North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State Post Game Quotes
3/16/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Head Coach Kay Yow
"We are very excited to get our first win in the NCAA Tournament. Now we have the chance to play again and perhaps go to the Sweet 16. The coaching staff at Delaware has done a great job with the program. Head Coach Tina Martin is in her fifth season now and when she inherited the program, it was down. She has really brought the team along. I was impressed how hard they played and how well they played.
"The difference tonight was our bench who really played well. Down the stretch, we played seven or eight people but early during the season, we used two platoons. Tonight, we really need them and I was pleased with their effort. Delaware played a great zone but we have faced zones a lot this year. Daphne Hutcherson came out and penetrated really well tonight and Christen Greene screened well to help get Amy Simpson open, as the players said. Our players on the bench weren't as rusty as our starters. The first game in anything is the toughest. It's scary because it's a survive and advance situation.
(on how NC State started the first half)
"I was concerned coming into the game because it had been 12 days since we had played in competition. We didn't practice at all last week because we had injuries and needed rest. So we stayed off the court. I thought that we might have a slow start. Our best games this year have been when we played in back-to-back games.
"We thought of starting the game with pressure but we decided to just try to start the game and get into it. We tried a trap here or there but everyone wasn't rotating well. As the players just referred to, our rotating was off. We knew that we needed the tempo to be up so in the second half, we decided to extend the pressure full court.
(On Amy Simpson's performance)
"Prior to Amy's injury, she had played two tremendous exhibition games. We thought that she was set to go and then found out that she had to have surgery. She was out five or six games or about three weeks. When she got back, she had been off the leg and lost her conditioning and her sharpness. By that time, we were into the season and couldn't work with her everyday. Now, she seems to have moved back into the form that she had at the beginning of the season.
"To her credit, she hung in there, worked hard in pracice. She has also become a much better defensive player as well as regained her offensive sharpness."
Amy Simpson
"I'd like to thank the team for setting me tonight. The post players set the screens and the guards got the ball to me. It's been an interesting season for me. After missing the first five games, it has taken me awhile but I think I'm finally finding my place. I saw the opportunity and tried to take advantage of it."
Ivy Gardner
"Anytime you have a week or more off, your engine will be slow starting off. This is something that we were prepared for. The bench really helped us get going big time tonight."
Delaware Post Game Quotes
March 16, 2001
Head Coach Tina Martin:
"Obviouslty it was tough game for us. I'm an so proud of our basketball team and the strides we have made to get to this point. That's what I told the team afterwards. There shouldn't be any heads looking down. I think we should walk around and be very proud of the season we've had."
"NC State is a great basketball team. We tried to make them shoot the outside jumper. It worked for about 15 minutes of the first half and then Simpson got a little hot there. I would imagine shot some threes as well as she has this year. That got them a nine point lead at halftime. We made some poor decisions at times. Our shot selection was not always good. Although I thought we were obviously trying to get good looks at the rim. NC State is a very athletic team. They can put a lot of pressure on you. I thought their pressure wore us down a little bit. We were definitely tired at times in the second half. As I've said, they are a very good basketball team. They wouldn't be ranked in the Top 20 if they weren't. I thought we gave great effort, although we lacked execution at times, I am very proud of my basketball team."
"The 7-0 run to begin the second half hurt us. We had a gameplan coming in to try and pack it in. We wanted to make them shoot from the outside. They don't shoot a high percentage. Obviously they are a very athletic. They can get to the rim. If you have to swithc-up and go man-to-man against them, they have so many weapons. We really didn't want to have to come out of the zone. When they went on the 7-0 run, we had no choice."
"They are a tremendous basketball team. They are well-coached obviously. That goes without saying. She's a legend. We tried a lot of different things to try and slow them down. To their credit they had answers."
"Their constant pressure put us in foul trouble. They get after it. At this level, everybody gets after it. It's a matter of who wins in the trenches. Tonite, NC State won in the trenches."
Cindy Johnson:
"In the first half our adrenaline was really pumping. When Simpson hit the first two threes there was not much we could do. We felt we had to re-group and play our defense."
Stephanie Leyfert:
(on Simpson's 3's) It was a little bit of a blow. We had played such good defense all of the first half. It was so close back and forth. We were still confident going in at halftime. The game was still in our hands. The three's did hit us in the stomach. It's something we could have easily overcome. Because they are so athletic and because they have so much experience, they really knew what to do. They executed the right way.
"We've had a tremendous season. It's the best season by far that the women's basketball team at the University of Delaware has had. I can say anything more. I couldn't ask for a better team to play with. I hope this team goes on and has a better season next year. NC State is a tremendous team. They are in the ACC and that's one of the top leagues in the country. They are little bit more experienced because they've been to postseason. They've been further than we've been. That's really what it boils down to."
Villanova Post Game
March 16, 2001
Head Coach Harry Perretta
"My major concern coming into today's game was that we haven't been in the NCAA Tournament in recent years. and that we weren't going to hit the rim. And we didn't score many points in the first five or six minutes."
