Jan. 16, 2013

Recap | Box Score | Photo Gallery

Head Coach Muffet McGraw

Opening statement…
“I was very pleased with our defense tonight on Sugar Rodgers. She is a great player. Jewell Loyd did a great job guarding her. I thought we got off to a great start. We played well early. We ran our press well, got some easy baskets, but then the turnovers really hurt us. I think we are tired and still too young to understand that we have to battle back from fatigue. I think that we all hit the wall and our passing was not very sharp as a result of that. We could use a couple of days off, but we also need to have more mental toughness.”

On her confidence in Jewell Loyd guarding Sugar Rodgers…
“She has been really improving defensively throughout this season, and she has done a great job the past couple of games. She was certainly up for the challenge. I didn’t want to have Skylar guarding her, particularly after she picked up a couple of fouls. Jewell took a lot of pride in her defense tonight. I think our team defense on her was very good.”

On what makes Jewell Loyd such a good defender…
“It is definitely her quickness. She is very quick and she is very strong. That is a great combination for a defender. And she can also rebound. I think she has a lot of pride, and she is always up for a challenge. She is rising to the occasion.”

On the zero tolerance policy regarding technical fouls…
“They went to the monitor before they made the call following the elbow to the mouth. I think that was good. There is a very serious zero tolerance for any elbows that are thrown, and I think that the general sportsmanship is an issue. We want the women’s game to continue to display very good sportsmanship.”

On committing a season high in turnovers…
“The turnovers, I thought, were a lot of good ideas that we just didn’t catch. I think that the turnovers that bother me are the ones that are a result of very poor decisions. It is something that we can fix fairly easy.”

Notre Dame Player Quotes

Skylar Diggins, Senior, Guard

On being on the receiving end of nice passes…
“It is great. We definitely have some great passers on this team.”

On the development of Jewell Loyd…
“She is just a good basketball player. I think she cares about both ends of the court. She is not just about offense. She is the kind of player that just wants to get better every day. She is willing to work on any aspect of her game. She can guard the best player, and she can take the best player to the basket.”

On playing through fatigue…
“That was a team that presses often. We were trying to push the ball. I think we had a good start. There were a lot of possessions tonight, but it is not an excuse to say we had a game two days ago.”

Kayla McBride, Junior, Guard

On the team’s rhythm…
“I think there were a few possessions where we moved the ball very well. We were able to get the defense moving, and get layups and short jump shots. That is something we worked on in practice.”

Georgetown Head Coach Keith Brown

Opening Statements…
“It’s so great to be at Notre Dame. The hospitality has been outstanding. It was a difficult game, I thought we turned the ball over too much. I thought we had opportunities to [create turnovers]. Usually most teams have stated that they were sloppy. We just didn’t defend very well. We need get to a point where we take better shots and hit some shots. I thought our kids played hard and Notre Dame played hard.”

Notre Dame’s defense on Sugar Rodgers…
“Sugar sees some of the best defense from every team in the country. I thought they did a good job of switching out on her. When we tried to run our pick and rolls, they trapped them. Sugar had an off night. She hurt her hand in the first half. We thought she wouldn’t even play in the second half, [but she did], and that’s the kind of player she is. I thought ND did a good job on defense. But Notre Dame shooting 25 free throws in the first half probably had something to do with their defense on her.”

On adjustments following Notre Dame’s 20-4 start to cut deficit to 13 points…
“We went into our 1-3-1 full court and half-court press, and our rotations gave them some problems. Our kids did a good job of trapping the ball. It was nothing that Notre Dame hasn’t seen from us-we’ve been doing it for the past four to five years at Georgetown. It was one of those days where we got to a slow start. South Bend is one of the most intimidating places to play in the country. The fan base here is tremendous. They probably yelled at me more than I yelled at my kids. They do a very good job of playing to their crowd. When the crowd thinks they’re in trouble, they come through for [their team]. We straightened it out. Basketball is a game of runs, and I’d be shocked if we didn’t play anybody without going on a run. We’ve been fortunate enough to play UConn, Syracuse, and Notre Dame in a row. I thought we played UConn and Notre Dame well. We embarrassed ourselves at Syracuse, especially in the second half. If we can keep playing with this type of energy with our schedule evening out, let the chips fall where they may, but I think we’ll be OK.”

On Georgetown defense during Notre Dame’s run…
“I think our rotations were bad in the middle. Sometimes, [our players] are so young that they forget what they’re supposed to do. I just had a conversation with them now that you’ve got to believe in what you do no matter who you play. We created 28 turnovers from Notre Dame. It was 35-35 in the second half. ND went to the line 38 times, while we went to the free throw line only 17 times. Those things play a factor in the outcome. We got 17 steals. If we continue to do what we’re supposed to do for every 30-second possession, we’ll see good things. But I don’t think that we do that all the time. We get down on ourselves when we turn the ball over sometimes. I tell them all the time that they give out scholarships down here in South Bend too. You’re playing against Division I basketball players so you’re going to make mistakes. It’s how you respond to those mistakes and adversity is what makes the team. We’re still developing into the team we’re going to be by the time we go to the Big East [Tournament]. I’m a firm believer in that. They’re learning and coming along. We’ve just got to go step by step.”