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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 5, 2015Kathy McConnell-MillerGREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA Virginia Tech – 51 COACH McCONNELL‑MILLER: When you look at the stat sheet, I can look at one statistic and see where we lost this game, and that was at the free‑throw line. You can't go 10 of 24 from the free‑throw line and expect to win a game, especially in the postseason against a team that is coming off of a great upset yesterday. I credit Virginia Tech. They did a great job defensively, disrupting what we want to do, and when we couldn't hit shots, we tried to‑‑ creating off our defense, we started getting out in transition, started to make things happen, and when you're not scoring the basketball, we missed lay‑ups, we missed open shots. But when you're not scoring, you find ways to get to the free‑throw line and you start being more aggressive and attacking, and we got there, and we just‑‑ really a lot of missed opportunities for us. Virginia Tech made timely plays. They hit timely shots. They made their free throws. They made plays. Disappointing loss across the board for us. When we struggle‑‑ it's no secret that we go as Brianna Kiesel goes, and today was a struggle. They did a great job of defending her and disrupting. Our concern when she does struggle is who's going to step up and make plays and score the basketball. I thought Stacia did a great job in so many ways. She's our best post player who can hedge on ball screens. She was a presence inside when they went box and one. We used Bri as a screener to get her lay‑ups, rebounding the basketball, a double‑double first postseason as a freshman, I thought she did a lot of good things, but just wasn't enough as a team. Q. What about Tech's defense, can you elaborate on what made you a tough shooting night for you guys? COACH McCONNELL‑MILLER: Well, we set a lot of on‑ball screens, middle of the floor, side pick‑and‑roll. I thought our post players did a great job of challenging Brianna Kiesel. They helped off a great deal, switched off, with their under drives, I thought Campbell did a nice job defensively on her. But we didn't hit shots. When we made the extra pass and moved the ball, we weren't hitting shots. They sat in driving lanes, they forced you to take jumpers. And when we played them the last time, it was a similar situation where the way they defended. But when we played them, we hit shots. We were able to come away with a win. Just disappointing. You have to be able to put more than 45 points on the board to win in a conference tournament. Q. You don't want to lose to a 1‑15 team in the conference. How do you assess your postseason chances, whatever you think they might be? COACH McCONNELL‑MILLER: We probably killed them in all honesty. I mean, I don't have‑‑ I don't know what the committee thinks. I would love to think that we would have a chance with what we did all season long. I know we'll be in the postseason somewhere, just not sure where that will be. Q. After seeing the season, what do you think the biggest difference between last year's team and this year's team is? COACH McCONNELL‑MILLER: It's night and day. Just the chemistry that this team has developed over the course of the season at a quick turnaround, the leadership that we have among our seniors, the fearlessness of the three freshmen that we have that have come in. We start three freshmen, and Monica Wignot, who played volleyball for four years, and the chemistry that they have developed has been tremendous. I think looking at it now where we are, not that fatigue should be a factor, but when you play a short roster, sometimes fatigue becomes a factor this late in the season. But it's just night and day. The mindset of these players, the focus and the talent level, as well. Q. I know she's not here right now, but can you talk about what Brianna Kiesel has meant not just on the court but off the court for this program? COACH McCONNELL‑MILLER: We play through her at crunch time, throughout the course of the game. We want the ball in her hands. She's just tremendous, and it was a tough day for her today, but when you look at her entire season, she's a special player. She's been a scorer for us, a play maker. Defensively she has controlled the tempo, put pressure on the other team's point guard, and she's the one that probably made the biggest mistake today of not getting her rest with taking her off the floor because I think fatigue became a factor throughout the course of this game today. I say all the time, we go as she goes and these players feed off of her. She's a special player, and I've really enjoyed coaching her. I hope I get to do that again. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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