Virginia Quotes
Virginia Head Coach Debbie Ryan
Opening statement…
“I was really proud of our effort today. I thought we came out ready to play. We got ourselves in a nice offensive flow and we played very good defense in the first half. We came out in the first five minutes of the second half and continued to play good defense, but the doors flew off and we could not handle Ingram.”
On the play of Michigan’s Alayne Ingram…
“She went on a tear against us in the second half, hitting all those threes, and we did not defend it very well. She got on a roll today. She hit those two threes and then penetrated and tore us apart. I didn’t really have anybody that stepped up to help and try to stop her.”
On switches made to stop Ingram…
“I took Telisha (Quarles) off her and put Chelsea Whitaker on her. Chelsea made a couple mistakes, but it did not matter. She was playing so well.
On selection of shots in the second half…
“I think some of the shots were not very good shots. I thought we took too many jumpers in the second half. We were not doing the things as well as we were in the first half. We got out of sync, and then we started to get out of control. That is why I called all those timeouts, to get them back under wraps and to take better shots.
On the overtime period…
“I was dissappointed in the overtime result, but you have to give the credit to Michigan. They came out and put the ball inside and pounded us.”
On defensive play in the second half…
“I felt like our defense was not very good in the second half. The first five minutes we were fine, but then I noticed a definite drop off right before the media timeout. I could see it in the way we were approaching everything. Basically it was our defense that was a problem in the second half.”
On the pre-overtime talk to the team…
“I told them this was the start of the game again. We were really in a great position because seventy percent of the time the team that sends the game into overtime wins. I was trying to build up there confidence and I told Schuye (LaRue) it was time to take over and make good decisions, and help the team to make good decisions.”
Junior guard Telisha Quarles
On Michigan’s performance in the second half…
“Coach Ryan told us they were a second-half team, and for the first five minutes we were playing really good defense and our shots were falling for us and everything, but in the end we just couldn’t put them away.”
On wanting the win for Coach Ryan …
“We just wanted this win so bad. I can’t even explain to you how badly we wanted this win, not only for Coach Ryan, but for ourselves.”
Sophomore forward Schuye LaRue
On her team’s performance in overtime. . .
“I don’t think it was hard to get our intensity back up. We just didn’t play great defense and then we couldn’t get a bucket for a while. It hurts when you can’t score. You have to put points on the board.”
On Michigan’s post players . . .
“(Alayne) Ingram really took it upon herself to make up for the fact other players weren’t scoring. We had pretty good defense on the other players. Every time down, they wound up with 10 seconds left, and she just took it – off those high screens, three points, or penetrate to the basket.”
On her three-point basket to send the game to overtime…
“I just knew we needed three points. The time was winding down, so I took the shot and it went in. I think I had a pretty good look at it because she wasn’t that tall, so I could see the basket. I was pretty confident that I would get it off.”
Michigan Quotes
Michigan head coach Sue Guevara
On her team’s victory…
“It was a great comeback by our team. I love the way that they competed. I thought that they certainly answered the challenge in the second half. I thought that we came out with a lot of intensity in the overtime. We didn’t do quite what we wanted to do in regulation, but we came back, we withstood it. We took care of the basketball in the second half. It’s a big win for our program. You saw not just one player step up to the plate, but you saw maybe four or five or six players step up to the plate. They couldn’t concentrate on just one. I thought Anne Thorius did a very nice job of playing with four fouls. When she went out, Ingram did a great job of running the point. We were kind of worried because Anne had been setting her up to score, but I’m very happy for the win. I look forward to playing Monday night.”
On her team’s technical adjustments at halftime…
“I didn’t think that we were attacking the basket. If you look at Alayne, she goes 0-3 in the first half. If I’m not mistaken, all of those shots were three-pointers or just inside the arc. We weren’t attacking. One of our strengths is to get to the free throw line, and I don’t think that we were. If you look at the second half, it was penetration, penetration, penetration. She got the feel. She had a couple threes where she was out at WNBA range, and they went in. It was a matter of shot selection and a matter of attacking the basket.”
On the play of freshman center Jennifer Smith…
“I think she grew up a lot in practice. You saw Smitty, and she didn’t have a good Big Ten tournament, and she knew that. You also have to remember that she had a bum ankle. She’s had a couple of weeks to rest that ankle, and you saw her get up and down the floor. I don’t have to tell her when she makes a mistake on defense or doesn’t catch a ball. She knows it. I just have to give her that gentle reminder sometimes, and she responds. She’s very coachable.”
On the post defense…
“Look at Virginia. They are very athletic. They were going to try and defend us with their quickness, which I think they did. Sooner or later, when our beefeaters get in there and start moving their feet a little more, they wear them down. That’s why you go to the weight room.”