"At the time-out, I told the team to be calm, stay in the game, absorb the blows and keep standing. The second half was the same way. We played toe-to-toe with Drake. We would lose confidence and then we would make a shot or two and get our confidence back."
"We used Courtney Mix and Mimi Riley to isolate the wings and drive. Our biggest play was with four seconds left on the shot clock when Riley made a drive and kicked it out to Trish Juhline. Her ball bounced around the rim and luckily went in."
(On defending Carla Bennett)
"We were going to double douwn on her but then Drake went with a smaller lineup so we went to a zone. We decided to take a chance and put Stephanie Baker on her, along with Brandi Barnes, over the 40 minutes and hope that Bennett couldn't keep scoring at that rate. We tried to deny her the ball, make her move around and wear her down. We knew coming in that we couldn't stop her. We knew that she would score but we didn't want to give up any three's."
(On Stephanie Baker)
"Stephanie Baker has been playing phenomenally for us especially when Brandi Barnes' injury limiting her practice time. Baker was more mobile and agile than Barnes. Baker doesn't give much offensively so when she scores, it's great. She got two crucial offensive rebounds today and tipped the ball out to our guards."
Guard Mimi Riley
"Our defense kept us in it today. We didn't get down like we did against Miami."
"Drake's center Carla Bennett scored at will and their guards can all shoot. I don't know how they were a 12 seed. They are a very good team. We tried to deny her the ball and make them lob her the ball. Eventually, we wore her down."
Forward Katie Davis
"I can't speak for everyone else but I was extremely nervous (at the beginning of the game) and it showed. We pulled together and played the game like any other. We wanted to win."
Drake Post Game
March 16, 2001
Head Coach Lisa Stone
"Villanova had a great game plan. We lost to a good team. They live and die by the three. They took 27 three pointers. I think the difference in the game came down to rebounding in the second half. Without question. We had a 22-14 rebounding advantage at the half. I thought our zone defense against the three point shooters was effective until we gave up two straight back-to-back offensive rebounds that led to three-pointers."
"I like the way we started the game. We were in complete control of the game for 36 minutes. That's what makes it difficult. I'm not taking anything away from Villanova. They are a great basketball team. Harry does a nice job. It's a possession game with him. They live and die by the three. They run it down. They milk it the clock. They back you in and get a shot."
"Courtney Mix came alive. Baker came alive. They hit some shots. They kept getting second and third opportunities. We did get outrebounded by three. I really think that was the difference in the game. We gave them too many second opportunities. We had the right game plan. It just didn't work long enough for us."
"Carla Bennett was monster inside in the first half. They had a lot of difficulty guarding her. In the second half they put a lot more pressure on our perimeter in the second half. We had more trouble getting the ball into her."
"I'm taking nothing away from our basketball team. We've had a remarkable year. We've come through a lot. I wanted them to go a far as they could. We were sentimental favorites probably. We played hard. We just came up short."
"Our lockerroom right now you've got to give that speech. Someone has to end their season with a loss. It's awful. I hate that speech. I love this team. They've taught me more about how to be a good person, with all we've been through. We competed. We weren't just here. We represented very well and were in position to win the game."
Center Carla Bennett:
"Their post definitely picked up their inside defense. They put a lot more pressure on the ball. They were bodying up to me and trying to push me out a little bit. They knew the block was my comfort zone. They were trying to get me out of my comfort zone."
"Barnes is a very talented post player. She's strong, probably a lot stronger than I am, but I have faster feet. It was a lot easier for me to go around her. Obviously when I tried to go up into her I got blocked five or six times. Baker and I are a better match-up. We play the same style basketball. That's why I had a hard time scoring on her. She moves her feet really well on defense. She played a great defensive game."
Guard Erin Richards:
"The did a good defensive job. They switched on screens really well. I don't think we executed as well as we could. We didn't run off our screens as well as we could have. But I do think they are pretty tough defensively."
Post-game notes
NCAA East Subregional - Raleigh, NC
Villanova vs. Drake
NC State vs. Delaware
Villanova has played three games this season against teams seeded #1 in the 2001 tourney field, all Big East rivals. The Wildcats lost twice to Connecticut (75-39 and 61-43) and once at Notre Dame, 64-33.
Villanova's 66-58 win after trailing Drake 34-30 at the half was only the second time in nine games this year that the Wildcats have pulled off a victory after trailing at halftime.
Wtih NC State's win over Delaware, 13th-seeded teams in NCAA play have continued to stumble. The fourth-seeded Wolfpack's 76-57 win was the 13th seed's 27th loss against only two wins.
Amy Simpson's four three-point field goals in the first half against Delaware equaled her career game high. It also was one more that the Wolfpack has had in a game all year.
With the win over Delaware, the Wolfpack and Coach Kay Yow moved to 16-15 in NCAA Tournament play.
NC State and Villanova have met four times, with the Wolfpack taking all four previous games. Only the 1987 game at Villanova was in NCAA play, with NC State winning 68-57. Other scores were NC State (66) Villanova (63) in 1985 at Norfolk, NC State (87) Villanova (60) in 1990 at Villanova, and NC State (102) Villanova (55) in 1991.
