Nov. 14, 2014
Recap | Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery 
Notre Dame Head Coach Muffet McGraw
Opening statement …
“I thought we did a really nice job offensively. I was really pleased with Jewell Loyd and the way she set the tone. She did a phenomenal job getting to the free-throw line, which is something that we really want her to do. I thought Brianna Turner in her first college game did really well. She took advantage of the size differential inside and was able to really score some points for us. She also ran the floor extremely well. Defensively, I thought Shannon Samuels played a really good game for UMass Lowell. I thought she played like a senior with a lot of experience and played well.”
On the speed of the team …
“I think Bri Turner runs the floor as well as anybody in the country. I think she’s a tough match-up because she gets down the floor so quickly. I feel like you don’t even see her from free-throw line to free-throw line. All of a sudden she’s open on the other end and we’re doing a really nice job of looking up and finding her. She is really special in that way.”
On the high number of turnovers …
“I think there was a lot of nerves in the beginning. Our turnover goal is 15 and we had 18, so I thought we settled down. We have a few people that got a lot and I think that was just nerves because three of them were freshmen. I think that’s just going to get better. I thought the decisions were pretty good, but the passes weren’t as crisp as we expect them to be.”
On the positive takeaways of the game …
“I think our post game is something we do really well. Our posts are really good at running the floor. Transitioning on offense is something that we really want to do, and I thought that we did that really well tonight also. We share the ball well – I think we’re pretty unselfish – so offensively I thought there were a lot of good things.
On the upcoming matchup against Michigan State …
“Defensively we’ve got a lot of work to do before Michigan State. They’re a great team. They’ve got some veteran players who are really talented so we’ve got to get a lot better before Wednesday.”
On Brianna Turner’s performance …
“Phenomenal. She plays like she practices, and that’s the most important thing for me to see. She does that every day in practice so it’s not a surprise when she does it in the game. She works really hard, she’s trying to learn as much as she can and she’s doing everything we’re asking her to do, so I’m really pleased with her right now. She’s just going to keep getting better.”
Brianna Turner – Freshman – Forward
On her performance …
“I just ran the floor and my teammates just saw me and were able to get it up to me quickly. I was then able to finish the layup. It was all thanks to my teammates.
On the pace of the game …
“It was fast-paced. It’s college, so a lot different than what I played in high school, but we have been doing a lot of conditioning lately so I feel like I was able to keep up.”
Jewell Loyd – Junior – Guard
On what Bri Turner and Taya Reimer bring to the front court game …
“Their ability to handle the ball is awesome. It takes a little stress off the guards and helps me out a lot. Inside-outside game from both players is great and I love playing with them.”
On starting the game out well …
“We were definitely excited to get out here and show our fans, ourselves, and our coaches that we were ready to go and had that attack mindset. I think that for me personally, I just wanted to be aggressive and set the tone right away. The team was looking to give me the ball early. I just asserted myself on offense and it worked out pretty well.
On keeping the aggressive mindset throughout the game …
“I think we need to do better on defense and our aggressiveness on defense will motivate our offense. We just have to push on defense and learn defensive spots, which is why we have practice, and we’ll just get better and do better the next game.”
UMass Lowell Head Coach Jenerrie Harris
On Notre Dame’s most impressive attributes …
“They are so extremely disciplined. They pass the ball really well. They had 27 assists and last year they averaged 20 assists per game and to be able to do that consistently is impressive. They also had 37 points off of our turnovers, 22 points off of the fast break. They really are so disciplined, they move the ball well, and they have great spacing and get out on the break. They execute their offenses and see all the options, they transition extremely well and as soon as the ball goes up, they secure it and make sure they transition and put pressure on the defense. To play that way consistently sticks out to me the most.”
On what her team could take away as a positive from the game …
“Playing against a team like Notre Dame shows us the things that we are good at, as well as it shows us some areas that we need to improve in. I thought Shannon Samuels had a really nice game. Being able to score 16 points for us, she was essentially able to get to the rim at will against one of the best teams in the country, so I was really impressed with her. I was also impressed with my team’s fight. I thought that they fought for the entire game and I really liked what we were able to do off the bench. We are trying to figure out who wants to play and who is not afraid of the pressure and I thought that we had some people come in and give us some good minutes both defensively and offensively.”
Shannon Samuels – Senior – Guard
On playing at Purcell Pavillion …
“I felt like it was very exciting. Just being able to get the chance to play a team that was a runner-up last year in the (NCAA) tournament. It was a good life experience. We got to see what we were made of, going up against them, and see what we do well and what we do not do well. It was a glimpse of what we could do well in the future.”
On Notre Dame’s forwards’ play …
“They all were pretty impressive, but I felt like their post players did a very good job of rebounding and running the floor well. For the transition game, they got up and down really well and that impressed me.”