish, so if you double down too much off their shooters, you are going to get burnt that way. Her size obviously gives us match up problems, and we lost Charmaine[Carr], we were really little in terms of being able to match up with her. She is just a tremendous player, a winner, and wants to put the team on her back."
On the ACC
"It is awesome, this league, the number one conference in the non-conference season. The battles. On any given night anyone can beat anyone from top to bottom. It's exciting and fun to be a part of, and it continues to make us even hungrier and makes us better."
On the talent in women's basketball
"I think the game has definitely changed. I think there is this infusion, this influx, of so much more talent. And you look that with Crystal's [Langhorne] class that came in. That class was a tremendous class and was spread throughout. And you see the talent that's coming through the ACC, and it's young talent, which is exciting for the league. There is just a lot more great players out there that are working on their game and really spreading the wealth across a lot of different programs out there."
Maryland Freshman Crystal Langhorne
On Playing Against Duke for the First Time
"It was intense. The fans are crazy, but I think we did a pretty good job even though we lost."
