Feb. 25, 2012

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Notre Dame Head Coach Muffet McGraw

On today’s game…
“What a great ending to a big day. It was an emotional day, but to go out with two career highs – Natalie [Novosel] getting 32 points and Devereaux [Peters] getting 18 rebounds. It was an amazing game to give us a BIG EAST Championship. It’s an amazing accomplishment for this group that has done so much for us the last four years and to see the impact they’ve had on the program. What they’ve done for us has been so fun to watch. It’s going to be really hard next year to go on without them because this is a group that has really been in my heart. There is going to be a big hole [in my heart] when they leave.”

On Natalie Novosel’s play…
“She made her first shot, and she was off to the races from there. She really looked comfortable offensively.”

On how teams attack Notre Dame’s press…
“Teams have been attacking it differently. We got a few turnovers early, but a lot of times they flood the backcourt and they have too many people for us to guard when we double team. Our press was ineffective and I thought [USF] handled it very well.”

On Skylar Diggins run to help expand the Irish lead…
“It was huge because it helped us respond to their run and start a run of our own. It was probably good for us to play from behind. We don’t do that a lot and it was good for us. Skylar’s [Diggins] defense really created a lot of turnovers. She got two or three steals in a row for layups. She had a mini-run of her own and that broke the game open.”

On the significance of winning the regular-season BIG EAST title…
“It’s been since 2001, so these girls finally have something to brag about to Niele [Ivey]. She reminds them often enough of what she accomplished. It’s an amazing accomplishment in a conference that is so difficult and for us to play the most difficult schedule in the league. We went to a lot of ranked teams and earned all those wins on the road. We definitely earned it.”

On Monday’s game vs. Connecticut…
“It’ll be a big game on Monday, but they’ll be less pressure on us now that we already have a share of the BIG EAST title. We can relax, have fun and play like we enjoy playing. We’re much better when we play relaxed.”

Notre Dame Player Quotes

Natalie Novosel – Sr. – Guard

On posting a career high 32 points…
“Coach [Muffet McGraw] said that it was fitting. It was nice to have a great shooting day in our last game at home. I was lucky to make a shot early to build my confidence from the start.”

On her time at Notre Dame…
“Each year has been different. I have absolutely loved each year even more. It’s been an amazing experience, and I can’t wait to keep playing even more.”

On being recognized on Senior Day…
“It was really humbling. It didn’t really hit me until I was walking out there and I was in the spotlight.”

On Monday’s game vs. Connecticut…
“It’s going to be nice to have the pressure on them and not on us. We just have to go out there and play our game. My job is just to shoot the ball and attack them. That’s going to be my mentality.”

Devereaux Peters – Sr. – Forward

On her time at Notre Dame…
“It’s been amazing, to say the least. Coming here was the best decision I made on my own in my life. It’s been an amazing ride these last five years. Someone asked me the other day about being injured and asked if I would do it again. I would absolutely do it again, so I can keep playing with this team. It’s been a great ride with Coach (Muffet) McGraw and everybody here. They’ve had a great influence on my life.”

On having to work for everything in the game today…
“It was rough, but it was worth it with UConn on Monday. We knew it was going to be a physical game. They weren’t backing down today and we were playing physical to the very last second. It was good to get a taste of what the game is going to be like on Monday.”

On being recognized on Senior Day…
“I’ve been here forever, so I’ve come to terms with [leaving]. I’ve finally accepted that it’s time for me to go.”

On winning the second BIG EAST title in program history…
“It’s huge for the program. Like Coach (McGraw) said, we’re going to bring about this to Niele [Ivey] for quite some time. We would like to win the title outright, so we can be one up on her. That’s really the plan. We just want to do it for Coach (McGraw) because she has never had the outright title before.”

USF Head Coach Jose Fernandez

On battling the Irish…
“This group’s battled all year. If you look at our box scores – that’s why you look at RPI and strength of schedule. I know there’s a big talk on doing some different things on the men’s side. We lost to Rutgers by four, to West Virginia by three, Louisville on the road by six. We were down to UConn by three at half. This group’s really defended and battled all year with the amount of adversity that we’ve had all season long. We had our best player not play for four games – who was our leading scorer – with a concussion. Our returning all-BIG EAST player hasn’t played one minute for us all season. The amount of injuries we’ve had – I can’t be prouder of this group. At the end of the game there we’re up three, had a transition break and went up five, then we got a little winded and we tried to use the bench. Notre Dame was able to spring some buckets together. We went from up three to down four. We went to the free throw line and only made one of two. We just could never battle from there. I’m proud of this bunch. We have a chance to go back home and finish .500 in the BIG EAST.”

On the BIG EAST Tournament…
“I keep saying it – I’m conference captain for this league and a top-25 voter for this league. It doesn’t get any stronger than the BIG EAST. If you look at the history of what this league’s done in the last six or seven years in the NCAA tournament and the NIT and look at the amount of teams we’ve got in the top 25 and in the top 100. It’s a battle night in and night out. Monday we’re going to go for 8-8. Honestly, if three, four, five or six possessions we’re different we may be looking at 10-6 or 11- 5 (as a BIG EAST record). We’ve got to win on Monday and then string some wins together in the BIG EAST Tournament.”

On the game plan against Notre Dame…
“We wanted to take away transition baskets and try to slow them down early – that didn’t work. Notre Dame got what they wanted early, but we answered their runs. We wanted to keep stuff in front of us (defensively), and we were able to play four perimeters and switch. When they went with their two bigs (Peters and Achonwa), that lineup really hurt us. Tahira Johnson went down with her hip. That really hurt us because she’s aggressive and physical. When she went out of the game that changed some things for us. Natalie Novosel’s good, she’s really good. I like her game. She’s probably one of the most underrated players in the country, to be honest with you. She does all the little things because not only can she shoot it, she can score and also defends well. She doesn’t take a play off. I really like her as a basketball player.”