University of Connecticut Athletics
UConn vs. North Carolina Postgame Quotes
1/9/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 9, 2010
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Head Coach Geno Auriemma
On tonight's defense:
I think that is something that gets overlooked sometimes because we put so many points on the board. They had some pretty good scorers on their team. I thought our guards did a great job tonight and we got a lot of help. One thing about Carolina is that you do not have to guard them for the whole 30 seconds because they are going to try and score quickly. We put pressure on them two ways, we put pressure on them to score, and since we kept on scoring and scoring, we doubled the amount of pressure we put on them."
On Tina Charles play tonight:
I have a lot of fans out there but I don't have as many as Tina. People are constantly on me to leave her alone because she is a nice kid, if she scored 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds a game, I would leave her alone. She outscored Carolina in the first half by herself. She was incredible.
The plan going in was to have two or three players out there and whoever rebounds the ball, the other guys have to beat their man down the court and she did. We did a good job of getting the ball to her early. We had a very aggressive mindset and we were looking for her. It seemed like she was always around the ball. Whether we threw it to her or not, she was always around the ball. Maybe because she works so hard. She was drawing a lot of fouls early and she made it impossible for them to stop her.
Junior Forward Maya Moore
Can you talk about the run in the first half and the momentum shift that it caused?
That is pretty common with our team; not because of chance or because that's just the way it happens. It is when we pick up our intensity level, we step up on defense and we all come together that we go on runs. A big reason was that Tina Charles was dominating in the paint. She was getting rebounds, put backs, anything you would want or expect from a post player, Tina Charles did that tonight. When we have performances like that from her, we just feel unstoppable. It just makes everyone else play better. Caroline Doty did a great job of sparking our momentum as well by just being aggressive, getting inside, doing reverse layups and things like that. It just makes it fun to play and things just start to fall into place.
On playing ranked opponents:
As a natural competitor, the bigger the hype and reputation of the program, the more excited you are going to get. I think it is one of those things that can work you too if you are not mature enough to treat every game the same. I think it is more natural and easier to get excited for ranked teams. We know that we have to be focused and usually when we can put that pressure on ourselves and face good competition, it brings out the best in us. That's why we come to Connecticut. We get good competition; we get pressure and see all the great things that could happen. I think that we really showed the nation, and even ourselves, some of the great things that we can do and how good we can be. Also, there are still a lot of things that we could pick apart when we go home, but we love playing good competition.
Senior Guard Kalana Greene
Does UConn ever surprise itself by the scope of how well it plays?
I don't think we are surprised because we practice and we compete hard everyday so that teams won't get a certain amount of points. It is not surprising, but we thought that we didn't play as well as we could have played. At each huddle and in the locker room we say that we need to do better. We constantly want to get better. I think today that we played a good game, but at the same time we could point out a million things that we wish we had the opportunity to do again and do it better.
Has there been any point in the last 15 games that you came out of a game happy with it?
No, we are constantly looking to get better, each possession, and each play and every time we step out of the court. I think we played really well tonight, but I am pretty sure that these two guys (Maya Moore and Tina Charles) over here would say that we could play a lot better than we did.
Senior Center Tina Charles
Were you really motivated today to go out and have a good game?
Yes, I tried to be motivated every game. It was a big game; it was a top 25 team. The fans came out, with all the momentum we had and we just displayed it on the court.
Why were you able to be so successful tonight?
I was doing everything that my team needed me to do, what I demand from myself night in and night out and in practice. I think it had started from the way I had practiced the day before and it just led over.
When you are playing a fast pace, running game like North Carolina, are you more excited for those games, since it does not seem like there is a big player in the country that can run with you?
Yes I do personally because I like to run the floor. I love it when Lorin Dixon is in the game. Coming from the same high school that is how we played, running the floor, we just know where each other wants the ball.
North Carolina Head Coach Sylvia Hatchell
Did UConn's run in the first four minutes of the game surprise you?
Yes it did. Even when we were driving to the hoop we were not getting to the free throw line. They were getting on the foul line and we were not during that period. They exposed my young team. UConn plays at a level that my team has not yet reached yet. This could be the best team that UConn has ever had. Tina Charles put on a show tonight. She was like a well oiled machine out there.
How will you prevent your team from going into a slump after this loss?
I just told them to forget about this loss. I said go home and get ready for our ACC games. I did not say too much. We are a young team and they are all coming back next year. This was a learning experience for our team.
How do you think a team can beat UConn?
You have to score against them. You have to get to the foul line and we did not do that tonight.
Is this the best UConn team you have seen?
I thought last year's team was but this one could be. They have no freshman out there. This has to be as good a team as UConn has ever had. They are so physical, big and just dominating out on the court at times.
