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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTMarch 5, 2016Quentin HillsmanTaylor FordAlexis PetersonBriana DayGreensboro, North Carolina Syracuse - 80, Louisville - 75 QUENTIN HILLSMAN: Obviously we're very happy to still be here and playing tomorrow, and just one of these seasons where we just knew that this is a tough conference, and to be sitting here tomorrow playing for an ACC title is tremendous. And as you're going through these games and you're looking at the Louisvilles and the Notre Dames and the Miamis and we can go down the list, the Florida States, these are very, very tough basketball teams. And these are these battles that we have with Louisville for years, and Jeff is a great coach, and he does some great stuff and he has great players, and they play really hard and then you go into Notre Dame tomorrow, same thing. It's like growing up in this conference, when you grow up in another conference and you play against these teams and they follow you, it just becomes natural rivalries and naturally tough games, and just really happy with our kids' effort and everything that they did. It's all about toughness. When you have these short turnarounds and you don't have a lot of time to prep, it's about toughness and it's about making sure that you execute your offense and play great defense. But no credit can I take, because they had to play the game, they had to be tough, they had to get on the ground, they had to get all the rebounds. And when they made runs at us and we got down, it was about us calming down and getting back in the huddles, and putting our feet back on the ground, and saying, hey, this is what we know it`s about, the other team making runs and us making plays. And they just made all the right plays down the stretch, and I give them all the credit, to our kids. They were tremendous tonight, and they did it. Q. The last team to beat you was Louisville. Was there a little bit of extra motivation to get this W today? QUENTIN HILLSMAN: I think the motivation is being here playing for the championship tomorrow. Obviously when a team beats you, you want to come back and get that win back, but we just really focused on getting to the next game and the next game is the championship game. That's what we're really focused on. Q. Briana, how grueling was that match-up down low with Myisha Hines-Allen? BRIANA DAY: It wasn't that hard. We just had to play tough really and just help each other out. She's a good player, but I think we did a pretty good job. When she scored, just fighting back and just scoring ourselves and I think that's what happened. We just kept fighting regardless of whether she scored or not. Q. Coach, last time you guys played Louisville, your offense had a tough time scoring, only six points in the first quarter. How well do you think Alexis and Corn did in managing the game and commanding the offense today? QUENTIN HILLSMAN: Well, they did an awesome job. They did a good job of attacking the paint. We knew we could play off the bounce a little bit and get to the rim whether we were making threes or not. That's one thing you can do is be aggressive and get in the paint and play the rim, and that`s what they did a very good job of. We got the floor open and they made some plays in the paint. Q. I wanted to ask you about Fondren. She was 18 and 13 career highs. The lift she gave you, especially at the end to have the composure to hit the free throws when the game was tight. QUENTIN HILLSMAN: Well, this is a situation of I think a lot of people just forget that she came in as our starting point guard as a freshman, and she has really sacrificed so much to come off the bench for these years for us to win. That`s one thing I just try to tell her is if you can just play your role and be a star in your role and come off the bench and play any position that I put you in for, we're going to be successful. That's what she does. She comes in every night and she plays tough. She's not once complained, and we just depend on her so much in so many different aspects of our game and winning, and she's been a remarkable player, and she's sacrificed so much for us to be here today. Q. Alexis, you were seemingly a step faster than the Cardinal guards for most of this game. What were you seeing there to get you in there for those easy lay-ups? ALEXIS PETERSON: I just wanted to execute our game plan. Coach talked about attacking them off the bounce, getting to the basket, playing above our head, and trying to get easy baskets, so I mean, I just took advantage of what the defense was giving me. I wanted to stay in attack mode the entire game. Q. Coach and Alexis, talk a little bit about Notre Dame and what they present to you tomorrow. QUENTIN HILLSMAN: Obviously they're a very good basketball team. I think we played them last time at their place and they, when they do the starting lineups, they always say -- Notre Dame was like 100-something and 1 in the last -- this is amazing to lose one game in like 100-some-odd games. They're a very good basketball team, and we understand that. I grew up in the Big East Conference playing against Notre Dame, and now being in this conference, which I really still believe is the best conference in the country when you look at our balance from top to bottom, and playing another great team is really good because we need tough games and we need great teams in front of us. I think that we normally play up to these teams, so hopefully we can come out and play better than we did last time and win the basketball game. ALEXIS PETERSON: Yeah, definitely. I think we look forward to it. Tough game there in South Bend the first time, but this is what we look forward to this time of year, tournament time, and a chance to come back and compete and give them a run for their money. Q. Coach, after the last Louisville game, you said it was one of the few times in your 10 years that you were really disappointed with the team's effort. Just how much different is the feeling now after this game? QUENTIN HILLSMAN: You've got to finish the quote. There on the back end, what did I say? You're never going to see that team again, and we haven't lost since then, have we? Q. Taylor, you had a couple huge threes to kind of bring this thing back for you all. Do you think the Cardinals maybe were disrespecting your ability to knock those down? TAYLOR FORD: I wouldn't say they were disrespecting me. I know one time Hines-Allen didn't come out on me and I kind of felt it a little bit. All I need to do is when I come in no matter how minutes I play, I just come in and try to give my team that spark that we need, and I think I've done that these past two games. Q. Coach, Notre Dame has a lot of different weapons and a lot of different players who can score and take over a game. Is your team similar in that way? QUENTIN HILLSMAN: Well, I think we have a lot of balance. I do. I think we have a lot of balance, and to get back off of what Taylor said, you do, you've come in there in the last two games, you`ve been remarkable, and that's what we need her to do, come in the game and make shots and that`s what she does. We have a lot of balance, and that's what you have to be when you're winning basketball games. We really pride ourselves on having players in positions that can step up and make plays, if we get in foul trouble to really depend on our depth and our players coming off the bench. We don't talk about starting fives because we understand that to win at this level you have to have seven starters, you have to have ten players that play double-figure minutes because any given night somebody can go out with an injury or foul trouble. So we really, really pride ourselves on having a lot of depth and playing hard and playing hard for 40 minutes. BRIANA DAY: Yeah, I think we have a lot of depth. I know we have people who can come in regardless if they're playing a lot or not to just come in and give us that spark, and that's all that matters. When players get in foul trouble, it definitely helps to have a lot of depth on your bench, and I think our players do a good job of that, of just having energy and playing with a lot of effort and just having a good attitude and coming in and doing all we can for our team, so I think that's what's working for us. Q. What did you see from the battle down low? Seemed like every possession, every rebound was contested. What did you see from that? QUENTIN HILLSMAN: Well, it was a tough game. I think everyone knew what was at stake in the paint, and Hines-Allen, she's a tremendous player. I watched her growing up in our area and just playing AAU and high school basketball, and she's just a tremendous talent down there, and she fights hard. But we knew that we had to get in there and do the same thing and make the game grimy and just get tough. And that's what we talked about the last three minutes of the game was getting every rebound, contesting every shot, getting a body on a body and just toughen the game out. But you've got to give Louisville a lot of credit. Everything was contested and they really fought hard and we just came out and made a couple plays late. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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