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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTMarch 1, 2018Kenny BrooksRegan MagarityTaylor EmeryGreensboro, North Carolina Virginia Tech - 85, Syracuse - 70 COACH BROOKS: Tremendous game all around. I thought in the first half we just really were -- I wouldn't say shell shocked, but Syracuse really took it to us, and they did a tremendous job attacking and hitting some threes, knocking down some shots. We made a couple adjustments in the second half. We went to a box and one, which really kind of -- I don't know, I wouldn't say it confused them, but it really put two people more or less around Tiana. She's a terrific point guard, and made her make some plays with people around her. You let her get in space, she's the best point guard in the country in my opinion. But you crowd her, and I think she has to make some plays. She's terrific, but I thought we did a tremendous job on that situation in the second half. We put in a couple different wrinkles on the offensive end leading up to the tournament and we didn't pull it out until the third quarter. And the kids did a tremendous job of executing it and finding open areas and spreading their zone out. And they made shots, made shots, rebounded the basketball. For us, it was a terrific win, for the program, because we're learning how to win, learning how to win these tough games, and these kids are really doing a tremendous job, and they stepped up, and even though they're not playing in their natural positions, they all stepped up and did what they had to do for us to get a win today. Q. For the players, you're down 13 points with less than two minutes to go in the third quarter, and you make a 21-0 run. What was it like to be playing in the middle of that 21-0 run as you realized you were taking control of this game? REGAN MAGARITY: I think we were just embracing the moment. During halftime we were talking about staying together and picking up on defense because we know that our offense comes from our defense and shots are going to fall, and Tay and Aisha Sheppard did an amazing job of hitting shots. I thought Michelle did a really good job of being aggressive and rebounding. So did Lex. I think just staying in the moment and fighting for each other was definitely the key to the win tonight. TAYLOR EMERY: Well, we just really kept our poise. We kept talking to each other. We were like, we don't want to go back to Blacksburg tonight. So we really came out there, and we fought for each other. We fought for our teammates, we fought for our coaches, and we just started putting everything together, and it was really exciting to see everyone being able to work together and get a win. Q. I know you guys just covered it a little bit, but what was the actual swing moment for you to have that run? TAYLOR EMERY: Honestly, I think it was just getting our stops on defense. When Coach was switching up our defenses, we were really focusing in on the shooters and going with the game plan, and when they started missing shots and we started executing on offense, it all just started swinging our way. Q. Coach, you mentioned the wrinkles in your offense implemented in the third quarter really helped you guys swing things your way. What did you tell your team? What did you make them do that sparked that run? COACH BROOKS: Well, the thing we talked about leading up to the game that we knew Syracuse was going to come out and pressure us and take us out of rhythm early, and we knew that. But it's really a hard -- it's hard to do that for 40 minutes, and we knew that once we got into a groove in the second quarter, third quarter, we'd be able to execute more of our offense. And that's why we weren't really able to get to that offense early, because they just kept us on our heels and we weren't able to go to it. As the tempo slowed down a little bit, we were able to execute, put people where we wanted them. And they did a tremendous job of finding the open person and taking what the defense gave us, and that's what really allowed us to get to the point where we were getting shots we wanted, because in the second quarter in particular I thought we took some bad shots, and those bad shots led to fast break points for Syracuse. I think we were down eight at one point. We took two bad shots in a row, and they kicked it out and they got two threes and it ballooned to 14. But once we eliminated that, we talked about at halftime taking good shots, and we really got momentum swinging our way. Q. After the adversity you guys have had to deal with this month and the adversity you had in this game, what does it mean to you to come away with a comeback win like this? REGAN MAGARITY: I think it means a lot for the team and for the program. We know we're capable of winning, but just being able to put -- coming back from not playing great in the first half and sticking together and out-rebounding them, I think it's huge for our program, and it just shows the passion we have for the game and that we want to play great and play for each other. TAYLOR EMERY: Yeah, it's a big step for our team. We've been talking all season how we needed to be able to put all the pieces together to get big wins, and I think tonight we did that. Q. Question for the players: You mentioned rebounding. When Syracuse was going through that stretch where they weren't making the shots, they weren't getting the ball back. You were controlling the defensive boards. Can you talk about that? REGAN MAGARITY: I think going into every game, rebounding is always a key for us, but we knew especially in this game it would be because they do take a lot of threes, so there was going to be a lot of long rebounds, so the coaches did a great job of preparing us for long rebounds, and we were just able to get the ball and limit their possessions. Q. Coach, you've got Louisville tomorrow. I know you're going to celebrate this one a little bit, but what are your thoughts? COACH BROOKS: Can I enjoy this one for a couple minutes, man? All right, you know, Jeff does a tremendous job with his program, and obviously what they've done this year and years past, they have the Player of the Year, they have the Coach of the Year. Tremendous program. We're going to go back out and we're going to go out and we're going to prepare. We know that we have a tough task ahead of us, but the kids are confident. We played a really good second half down there early in January, and we did some things that can give us some confidence, but we know to go out and play a team like Louisville, we're going to have to play exceptionally well to get a win. But we're going to