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BIG EAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 7, 2011

Devereaux Peters

HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT

Notre Dame Â– 71
DePaul - 67

THE MODERATOR: Notre Dame will face UCONN tomorrow night at 7:00 on the Big East Championship. Joining us is Head Coach Muffet McGraw, along with sophomore guard Skylar Diggins, freshman forward Natalie Achonwa, senior forward Devereaux Peters, and senior guard Brittany Mallory.
COACH McGRAW: It would be really hard to pick a player of the game when so many people contributed in so many big ways. Brittany at the end, and the free throw was the play of the game. I thought she did so many great things. I think the go ahead basket down the stretch, Skylar penetrated and she did a nice job on the boards. She played like a veteran. That was really great to see. I thought Skylar came out in the second half. And we just attacked. We played our game a little more in the second half. I was really pleased with the defense on Chester. I think she had 20 on us in the last game, and we held her to 0 for 7. I thought the double team was effective.
But Hampton, wow, she can really play. She did an outstanding job. We couldn't stop her, and luckily we had enough scoring on the other side to win the game.
THE MODERATOR: Questions for our student-athletes.

Q. Can you describe what happened at that play at the end of the game on the half court turnover?
BRITTANY MALLORY: They had been running that play where they screen down and came up for Hampton to go the one and one off the ball screen. I just cheated up a little higher than I usually did. It was a loopy pass, and I got a hand on it, and we dove after it, and luckily hit her out of bounds and we got the ball.

Q. Devereaux, can you talk about what adjustments you made in the second half to become more of a factor?
DEVEREAUX PETERS: I think I was just looking for it a little bit more, stepping in front of guards. Lot of times there were little guards on me looking for it. Just trying to step in front and get to the right spot. I don't think I was in the right spots I was supposed to be in. A lot of place that's we talked about at the half. I was trying to get to the right plates so my teammates could find me.

Q. Skylar, talk about the rivalry you have, the last five games were five points or less, and last week. Just talk about how it's become a rivalry between the schools?
SKYLAR DIGGINS: Them being close to us and being such a good team, we know we play them, and it's going to be competitive. We've got kids that play us from chi town. They've got kids that are looking at Notre Dame. It's just a competitive game. Everyone's going to be up for that game, and with it being so close, we go there and we know their fans are going to be up and their student section is going to be hyped. We come there and did the same thing. Being in a neutral ground was different. It's still a competitive game like you could see, and I think we were looking up to be able to come up with the victory.

Q. Natalie, can you talk about the difference between last Monday night and tonight? And just how you were able to be mentally tough and deliver for Notre Dame tonight?
NATALIE ACHONWA: I think we showed up where it really counted. We showed a lot of heart. Before the game even coming into the game we knew that we need revenge. We need to get them back for last week. It slipped away from us last week, and we weren't going to let that happen this week. I just tried to be physical. Tried to shut down Chester. We worked on it trapping her, double teaming her, Devereaux and I coming over for the trap. We took her out of the game. She didn't score at all. Like Coach said, Hampton did work. But that was a defensive goal for us, and we achieved that along with the win.

Q. Skylar, in the last I think it was probably the last 15 minutes, you guys started with a nine-point lead. You guys started a 9-0 run, pretty much at that point DePaul took over and made 50% of its shots over the last 16 or so minutes. What was different with it? Were they just making the shots and what were you doing to allow them to make the shots?
DEVEREAUX PETERS: It was a team thing. The team defense coming together. We really made sure that at halftime we really had a talk with each other. And it came down to team defense. Making sure we stepped up our intensity. Stepped up our focused and made sure we stayed together in the defense and in the game period. That showed the difference. We played with more emotion, we played with more tenacity, and we just played with more stick-to-ittiveness. When you play a team like that, you have to maintain that enthusiasm and focus throughout the game for 40 minutes. We were able to come together enough to escape.

Q. That game in 2004, do you know what happened then?
SKYLAR DIGGINS: That game against Connecticut, I believe. I was a fan watching it. They wrote a book about it. So I don't like that book. Obviously we know it's a great opportunity for our program. It's going to be great to a team like that team, okay, UCONN. Yeah, we played them so many times and we know we're going to be up and ready for that game. I think this is a great game to beat a great team like that and carry the momentum into tomorrow night is going to be great. It's going to be a great atmosphere for basketball, we'll be up and excited and hopefully we'll come out with a championship and one for Coach McGraw.

Q. What, if anything, did you learn from the first UCONN games, and how much did that help you tomorrow night?
DEVEREAUX PETERS: First game, I think we could beat them. The mistakes that we made were ours in the second game we didn't avoid that. We knew what we had to do, we watched film on it over and over. We worked on it in practice. And we're going to come out tomorrow, be intense.
We have to start like we did in the first two games. We had great starts and have to maintain that and make sure we stay together. I think when this team stays together and we have people clicking, we're a dangerous team. I think our best basketball has been has yet to be played.

Q. Can you talk about the second half adjustments with Devereaux and in rebounding?
COACH McGRAW: You know, I think they got determined in the second half. I thought in the first half we weren't getting any offensive rebounds, they were killing us on the boards. We talked about rebounding at halftime. It was a big push for us, and I thought both Becca and Dev did a good job, along with Ace in the second half. That was our main focus that along with stopping Hampton.

Q. You said it would be hard to pick a player in this game. How valuable is Skylar down the stretch and setting a tone for you guys?
COACH McGRAW: Every time we got the ball in transition, that's what we wanted. She was attacking the bass set, getting to the foul line that was the best shot she could get. She plays with the speed, her attack mentality, her competitiveness, she makes a huge difference in our team.

Q. Can you talk about the difference between Achonwa from last Monday to this Monday?
COACH McGRAW: I thought she battled defensively. As a freshman playing against a fifth year senior, I thought she did a good job. She played with more confidence than she had been playing in the last couple of weeks. But tonight she was a completely different player. She was strong with the ball. She was confident. I think the offense helped her defense or vice versa.
But I think she played well at both ends of the floor, and that was a huge improvement from where she was.

Q. First off, where does Becca's status, because she went back to the locker room, and also for you, I mean, you were the only one in this group that's been around for the ten-year anniversary of it, and fitting that you play them ten years later in the title game?
COACH McGRAW: Yeah, I hadn't thought of that. That is very fitting. I'm not sure what Becca's status is. I haven't had a chance to talk to the trainer. But she's doubtful for tomorrow. But it's great to be back in the championship game. It's been a long stretch for us, so we're happy to be there.

Q. I was just wondering if you can expand on what exactly happened to Becca and why do you think she's doubtful?
COACH McGRAW: I would think it was her ribs. They took her back. I don't think they had a chance to get an X-ray or anything. They brought her back to the bench. But I think they'll probably check it out. We did have a doctor with us, and he's probably with her right now. So we'll probably find out more later. But she took a hard shot and a hard fall.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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