Post-Game Quotes
11/24/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 24, 2010
Pitt vs Duke
Quoting Head Coach Agnus Berenato
Opening statement:
I would just like to compliment Duke. I think they're a really nice team that's worthy of their ranking of sixth in the country. There's a reason why they went to the Elite Eight last year and they'll continue to get better. They're big, strong, athletic and quick. I thought that we did a great job in the first half and in the second half they forced us into a lot of turnovers and we lost our confidence. It was their defense; they did a really nice job on us because of their size and athleticism. The turnovers were the key. They scored 32 points off of turnovers and we just can't have that. I thought we shot a good percentage in the first half and we'll go back and look for some positives from that first half and teaching points.
On Duke having six players in double figures:
They have a lot of depth. I thought that Shay Selby has ten in the first half and she ignited them. Duke shared the ball really well off of our turnovers, it was a gift. They were quicker to the ball and the draw.
On Duke's bench:
When you look at it, their bench scored 44 points and we had two. Their bench was scoring on our starter. It's tough to go ahead and take that chance to put somebody in. Somebody has to come out and our younger players are just going to have to step it up."
Quoting Pitt Player Taneisha Harrison
On Pitt's progress:
I think we are making progress, it's just one day at a time. With all of the new players, it's just taking a little while to learn, but we are getting better each day.
On turnovers and rebounding:
I think that it's frustrating. The turnovers, some of them were forced, some of them were unforced and the rebounds we just have to do a better job of boxing out.
Duke Head coach Joanne McCallic
I think it was a great team game in terms of attack. Everyone was a part of it. We had 19 assists and 20 offensive rebounds, it's a very good thing. Pitt is a very good team and holding them to two points in the last seven minutes was very critical for us. For Shay Selby, it's very good start because she's been injured and she's had to work her way back and be patient. She took advantage of her opportunities and it was a good thing to see.
On Duke's attack:
Six players in double figures is something this team is capable of and were working towards understanding that elite level of play, which means you share the ball and you get it to the open player, you let your teammates play their role. I think that in this game, a lot of people played their role and played it well.
On playing this type of non-conference game:
Pitt plays in a great league and they've five outstanding seniors. They're rebounding stats were better than ours before this game and we want to challenge ourselves. If you look at our schedule, it's a beast. We play everybody and the idea is to do that be respectful. We have a respect for Pitt. They are very well coached and they're a very good team. I think we were able to wear them out a little bit and we showed tremendous junior and senior leadership. They were rock solid and everyone else followed."
Quoting Duke player Shay Selby
On playing in front of her family:
It was excited, I was kind of nervous because I haven't played in front of my family yet, but I'm just excited everyone could come. My confidence is coming up and hopefully I could carry that into the next game and I can focus on offense as well as defense.
