Dec. 28, 2011

Recap | Box Score | Photo Gallery

Notre Dame Women’s Basketball
Notre Dame vs. Longwood
December 28, 2011
Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center – Notre Dame, Ind.

Notre Dame Head Coach Muffet McGraw

Opening statement…
“I’m happy with the game. I thought that we played with a lot of intensity. In the second half we came out of the locker room and played a good half-court man-to-man, and I was pleased with the offensive execution. We didn’t shoot particularly well today, but I thought that we did a good job rebounding.”

On Lindsay Schrader’s return to Notre Dame as a coach for Longwood…
“It was great to see her. When we played the “History” video before the game, and she was in it, I just had great memories of her as a player here [at Notre Dame], and it was great to bring her back. That was of course the main reason that we did play the game, to have her come back, and it was great for the team. I think they had a chance to spend some time with her, and it’s always great to bring former players back. I am really happy that she is coaching. I don’t know how long she will continue doing so, if she chooses to make it her career or not, but she is definitely gaining a lot of great experience right now.”

On Devereaux Peters going over 1,000 career points…
“I think the most impressive thing about her game today was that she missed her first four shots and then made her next nine. That was a great mental comeback for her. It is always difficult when you are around 1,000 points because you’re thinking about it. Every shot is closer to 1,000. I think it plays on your mind a little bit, so I was glad she was able to take a deep breath and finish it off. Then she did a great job on the boards too, so overall, she had an impressive stat line.”

On the large amount of playing time for players off of the bench…
“I was pleased with the bench today. I thought that they did a nice job taking care of the ball, and they kept up the intensity defensively. I thought that was really important. I think that Whitney Holloway is getting some great minutes, and I think that she is really going to help us. I think that she is still learning a lot of things and executing them well. So, overall, I’m pleased with the bench. The post players played well together and defensively.”

Longwood Head Coach Bill Reinson

Opening Statement…
“Well first of all, the experience was wonderful. The people around here are terrific. We were met with friendly faces and greetings everywhere we went. I guess what you hope to get out of a game like this is to see how teams do it right. You want to see how teams recruit the right student-athletes, to see how teams prepare them and to see how they compete. Obviously we’re not ready for basketball on this level, but it’s nice to be able to point to Notre Dame and teams like that and say, that’s what we would aspire to be, because they do everything right here, and it’s something that our girls need to see going forward.”

On the addition of Lindsay Schrader to the Longwood coaching staff…
“The addition of Lindsay Schrader was probably the best decision that I made since I took the job. She’s been wonderful. She’s very competitive and she works with our post players, even though she continually reminds me that she was a guard in college. But she’s very good with them. She’s tried to instill a sense of attitude and a sense of competitiveness and I think we’re still working on that, but overall she’s been a terrific hire and I couldn’t be happier with her.”

On Schrader’s insider view of Notre Dame Women’s Basketball…
“Well I guess that was a benefit. We knew a lot of the things that they were going to do. Unfortunately, you come into Notre Dame full strength and it’s just going to be a battle. We lost a couple of players on the road trip last week that played significant minutes for us, so it was even a bigger battle. We tried to sag in a little bit early, we tried to make them shoot jump shots, and they made them. The biggest thing about it was they just got out in transition and they were much, much better than we were today. There’s not much that you can scout and prepare for when you’re just going to get steamrolled. They had 30 offensive rebounds. Just their superior size and athletic ability, some things you just can’t defend against.”

On playing in this type of atmosphere…
“We played down at Miami, and the crowd and the atmosphere wasn’t nearly as great as it was today. And again that’s something good for the girls to see.”

Notre Dame Player Quotes

Devereaux Peters – Senior – Guard

On reaching 1,000 career points…
“It is exciting. I actually didn’t know. I had no idea how close I was to reaching 1,000. It just shows how much my teammates looked for me. Skylar [Diggins] actually yelled my name, which made me run faster to get to the ball. They were looking out for me because I had no clue, so I have some great teammates who gave me the ball.”

On the crowd reaction to her accomplishment…
“I was confused. I had no idea what was going on. The crowd just got really loud, and they hadn’t been that loud for most of the game. I just had no clue what was going on, and I was just wondering, ‘Why are they so loud?’ After I think Britney [Mallory] was trying to tell me, and I still had no idea, but at the next timeout they finally told me.”

On staying focused in today’s game…
“I think sometimes we lose focus a little bit, but Coach [McGraw] is quick to catch us on that. We regain focus pretty quickly. We really want to play every game like it’s against UConn or Tennessee, and sometimes we do lose focus a little bit, but the coaching staff does a great job of making sure we gain it back.”

Skylar Diggins – Junioro Guard

On her double-double…
“I didn’t think I had that many rebounds in the first half, and Coach [McGraw] just kept telling me to turn points into assists, so I was just trying to find people. I remember yelling at Kayla Turner to shoot the ball. Finally we set up a play where I made the pass on the wing to the post and Natalie Achonwa made the shot. I was really just looking for [Devereaux Peters]. Everyone on the team knew but Devereaux that she was close to 1,000 points. I was screaming for her.”

On the crowd today …
“It means a lot for us to have crowd support. For them to come out on a Wednesday at 2 p.m. is impressive. It’s easy to sell out a game against Tennessee or UConn or other top-25 teams, but when you play a team that isn’t in the top-25 and still sell out, I think it just says a lot about our program and our fans to still come out and support us, no matter what time, no matter what day.”