ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 5, 2021

Elizabeth Kitley

Virginia Tech Hokies

Postgame Press Conference

NC State 68, Virginia Tech 55

Q. You put up a lot of points today, but that State defense overall was tough for you guys. What about NC State's defense was challenging today?

ELIZABETH KITLEY: I think they can put a lot of pressure on the ball, and we didn't handle it as we should have all the time. Besides that, I think we still made some good plays.

Q. Obviously that was the first time you battled with Elissa this year because she missed those regular season meetings. You both had good games. What was that matchup like for you tonight?

ELIZABETH KITLEY: I mean, we're pretty familiar with each other, so it's like being home again. I think we both like playing against each other because I think it makes us both better.

Q. That second quarter obviously they took control and it was hard for you guys to buy a basket there. What about that second quarter changed?

ELIZABETH KITLEY: I mean, yeah, we just couldn't really hit a shot, and so when that happens and you can't stop every play that they do, it's going to be hard to stay close.

Q. How different did this NC State team feel tonight compared to the previous two meetings?

ELIZABETH KITLEY: I mean, honestly not too different. We still had the same like principles and ideas and scout besides one player. Like we still had the same defensive mentality, I guess, and offensive.

Q. A year ago after a loss in the ACC Tournament it was kind of, okay, gear up now towards NCAAs, which you guys didn't end up playing. What's the mentality now, now that you know that there's an NCAA Tournament to play for as you guys wait and see where you guys are going to go next?

ELIZABETH KITLEY: I mean, we're going to let this loss sting for maybe an hour or whatever and then we're just going to move on. We're looking forward to playing our next game.

Q. Could you speak to the difficulty of trying to get together kind of like a string of stops on the defensive end? How mentally taxing was that, you'd get one stop but you couldn't get a few of them to go in a row there?

ELIZABETH KITLEY: Yeah, it was a combination of that and the lack of rebounding that we couldn't get that was frustrating. I mean, we know if we can't do that we're not going to win games, so we'll have to adjust that.