Pitt vs. West Virginia Postgame Quotes
1/4/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 4, 2009
Coach Agnus Berenato Opening Statement:
"This was a great win. It's always good to beat West Virginia. But this was a hard-fought battle. I thought our girls showed perseverance. My assistant Jeff Williams stressed that we needed to make 20 free throws to win the game and we made 22. I think that was the difference. It showed that we were the aggressor, and that this was our house. Shavonte Zellous had an unbelievable second half. She came out and scored. She made great assists. She was getting rebounds by going over people. In this game, we needed a go-to person and she showed everyone that she was it."
"They are a great defensive team, but we were well prepared. We prepared for them to go man-to-man on us to try to get us out of our comfort zone. I thought they did a great job."
On Shavonte Zellous:
"We have a lot of confidence in her and so do all of the players. This game, she wanted the ball. We could feel that she wanted it. She wanted her number to be called and the plays that we were running were plays set for her. If she wasn't scoring, she was passing. Her composure really stepped up in this game. She got the running game going and I think the team fed off her."
On her 100th win at Pitt:
"It's special for our program. It just shows where we've come from when I first started. The people that have been here, the administration, were really behind us. We had a great vision of what we wanted to do with this program and where we want to take it. We want to start some tradition, or get more recognition for recruiting. Things have changed and if we stick to the plan, good things can happen."
Quoting Shavonte Zellous
On her second half play:
"The second half is my half. In the first half, I got into a little bit of foul trouble and I couldn't really contribute. I knew I needed to pick up my game. When I'm in my zone, I'm attacking the basket. If I get called for a travel, I just let it go and focus on defense. I focus on me in order to help my team."
Quoting West Virginia Head Coach Mike Carey
Opening Statement:
"I thought we played well. We did some great things on the road today against a very good team. I told my team in the locker room today that if they bring that kind of effort every night then we're going to win a lot of games in this league. We had some defensive lapses today, particularly against Shavonte Zellous. Those are things we can get corrected though with a little bit of practice."
On both teams getting called for several traveling violations:
"All I did was ask the referees what both teams were doing every time down the floor that kept resulting in traveling calls. They huddled up afterwards, but I never got an answer. I just wanted to make sure we could correct the problem."
On Pitt's play:
"Pitt's a great team that's very well coached and they have all the weapons you need to be successful in the Big East. They have tall players, they have outside shooters, and they have players who can create shots and get to the basket. That's the kind of versatility that wins games, because if one thing isn't clicking then usually something else is."
On defending Pitt:
"I'm not sure they've seen a team like us. We were worried about their height coming in, but we also thought e might be able to use our quickness in the post to disrupt them. We tried to get out in front of their forwards and force a perfect entry pass. It resulted in a turnover for them a couple times, and after that, they really shied away from it."
Quoting West Virginia's Takisha Granberry:
On Shavonte Zellous:
"She's an unbelievable player. She's got great moves and when she's hitting from the outside it just makes her so tough to guard. She just simply went off on us today."
Quoting West Virginia's Liz Repella:
On what this game means for West Virginia:
"I think it shows that we can compete with anyone. We came in here in a hostile environment and really held our own against one of the better teams in the country. That can only help to build your confidence. Still, we really wanted to get a win."