On what was going through her head when Anne Thorius collected her fourth foul…
“I was thinking, ‘Oh God, please. I don’t want to have to take her out.’ But I knew I had to make this decision. When she picked up that fourth foul, the first thing she did was turn to me and shake her head. I was thinking, ‘I agree. But you still have to come out.’ She came out for just a couple of minutes, and then we changed her matchup.”
On her rotation in a possible Notre Dame matchup…
“We’re going to go out to dinner with Notre Dame and see what they’re eating. I’ve been watching tape, and we might have to go to what it was like when I played, six players.”
On Michigan’s play at the end of regulation…
“We didn’t execute what we had wanted to. There were nine seconds left on the clock, and I called a time out. We were going to foul. We had three fouls to give so that they couldn’t get a three-point shot. We wanted to let one or two seconds roll off when the ball went in and then foul. Then there are seven seconds left. They get the ball back, and we let a few more seconds tick off. Then we foul again. We didn’t want that type of shot. We didn’t want a tie ball game. We didn’t foul.”
On Michigan’s first-ever first round victory…
“I thought that our number-eight seed was fair. I think in that respect, the NCAA did respect us because we got a number-eight seed after finishing fifth in the Big Ten. But this win is a step for our program. It was on television, so maybe next time we’ll get a vote or two. It was a step. It’s what we have to do to get what Notre Dame has here with their women.”
Michigan senior guard Anne Thorius
On the team’s attitude following Schuye LaRue’s game-tying three-pointer at the end of regulation…
“I think that the mindset of this team is that we don’t give up in the second half. The second half is our half, and that has showed in the past couple of games that we played. Obviously, it’s not fun to see that ball go in the basket, but we’ve been there before. We just go in and take another five minutes and play the game that we want to pay.”
On Virginia’s reliance on Schuye LaRue down the stretch…
“I think we knew that they were going to go to her a lot. And I think that Raina [Goodlow] did a good job on her. When she got past Raina, there was always someone there to help. She did have really tough shots, and she hit some of those shots. That’s just the type of player she is. Again, we’re a second half team, and that really showed today.”
On the team’s mindset going into halftime…
“We can’t play 40 minutes like we did in the first half. Alayne and I have played together for so long that we know each other’s capabilities and what we can bring to this team. I don’t think we ever doubted that we would step it up in the second half. You saw Alayne today, and she was just outstanding in the second half.”
On the role of last year’s overtime loss to Stanford in the first round of the 2000 NCAA Tournament…
“To be honest with you, I didn’t even think about it. It’s a completely new game, a new team.”
On the play of freshman center Jennifer Smith…
“I think Jennifer really stepped it up today. What we saw from her in the Big Ten tournament is not what she is able to do and what she is able to bring to this team. She really lived up to her abilities and her talents today. When you have both Bies and Jennifer inside and also Raina, the defense can’t just concentrate on one post player. There are two post players that can hit from outside and that can take it to the basket on their own.”
Michigan junior guard Alayne Ingram
On her second half performance…
“Coach G told me to have some fun. In the first half, I didn’t come out as intense, and I wasn’t looking to be aggressive and attack the basket. In the second half, I just thought I’d go out there and have some fun and do what I came to Michigan to do. That’s to win and play hard, so that’s what I tried to do in the second half.”
On her approach when Anne went to the bench with four fouls…
“When Anne went down, it was a big loss because she does handle the ball so much. She gives us so much more, and I had to step up and make sure that I would get people the ball like she did.”
On her career-high 27 points in the second half…
“It’s not something that happens everyday, but it’s been a trend with this team all season. In the past, I have not played as well in the first half and then come out in the second half and played more aggressively. Today, was a different type of day. It was a good day for me.”
On the team’s mindset going into halftime…
“Anne and I talk a lot about what we need to do in order for the team to win. One of the things she said to me today that really stuck with me was that she didn’t want her career to be over today. That’s something that’s special. I just felt that, in the first half, I didn’t come out and do my best to not have her career end today. That was what I tried to do in the second half. I’m not sick of playing with her yet.”
On her team’s three-point outburst in the second half…
“I don’t we looked at it as what we needed to do to win. We were just taking what the defense gave us. That was the shot that was open, and in the second half, they fell. In the second half, we took what the defense gave. We looked inside, and that left it open for Anne and I to penetrate. Then a three-pointer was open.”
Michigan sophomore center LeeAnn Bies
On the team’s attitude following Schuye LaRue’s game-tying three-pointer at the end of regulation…
“I felt it was still our game because we had had the lead, and they came back. Then we were up by five, and they came back and scored those five. I still felt that we had the momentum after coming back from an 11-point deficit. We were still playing our game, and it showed.”
On the less influential role of the post game today…
“You have to give them credit, but I think it was more that I wasn’t attacking. The shots that I was taking weren’t very good shots. In the second half, I started to go at them. Raina was going at it the whole game.”