Feb. 26, 2015

Recap | Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery

Notre Dame Head Coach Muffet McGraw

Opening statement…
“This was an unusual Senior Night; I thought we got off to a great start, which doesn’t usually happen. I thought the seniors did an especially good job tonight, especially Markisha (Wright). She was really focused, came in ready, and played really well. There were a lot of lineups in the first half, and I thought we were a little out of sync at times but we had some nice spurts. I thought Brianna (Kiesel) showed why she is one of the best players in the conference, because we just really could not guard her. She got to the foul line, did everything that she wanted to do and played really well.”

On Markisha Wright’s performance and legacy…
“That was her season high in points. I thought she was just really efficient today. Whitney (Holloway) did a great job of finding her and she was moving well, cutting to the basket, the pick and roll was working, and it was fun tonight. She’s been so steady and dependable for four years. She’s always a hard worker at practice every day, always thinking about her teammates first, always encouraging, so unselfish, never worried about herself. I think she’s left a really nice legacy.”

On hitting the first 11 shots of the second half…
“We really finally found our rhythm. We were scoring in transition, making shots, using the screen. I thought we were executing well, Brianna (Turner) was (7 for 8) and a lot of it was during that stretch. We just played a really intelligent game during that stretch.”

On the senior class…
“They have been incredibly dependable and stable. They are the group that has never been in trouble. We’ve always been able to count on them academically; we’ve never had to have a meeting with any of them, because they’re always right on whatever they’re supposed to be doing. They’ve been exceptional role models for this team.”

Markisha Wright – Forward – Senior

On her performance…
“I thought it was going to be a lot more emotional today. I’m really excited that I’ve gotten to play with this wonderful group of girls, and these wonderful coaches. It’s going to be sad when I have to leave, but its not over yet. Today, Whitney (Holloway) was able to find me and there were a lot of pretty easy shots that I hit.”

Jewell Loyd – Guard – Junior

On Markisha Wright’s performance…
“She’s a very hard worker. She’s the best screener. She’s loyal to that screen and she’s going to do her job on the screen and roll. She knows her role and she’s the best at it. She comes in, she knows what she has to do, and she’s the hardest worker on this team.”

On Markisha Wright’s impact on this team…
“She’s able to connect with people on a different people. If I can’t connect with someone I know that she can because she’s just very personable. She’s a great leader of our team. “

On the strong second-half start…
“We were just in a groove. I think the energy level was very high. When you see your teammates making shots, it just gets contagious. We love cheering each other on, and its just great to see.”

On sending the seniors out with a win…
“For us we just wanted to send the seniors out right. They bust their butts every day in practice, and they play so hard. For us to come out like that, it was great for them and we were able to send them out the right way.”

Pittsburgh Head Coach Suzie McConnell-Serio

“This was a learning experience for us in a lot of ways, but credit Notre Dame–they were so efficient on the offensive end across the board. We talked about challenging shots and staying in plays and they just found ways to pick us apart. That’s what makes them so dangerous and so good. They have weapons at every position, they have depth, [and] they don’t skip a beat when they’re on the floor. One of the things I worried about coming into this game was finding ways to score, and I was pleasantly surprised by the looks we got. We didn’t knock down shots consistently enough, but through the course of the game I thought we had a lot of open looks. I thought [Pitt guard] Brianna Kiesel was impressive with everything they threw at her: hedging screens, switching screens, face-guarding her, [and] trying to disrupt what she brings to our team. Basically she’s our Jewell Loyd, and they tried to take her out but she put up an impressive performance tonight. I’m very proud of the way our team continued to fight against a great Notre Dame team.”

On Markisha Wright’s performance…
“I’ve always been impressed by her, watching her over the years. She has started many games in the past–I think she and Natalie Achonwa fed off of each other a lot–so when she was in the starting line-up, it wasn’t a surprise and we knew the type of player that she was. She came out and was impressive from the very beginning.”

On Notre Dame’s reputation in the league…
“The perception is that they’re very good. You have to respect every player on the floor, which makes them so dangerous. They shoot the three well, they get to the rim, they read the counters, they read when you cheat–they pick defenses apart, and I think that makes them very dangerous on the floor.”

On Notre Dame’s high-percentage shooting in the second half…
“We were really trying to defend, but they were just efficient.”

On Monica Wignot’s performance…
“Monica’s been so special for us–what an amazing addition to our team: the leadership, the experience, being a college student athlete for four years, understanding what it takes to be successful. She doesn’t say much, but when she does, the players listen. She has their respect and she has been everything and more than we could’ve wanted: a scorer, a rebounder, a defender–she leads our team in blocks–her instincts on the floor. Sometimes she leads our team in assists. She just impacts a game and can fill the stat sheet up. She has really been a difference maker for our team, there’s no doubt about it.”

Brianna Kiesel – Senior – Guard

On playing against Notre Dame…
“They’re a great team, they’re the number one team in our conference right now, so we just wanted to go out there and give it our all. We’re a very young team but I thought as a whole we didn’t give up. You love playing against good competition. The ACC is full of competitors, and so we just go out there and give it our all. I don’t think the score shows how hard we fought, but it just goes to show that Notre Dame is a very good team.”

On the frustration of Notre Dame
“They’re home, and when you’re home you hit big shots. When we’re home, we shoot the ball decently too. We tried our best–we had some good looks too–we just didn’t hit them as well as Notre Dame did.”

On her performance…
“I don’t really pay attention to how I score, but I did have four turnovers and that’s what I really look at. Coach runs really good plays, and we did the horn set a lot and it worked for us, just because there was a post player on us. It was a switch, and Coach just kept telling me to use the screen. I don’t use the screen, so I get yelled at a lot for that, but when I do use it I usually get a good shot.”