Feb. 10, 2005
Recap |
Box Score |
Notes
Maryland Head Coach Brenda Frese
On tonight's game
"We're obviously excited again tonight to see four players score in double figures for us. We took better care of the basketball; we had a positive assist to turnover ratio. I thought we did a tremendous job defending their three, which was their strategy coming in. They average about nine 3s a game, so they're a very difficult team to defend, especially with the way they play, it's a very unusual style of play. Obviously we have a lot of things that we need to fine-tune defensively and offensively that we'll continue to keep working on."
On scoring balance
"It makes us that much harder to defend. Obviously with the big play we've gotten from Ashleigh down in Clemson, and again here tonight, it just makes us that much better. Now, when they double down on Crystal, things are really open, and we're able to spread out the offense. Also, I was happy for Jade Perry to be able to play effectively and hit from the high post like we know she can. We're going to need everybody on Sunday to be able to step up and play with confidence."
On play of Charmaine Carr
"The great thing about Charmaine is that she is so versatile. She can swing to the three or the four, and I really think that she has come on strong as of late. She always seems to get a big rebound for us. Defensively, she's been great for our match ups, especially tonight, when there is someone like Liz Strunk, who is normally a post player, but played the guard position tonight. It wasn't a great matchup for Shay, and Charmaine just gives us more size and helps us to defend. Last game against Duke, she was a nice match up against Monique Currie, and did a tremendous job defending her."
On decreased turnovers
"We seem to be making the extra pass and moving the ball a little more fluidly on the offensive end."
On team's four-game win streak
"I feel like we're playing at our highest level right now. The way we've been practicing, and we've been having contributions from everyone. We're definitely a different team than we were two and a half weeks ago, before this four-game win streak, and it has helped. Now we have Ashleigh and Jade stepping up and playing with confidence. Those were things that were missing two and half weeks ago, and they are going to be key components for the rest of the season."
On Sunday's game against Duke
"There has definitely been a lot of hoopla for the game, and I think that our team is excited, and they're going to be ready to play, but we understand that it's only one game. I think it's going to be a special time that they will reflect back on, and hopefully be apart of history. I want our team to come out and compete for 40 minutes, and I know we will. Our team has played in front of enough big crowds that I don't think nerves will be involved. Between last season and this season, and all of our freshman have played in state tournaments. If anything, I think they will only feed off the emotion of the crowd. The greatest thing about coaching this team is that they are so grounded, and if anything, we clearly remember the lost we had to them two and a half weeks ago, and everyone on this team knows we can play with Duke. Our team is just excited about the match up and excited about playing at home in front of our fans."
Sophomore Guard Shay Doron
On teammates' play
"It's really nice to have other players stepping up. Now, defenses can't just focus on one or two of us. It makes us a lot harder to guard, and to develop a game plan against us. We're much more than a two-dimensional offense right now."
On not looking past Wake Forest
"Every game you lose in the ACC means a lot because we're all tied right now. We need to go game by game, regardless of whether we're playing the last team in the conference or the first team in the conference. A win is a win and a loss is a loss, no matter who we win to or lose to. We definitely weren't looking passed Wake Forest, but now we can focus on Duke, and hopefully get that win. There is definitely a buzz around campus about this game. Even some of my teachers told me they were going. We're definitely getting support on campus, and hopefully this game will generate more crowds for future games."
Freshman Ashleigh Newman
On confident play of late
"I definitely have my confidence up right now coming off of last game, but that's my role on the team, to hit threes, and to play defense. Coming off of a game like that, it helps me to have confidence to shoot a little more. It feels good to know that I'm helping the team out. I know that coming off the bench and being a spark is helping the team."
Wake Forest Head Coach Mike Petersen
On the game overall
"I thought our effort in the second half was better. Going back to the Georgia Tech game on Sunday, we went three straight halves where we didn't dictate the tempo, and in the second half, we did a much better job of playing at the tempo that we need to play at. When we get the pace of the game up, we're OK. Maryland did a good job with us, but I thought our effort in the second half was pretty good. For whatever reason, right now we're not shooting the ball very well."
On the Maryland offense
"They're a really good offensive team. They have a great balance--they can score in the lane and they can score in the perimeter. The best thing [Shay] Doron does is score in the mid-range. She has a great lift, and to me that's the best thing she does. So they can shoot the three, they can score the mid-range, and they can score at the basket. They have a lot of ways to score and they're very hard to guard."
On Maryland guards' rebounding
"Guards rebound the ball against us a lot. It didn't surprise me a whole lot. Part of that was that I think our inside guys did a decent job. We were doubling down a lot on [Crystal] Langhorne, so some long rebounds resulted from that. But they're also very good athletes. Doron is quick, and [Anesia] Smith is a good athlete, and Kalika France is too, so they're going to get some rebounds."
On Maryland's 3-point defense
"They did a very good job guarding [Cotelia Bond-Young]. A lot of her attempts were under duress, but she also had several of them that were pretty open that didn't go. She took a lot of them under duress. The three that she made, two of them were under heavy duress. They were doing as good a job as they could do guarding her and she made those. But overall, that's a tribute to Maryland. They did a really good job guarding her I thought."
On Wake Forest's defense against Crystal Langhorne
"We doubled down on her. The guard rebounds are a result of doing that. When we made our run and got it back to where it was manageable, Langhorne made two really big plays. She just powered up and scored because she's a really good player."
