University of North Carolina Athletics
Postgame Quotes - Notre Dame 77, North Carolina 55
January 22, 2017 | Women's Basketball
North Carolina 55, Notre Dame 77 • January 22, 2017
Postgame Quotes
North Carolina Head Coach Sylvia Hatchell
Opening Statement
“You take away the second quarter and it's a five-point game. The inside game again, the rebounding and the points in the paint, of course us rotating those three freshmen post players in there. So they've just got to learn. Throw them in the fire and put them in there against [Brianna] Turner is about the best fire they can get in, I guess. But I thought defensively we did a decent job with her. She got a lot of put backs, or second shots and then transition stuff, but she's a great player.
“Paris [Kea] had a great game and continues to be outstanding for us. Stephanie [Watts], first half struggled some, but then she got going in the second half and was playing well until she hurt her knee. The doctor says it's going to be okay.
“So we will just keep working to try to get more consistent and do a better job with our rebounding, and as those young players will get more experienced they'll be good. We had two of the kids we signed here today, and Janelle Bailey was here. She's going to come in here and help us a lot. She was a McDonald's All-American, and starting center for the United States Junior National Team. We got some good kids coming in, but I want to keep working and develop these kids that we've got and I think we can make a lot of noise. I think we can beat people in the ACC, but we've just got to get a little bit better and we've got to do a better job with our inside game and our rebounding because I think our guards are actually playing pretty doggone good.”
On the effort that Alyssa Okoene showed in flashes
“We talk to “Lele” [Alyssa Okoene] all the time, show her stuff. I put her at the jump center tonight, first time. I put her in there instead of Paris [Kea] because, the main reason, is I wanted to make sure she was already matched up with [Brianna] Turner. So I put her in there to jump against her. But again, she's learning, and all the freshmen, they come in. They watch film. Coach [Sylvia] Crawley's working them, doing individual workouts with them, and watch them in workouts and they do a good job. They do what they're supposed to. They're skilled, but in the heat of the battle it's different, and that's just the experience that you have to have.”
On preparation for young players
“Repetition, Repetition, Repetition. You know we just want repeating and repeating. Of course [Hillary] Fuller had been starting, and her experience is that she is not that big. She was hoppling with her knee. Her timing was good. Today they were hedging our screens all the time. So [Hillary] Fuller, with her timing, she would have been able to split those and get some things off of that. The new kids first of all, are tiny. We did get a couple of them. They rotated, and their weak side was there. We either traveled or fumbled the ball. They just got to learn that, and a lot of that is the timing and everything. We put all three of them in there and let them play and everything. So mainly they just have to set screens for the guards. But yet when people hedge like that, switch and double team guards, those post players got to be able to split that and get to the basket and score some for us.”
Stephanie Watts, Sophomore, G
On her thoughts about the team at the half-season mark
“Of course we want to win, but I think we realize we're right on the border line. Like Coach [Sylvia] Hatchell said, they're a great team. We played them pretty even three out of four quarters. It's just that second quarter that gets us down a lot, but overall I think we're pretty hopeful in what we see from the team knowing we do have eight freshmen and just how much they're going to progress as the season goes on. So I think we're in a pretty good state.”
On what to do about stretches of shots not dropping
“I think it's a mindset. We just have to buckle down and play that second quarter now that we know that that's kind of our Achilles heel. We just have to put our mind to it and buckle down and get it done. If we're not going to score, then we have to get stops. So we just have to make a point to do it.”
Notre Dame Head Coach Muffet McGraw
Opening Statement
“I was really, really pleased with the win and the way we played and the way we managed to keep our lead and extend the lead. The second quarter was really good for us. I think they were a little shorthanded today; we didn't have Kathryn Westbeld, and they didn't have [Hillary] Fuller and I think that made a difference inside. Bri [Brianna Taylor] was able to get loose for a lot of offensive rebounds and a lot of mismatches. We did a good job of getting to the ball. I was really pleased with how we executed.”
On UNC's Paris Kea's big game
“Kea was a huge problem. She had 17 of their 27 points at halftime. We had no answer for her. She scored in a lot of different ways. She drove it. She shot it. She posted us up. She is a really, really talented player. With her agility she can play anything 1 through 4. It was a really tough matchup for us, and I think she did a really good job with that.”
On reaching 750 wins at Notre Dame
“It means I'm really old, I think that's what that means. All the credit to my staff. They do such a phenomenal job, and my husband. They keep me going and I couldn't do it without them. I have had so many great players. I have been blessed with so many great people around me, the administration, the president. Tt is such a great place to be.”
Brianna Taylor, Junior, F
On her size advantage:
“I thought I was going to be able to use my size in the game today. They have a lot of quick guards. So I felt that in transition I would just post their guards up and that would be effective for me.”
On extending the lead in 2nd quarter:
“I thought the second quarter had a lot of transition, and we are really good in transition. It was just getting rebounds and running the floor. They are also a really quick team so it was just a fast paced second quarter. We got a lot of shots up, and they went in.”
