University of North Carolina Athletics
Postgame Quotes
March 21, 2005 | Women's Basketball
March 20, 2005
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NORTH CAROLINA PRESS CONFERENCE
March 20, 2005
North Carolina Head Coach Sylvia Hatchell
Opening Statement
"It's good to get this one out of the way. We started off strong and I thought we played pretty good in the first half, but I thought the second half we didn't play with the intensity that we needed to. Actually, in the second half, we won by two points, 43-41. It just felt like they had a lead and we just relaxed too much and we didn't play with quite the intensity we needed in the second half, but Coppin State kept coming after us. Even though we had a good lead, in the second half they played us even. So you have to give them a lot of credit for hanging in there and playing us tough. We're glad to get this win. All of them are big in the NCAA and we look forward to playing Tuesday night."
On importance of having a good start in NCAA tournament after last year's first-round loss:
"I think it was important. I was concerned because it's been a couple weeks since we've played. I learned last year. We did bring in more game-type things this week [in practice] to prepare. We played situations where it was actually like a couple of games, and I think that helped us. We learned from the past and we did some things that I felt had us more ready to play this time."
On Ole Miss and George Washington, potential opponents on Tuesday:
"We've got scouting reports on both of them and they are both very good teams. I know both are very, very good teams."
On monitoring team's focus:
"Yes, I was. In fact, at halftime I put 0-0 on the board. I told them that this was the score, and every time that we had a timeout we were talking about it. The first time I called at timeout, it was because I didn't feel like we were playing with the intensity that we needed to."
Sophomore forward Camille Little
On the team's strong shooting:
"I think we have a feel for the gym; of course, we've played here many times before. Also we have a lot of shooting practices here, so I think that helped us, not relax, but it's like a home court, even though we're here for the tournament. It's like a home gym for us."
Sophomore guard Ivory Latta
On the trap defense:
"Our trap defense didn't let them set up their offense, so we kept doing it and they kept making turnovers. "
On being eager to get the tournament started:
"Oh yeah, we're always eager to play basketball. Coach Hatchell was telling us to be focused and go there with a lot of intensity, and that's what we did. That's why I think we had a strong beginning - everyone was focused and ready to play.
COPPIN STATE PRESS CONFERENCE
MARCH 19, 2005
Coppin State coach Derek Brown
Opening Statement
"I think they shot the ball extremely well, and a lot of it had to do with our lack of defense and the other half was due to their good shooting. I really haven't seen a team shoot that well ever. We let the game get away from us a little bit when they played their half court press, their 1-3-1 combination and their 3-2-1 cutting off different areas of the floor. And I think with their size it was hard on our guards once they got trapped to get the ball over them. Psychologically, once you get down by so many points you seem to slow down a little bit and you can't run as fast as you did in the first half, and that's how they got their big lead. I commend my young ladies because they played hard throughout the game. We only lost the second half by two points and I just want to thank each and every one of them.
What did you tell your team at halftime, especially in regard to Carolina's defense?
"The defense that they put on us wasn't anything that we haven't seen before. I basically told them to dribble the ball through their defense. I think we gave it too much respect in the first half and just waited for the trap to come on us and we tried to pass the ball through it. We basically talked about dribbling through, trying to make an up fake and just going for it. We told them not to go if (Ivory) Latta was involved in the trap. We don't want to go her way because she can cut you off, just go the other way and just get through the first line of defense and just look for the pass. We became more aggressive going against that trap and we scored some points."
Can you talk about the rebounding?
"They are very quick and I think that's one of the major parts of their whole game. They just get to the ball quicker than we do. That's been one of our problems all year, we're not as quick as I would like us to be and it showed today."
Senior Guard Denita Plain
Was the defense you saw tonight different than the defenses you have seen throughout the year?
"Once they played us man-to-man, it was something we have seen all year and we stared attacking them. However with the 1-3-1 combination that they had, we had trouble passing over their head because they're much taller."
Junior Forward Sherrie Tucker
Can you talk about your experience and what you're going to take from the tournament?
"It was a great experience for me. Since I'm coming back I'll be able to use this and let it trickle down to the rest of my teammates."
