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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 6, 2014Quentin HillsmanBrittney SykesGREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA Syracuse – 63 COACH QUENTIN HILLSMAN: I think this game just came down to just playing hard. It's funny, because when you go into this game and I look back at the tape we played Clemson the first time, they just do a lot of good things in the zone. They spread us out. They put themselves in a situation where most teams you just settle. But when you look at their roster and the players that should be taking 3s, take them, players that shouldn't, drive. We need to concentrate on their personnel and knew who was in our area and who was in front of us. I give them a lot of credit. Audra is doing an awesome job. She's getting them to play hard and play the right way against our zone. As far as our team, it was about waking up this morning and trying ‑‑ I didn't care how we got it, I just wanted to get it. And I thought going into this game, we thought about balance. I thought we had a ton of balance. When you look down our stat lines, everyone played and everyone contributed to this win. So I'm very happy about the win. I thought that late second half we just got isolated and got some good looks at the basket. Everybody helped us win the basket game. Q. Quentin, what did you tell Brittney and Brianna at halftime? They were combined 0 for 6, they had no points. I know you had to be concerned about that. COACH QUENTIN HILLSMAN: Yeah, I was concerned. I told them they were awful. I told them they were awful. I really did. I said if our two best players play awful we're going to lose the basketball game. That's what I told them. You've got to pick it up, we depend on you, and you guys have to play better. Q. Brittney, was it a matter of working through things when the shots weren't falling and just hanging in there? BRITTNEY SYKES: In the first half, me and Brianna were 0 for 6, but for me, it was just a matter of just staying confident and knowing that the shots that I usually make were rimming out, and I know I could make those shots. It was keeping confidence and staying out of my own head. Q. Were you able to wear them down a little bit? You just kind of kept after them? COACH QUENTIN HILLSMAN: That was important for us to push tempo and to keep pressuring. They did a really good job of spreading you out. And once they get you spread out they attack you really well on the backside of your press. But we thought if we could continue and press them and get a few traps and steals, that they would have to get out of that and get into something different. I thought everybody helped us, yes. Q. La'Shay Taft really kept you in the game in the first half. Could you talk about her playing, everybody focuses on Butler and Sykes so much, but you really had another player step up and start nailing some threes. And I thought that was a big key, the reason you led in the first half. COACH QUENTIN HILLSMAN: Yeah, definitely. When you look back at the games that we won, that we consider big games, and the games that are résumé builders, La'Shay Taft played well at the Paradise Jam. She's a very explosive scorer. And she's the one ‑‑ one of the kids that has a neon light. If you want to shoot it, shoot it, we'll figure it out on the back end. She's going to just shoot it, so just let her go. Q. This is for both of you, is your depth something that can maybe help you through the next ‑‑ you get to play multiple games on multiple days, is that something that can come through for you? COACH QUENTIN HILLSMAN: Yes, for sure. We talk about getting four players in double figures. We talk about getting ten players double figure minutes every night. And we can continue to keep fresh bodies in the game and we can continue to have ten players give us production in our positions, it will be huge. I think in the post, it really hurt us a lot driving in the middle of our zone, so we used all three of our centers, I thought Briana Day came in, she only played three minutes, but she did an awesome job of getting some stops, getting some rebounds. She got loose balls. She played with energy. I thought tonight it was her. Q. Brittney, would you care to elaborate on tomorrow's opponent a little bit and your thoughts about playing them again? BRITTNEY SYKES: Well, I know now that the regular season is over and we're in ACC tournament we kind of figured out and put the teams in the place they would be, and now that we see we're playing them, I think the whole team and the coaching staff we're all excited and we're ready to play them again, because we lost a tough one at NC State, and we really wanted to face them again, because we know we can win them. We're playing them tomorrow, same time, same area, we're going to go out and do game prep and be ready to play against them. Q. This was your first ACC tournament, were you surprised at an atmosphere for an 11 o'clock game in the morning? What were your thoughts on that? It sounded pretty loud in there. COACH QUENTIN HILLSMAN: No, I wasn't surprised because they've been warning me, if anybody has that high school game you're not going to be able to hear yourself think. And I wanted to say, you guys be quiet, because I can't ‑‑ I really can't hear, and they can't hear me. It was an awesome atmosphere. You get to a venue like this, and you have young kids that are coming to the game, probably one of the most unbiased crowds that I've faced. They cheer for everybody. It's funny, they cheered for us one possession, are you with us? We've got to give them credit for their enthusiasm throughout the game. It was a great atmosphere, great venue, same thing tomorrow, hopefully it will be great, same thing. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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