Feb. 12, 2011
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Notre Dame Women’s Basketball
Notre Dame vs. Rutgers
February 12, 2011
Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center – Notre Dame, Ind.
Notre Dame Head Coach Muffet McGraw
Opening statement…
“I thought that stretch in the second half was the best we played all year long. We got the press going and shot the ball extremely well, which is unusual against Rutgers because they’re such a great defensive team. It was a close game in the beginning. We really thought it was going to be that type of game. They’re an excellent team. They have great guard play, good inside play, and we really got it going on the defensive end, which I like to see. We finished it with great baskets. Brittany Mallory with a double-double, first in her career, Skylar (Diggins) and Dev(ereaux Peters) with 20 and 21 (points). We did our job on the boards, and really played well.”
On the lethargic atmosphere for first 30 minutes…
“We talked about that at halftime. I thought we were playing their pace in the first half for sure, and then Skylar got it into high gear. She started pushing the ball and when she does that we are at our best. She was finding people at one end, driving and attacking the basket. That’s what makes us go. We don’t want to stand around. They made us play their pace.”
On the refs letting the girls play…
“I thought they really did a good job letting us play. I think it was consistent both ways. That’s the kind of game we like to play. When you stop the clock with a lot of fouls and things, I think it takes away from the spectators and fans. I thought it was great; they just let us play.”
On what was behind breaking the game open in 2nd half…
“Defense. Dev was up in the press, Sky was up in the press. We got some steals in that stretch and were able to convert those into layups. We definitely got it going in that stretch.”
On three pointers acting as a trigger for runs…
“I think that was really important when we got up 12 or 13. They were going to be really patient on offense, and I thought with four minutes to go we were looking really good. Then when we got the big lead, I thought Brittany’s (Mallory) three was the nail on the coffin, and Skylar’s really put them away. I thought those two threes definitely were critical.”
On Brittany’s accomplishments…
“I had no idea. She threw some great passes, but I had no idea she was getting 10 (assists). She threw that one pass to Natalie [Achonwa] inside late that was really nice. (Brittany’s) been our best defender all year and on the other team’s best player. She really did it on offense tonight.”
On the big picture with this win for league championship…
“It’s huge. I thought if we could win this one, looking at the stretch we have yet to face and the teams behind us with four losses, we have the tiebreaker with everyone behind us. I think we are really in great shape and can focus on the next game. To be in the position we’re in right now, we feel good.”
Rutgers Head Coach C. Vivian Stringer
On the second half strategy…
“Coming out of the first half, we thought that we would speed it up by going into our press and picking up in man. We kind of just fizzled out. I think (Skylar) Diggins is an outstanding guard. They (Notre Dame) have an excellent team and execute well.”
On Rutgers’ struggles today …
“I thought that we started going to our old selves, which is not a good form of ourselves. There were extra passes on the perimeter that we needed to make today. It’s not about the person making the pass, it’s about the angle of the pass. We just needed to be as patient as we were in the first half. We have the capability and the talent, but we have a hard time of using that.”
On the potential of this Notre Dame team…
“I like their chemistry. I think it would help them if they had a really big girl at the center position. As you know, Ruth Rileys don’t come around every day. The way they execute, their ability to hit shots, and their mental toughness are what stand out to me. You’ve got to give it to Diggins, though, because she plays like a professional, and she’s smart enough to keep going to her strengths. They run the floor well and play good post defense as well.”
Notre Dame Players
Skylar Diggins – Sophomore – Guard
On trying to force your style of play on Rutgers…
“A team like Rutgers, they want to slow it down, press and slow us down. We talked about that at halftime just pushing the ball. We only had 29 points at half, so we tried to come back and really start pushing. Once we got into our game, we got into our press more and scored fast break baskets and that’s how we get our momentum and our crowd involved.”
On maturity to wait for your game to come along…
“I think so. We just have to do what Coach (McGraw) wants, that’s what it’s all about. We’re better when pushing the ball. We’re an up-tempo team and we know that. We were playing at a slower pace at the beginning of the game, but once we started pushing the ball, we got out and that’s our style of play. We made them speed up and I don’t think they liked that. Then we got steals off of that, but making sure we set the tempo of the game is really important.”
On Brittany’s passing…
“I thought she did a really good job of seeing the floor. Brittany’s a great passer, rebounder and defender. She was getting steals and going (in transition). She was doing a good job of finding us coming off of screens and in transition, pushing the ball up the court, and her teammates did a great job in finishing. Brittany is going to do whatever you need her to do. One night she could rebound for you, another get five steals, or 10 assists, and then she can score as well. I think she did a little bit of everything tonight, and did a great job on making sure to distribute the ball.”
Devereaux Peters – Senior – Forward
On keeping a level head with so much physical play…
“I think you have to know going in that Rutgers is a very physical team. They are (physical) every year. We’ve been getting a lot of that physicality a lot throughout the year. I think teams want to be physical with us, and we’ve gotten used to it. We just have to take the hits and keep it moving or it’s going to hurt our game more than hurt theirs.”
On handling getting physical better now than earlier this season…
“I think so. Early on I would get really frustrated when I was hit, and it would hurt my game because I couldn’t finish. I was getting so frustrated that I couldn’t do what I wanted to do. I think everybody brought it up to me that it’s hurting us more than it is them, so I tried to make a point of keeping my head and calm down by not letting it frustrate me.”
Brittany Mallory – Senior – Guard
On having enough left for offense when playing defense against a really physical team…
“It’s just my teammates, knowing they’re going to be there. I play for my team, and if I’m tired, I have to dig it out a little more until the next whistle blows or media timeout. I know they’re going to do the same thing for me, so I can’t give up on them.”
On impact of her three-pointer to start the 11-0 second-half run…
“I think once we started pushing the ball we got back into our offense, scoring when we wanted to. For the three, Kaila (Turner) found me and it seemed to spark a lot for us. We took that and kept going to finish the game.”
Rutgers Players
Chelsey Lee – Junior – Forward
On the game…
“The game was very physical. My mindset was to keep playing hard and not give into the pressure of breaking. I approached the game today the same way that I have approached every game this year.”
On how the game got away…
“We started bleeding and we didn’t know how to stop. We wanted to step up, but nobody was able to put a stop to it. I think it just got to the point where it was out of control and too far for us to fight back.”
On how the game got away…
“They scored 26 points off of turnovers. We pretty much gave it to them. I don’t think it was about trying to contain in the half court. Once they started fast breaking, they started executing off of every single turnover. We turned the ball over five times in a row and they executed every single time.”