go out, these kids, they battle, they're battle tested. That's what the ACC does for you. It's not like we're going up against an opponent that we haven't seen before or anything like that. We know that they're a great program, but I think that this is the kind of game where we need to go out and fight and try to do everything we can. We know they're good. Asia -- they have two, actually, Players of the Year. Myisha, she was Player of the Year a couple of years ago. We understand that, but we know we're going to go out there and play hard. Q. You mentioned going to the box and one. How much have you played that this year, and were you surprised how successful it was? COACH BROOKS: We've done it a lot. We've done a little bit of everything this year, just trying to figure ourselves out. I mentioned before, we've reinvented ourselves, we've done a lot of different things to try to do some stuff, and it's not like a traditional box and one where we're trying to deny the ball back to somebody. You're just trying to put a little bit more pressure on certain people. Did a really good job for us. Probably won't do it tomorrow. Just a situational thing, and it's something that we really needed to do to stop her momentum. But it was effective. We stayed with it pretty much throughout the second half, and we'll kind of sit back tonight and we'll figure out -- Louisville is a little bit tougher. You can't just put one person on one person. They have so many good players and they're a great rebounding basketball team. We'll come up with a different game plan, but this one tonight was effective for us. Q. Taylor, when you guys played in Syracuse, you led the team in scoring and a win, and tonight 28. What does Syracuse do against you that just allows you to go out there and score? TAYLOR EMERY: You know, it's not really Syracuse, it's really my team. They look for me and they really put me in positions to be successful. I mean, Syracuse does a pretty good job of staying on me and trying to face-guard me and stuff like that, but my team really looks for me and puts me in a position and opens me up. Q. Syracuse did not make a basket in the fourth quarter. In terms of guarding, were you doing certain things? What did you feel you did well defensively to make tough looks or contribute to that? And then offensively can you elaborate on what -- you made a lot of shots in the fourth quarter. What were you doing that was kind of giving you maybe good looks or good shots there? COACH BROOKS: Well, first of all, holding Syracuse to no field goals, that's just something. Part was -- I thought we played really good defense. Part was they got in -- I don't want to say -- they got in desperation mode where they had to launch threes and then they kind of went away from their offense. So that's part of it. But part of it was we played tremendous defense in that fourth quarter. But offensively, like I mentioned before, we just kind of put some wrinkles in and kind of spread it out, and it's always something that -- Regan has done a tremendous job all year long of just doing what I've asked her to do, and sometimes her numbers may be affected a little bit because we put her at the point or put her on the wing. We mixed her around a lot, and she's continued to battle, and she did a tremendous job. We were able to put the kids in positions to where we wanted them to do it, and like Tay got a lot of good looks tonight, but Ray was the facilitator in a lot of those. We were able to just kind of put people where we wanted them. We had Kendyl in a corner for 25 minutes, and she didn't score a point, but they wouldn't leave her. Everybody did that. Aisha Sheppard played point guard. She hadn't played point guard for us all year, and we're making her play point guard in probably the biggest game of the year, and everybody just stepped up and did a tremendous job, and that's what I love about these kids. Whatever I've asked them to do all year, they've done it. Q. Kenny, what did you do to be competitive in that game with Louisville that you want to continue to do in the rematch? COACH BROOKS: Well, we faced some adversity in that game, and we kind of finished the game together. I thought the kids did a tremendous job of not hanging their heads. That first quarter we got blasted, and we came out of the gates, I think it was 29-9, and we just settled down a little bit, and we executed. I can't speak for Louisville, but I thought we had some success in the second half. What does that mean for tomorrow? Absolutely nothing, other than the fact that we can look at the box score, but we know it's a new game. We know everyone is playing for something very, very special. We'll watch the tape. It was a long time ago, and we're a lot different basketball team than we were back then, and I'm sure that Jeff will say the same thing. So we'll watch it, and we'll look, and we'll try to find some kind of wrinkle that we can. That's what tournament time is for, and we love it that you're able to go out there and tweak some things because this time of the year -- I mean, the last four or five games, I was calling out plays, and the opposing bench was telling their team exactly what we were going to do. So everyone knows what you're doing right now, so any time you can add a wrinkle to something, it's pretty good. Q. You moved Aisha into the starting lineup for that Miami game the last game. What led to that decision, and how important was she this afternoon? COACH BROOKS: Well, Shepp is a freshman, and she's been kind of up-and-down a little bit all year. Kendyl is hobbling, and we wanted to get some fresh legs in there and try to utilize Kendyl better, maybe with the second group, while things weren't as fresh. We knew Tay was coming back last game. She was a little bit rusty. And we knew that Shepp was going to have to play a little bit more. So we just put her in there. Kendyl was great. She understood. Shepp was great. She understood. No one batted an eye, and she came up big. She made some freshman plays today, but she also hit some big shots. That last three she hit, if I was mic'd up, I was like, no, no, no, great shot, baby, good shot. It was just one of those deals, that's kind of what you deal with with a freshman, but she's very talented, and sometimes her success is because she just doesn't know any better. She doesn't know she's supposed to take that shot, but it was a dagger. She's done a good job, and she's given us a spark, and yeah, especially in the beginning when we needed some three-points, some plays. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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