|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTMarch 2, 2016Jen HooverMilan QuinnAriel StephensonGreensboro, North Carolina Wake Forest - 73, Clemson - 58 JEN HOOVER: Really excited and really proud of this group of young ladies. We came out on a mission today, and we're excited to get back on the right kind of streak. I thought we really focused in, and we brought a lot of energy and intensity and were able to really jump out early, and I thought that was really a good thing for us. It built a lot of confidence in our team and in each other, and they were just excited to be here in Greensboro again. Q. Milan, what did you eat today, and were you able to play so well? MILAN QUINN: Well, first we had breakfast and then shoot-around and then lunch. No, but I mean, I really was just feeding off of my teammates, and they were able to get me the ball in positions where I could score and just rebounding and -- I don't know, just valuing the basketball. Q. When you're playing a team like Clemson, I guess a team that has nothing to lose, just come out, how important is the first quarter to establish control and not give them the confidence that they might need in order to pull the upset? JEN HOOVER: Yeah, I thought that was really crucial for us tonight because they're a good basketball team and they're young. And I know that their record -- we emphasized this for two days with our team when we brought them into practice yesterday, and I'm like, what's our record? They're like, Coach, we're 15 -- I said, no, no, we're 0-0. And then I asked them what Clemson's record was, and they're like 0-0. They've got a lot of young players and their dynamic guards, and we really felt it was important for us to come out early, and if you will, pardon on the expression, but throw the first punch. And I thought we came out really aggressive and really attacking and got the ball inside, and that was one of our points of emphasis was to get the ball into the paint and get paint touches and everything else would flow from them and we could play inside out. Q. Ariel, I wanted to ask you about the flow of the offense, as well. Did you feel like this was coming, outside shooting, fast breaks, inside play? Seemed to be all clicking, especially in the middle of the second quarter. ARIEL STEPHENSON: Personally I just felt really good this game. The joke before the game was they must stop giving you a high school ball, and we just felt really good. My teammates were able to get me the ball in positions where I could work, and it was just a pretty good day. JEN HOOVER: The reference to the ball is you play with Wilson balls when you get to Greensboro. Q. Ariel, is this the type of a performance you can kind of build on through the rest of this tournament? Is that how your shooting goes? ARIEL STEPHENSON: Most definitely. This helps me go into the next game with a little more confidence, but you can't get over-confident. You still need to shoot the ball and just have fun. That's what this whole tournament is about, having fun. The past two years I've been in the stands watching. It's kind of surreal to be on the court now. Q. Jen, you guys just played Georgia Tech recently. Does that come into play at all tomorrow? JEN HOOVER: I think it does. I think there's a couple things it does. As a staff and as a team, it's an easier turnaround in that we just went through a whole scouting and prep and two days' prep work, whereas we're only on a one-day turnaround. We don't have to kind of walk through a thousand things because we just walked through them. We just defended them. We just -- and they're a good basketball team. And I think there's areas now we've played against them, I think we understand a little bit more what it's like to play against them, and I think we're just excited to be able to have the opportunity now to get another shot at them. Q. If you could just speak on the adversity of playing without Kandice Ball today, how that worried you going into the game? JEN HOOVER: Well, what's today, Wednesday? Tuesday morning I get a text from Gayle first, my assistant coach, one of our assistant coaches, I've been throwing up all night and I'm going to try to sleep it off. So I was like, oh, boy, here it comes. Went through a couple hours that morning of just knowing Gayle was sick and crossing my fingers and saying a few prayers. And then it came that Kandice Ball was sick, as well. I just hate it for that young lady because she's a senior, this was her last trip, it's her last trip here and she wants to be on the floor, she wants to be there with her teammates. She was -- recovered very nicely today and we fully expect her to be suited up ready to go tomorrow. But I thought for us it was -- in the post game I thought Milan went out probably even more aggressive knowing that she really needed to carry the load and she knew Keyonna Allen was coming off a great game at Georgia Tech, so we had no hesitancy with her going in and being able to compete and being able to provide the same kind of lift that Kandice gives us. Q. What would you attribute the huge edge on the boards today? I think it was 54-30, you folks really controlled the backboard? JEN HOOVER: Well, our assistant coach, Clarisse Garcia, that did this scout, actually put on the scouting report, called every single one of them out, that rebounding must be a whole team activity, not just a Milan Quinn activity. I think we took it to heart that at their place we allowed Aliyah Collier to go off and get 17 rebounds on us, and I don't think any of them wanted that to happen, and she's a phenomenal athlete and a phenomenal boarder, and I think they all just really locked in on it. And we've been talking for a couple days about how you advance this time of year is your defense and your rebounding, and those two things are key. Q. I had heard something about some lucky pants or something that you used to wear -- JEN HOOVER: See, that was last year. Q. Anything that you guys are doing this year? JEN HOOVER: No, we have some rituals we tend to do. We go to the same restaurant and eat, but we have a few people on the team that are pretty superstitious. I don't know about these two, but our assistant coach Gayle, coach Gracie, is very superstitious, so she and Ardobo (phonetic) fight a little bit over the decisions that are made or she makes them. But this year we're just -- everyone asks me, every year you guys come and win with. I said, yeah, but it's a different cast of characters. We've sat up here for a couple years with the Dearica Hamby, Chelsea Douglas, Lakevia Boykin, and this year it`s Milan Quinn Ariel Stevenson. It`s just always a different cast of characters and just super proud of these guys that come in with that same kind of determination about themselves, and that's what it's going to take to keep moving on. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|