North Carolina State University Athletics
ACC Teleconference Quotes for Feb. 15
2/15/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 15, 2005
RALEIGH, N.C. -
Opening Remarks
Road swing first at Georgia Tech and then at Miami last night. Fortunately we were able to win both games. We played an extraordinary defensive game at Georgia Tech in the first half and then continued the rest of the game and got a win there. Then last night at Miami we ran into a red hot Miami team. They were a team that had won four of their last five games and were coming off a win at Virginia. They are just really playing well; really shooting well. They are playing with a lot of confidence and aggressiveness. We took a good lead early in the game but they fought back and eventually it went down to the wire, and we were fortunate to pull it out. Our players just played really hard and continued to do what they had been doing - playing good team defense and getting better as an offensive team as the season goes along. We had three players, Billie McDowell, Tiffany Stansbury and Marquetta Dickens that stepped up for us in the game offensively and Kendra Bell continued to play a great floor game for us. Rachel Stockdale hit a key shot for us. Once again it was a team effort. I am really pleased with the effort they continue to give and continue to be able to pull out some close game.
Team's Momentum As Season Goes Along
I think most of the teams that I have coached in the past have made progress continually during the season. Hopefully this team will continue to do this all the way all of the playoffs. I feel they continue to make progress first as individuals then it really helps our team.
Leadership
Kendra Bell is definitely our leader. She and Rachel Stockdale are co-captains. And Billie McDowell also helps lead this team. I was a little disappointed in our game last night, Miami played a great game, but we made a few more fundamental mistakes defensively than I think we have been. We have been trying to get better offensively and we have, but in the course of doing that we have lost some of our defensive technique and fundamentals. We have to get back to that and try to balance out once again.
Tiffany Stansbury, Importance of Presence Inside
It's very important. I think Tiffany is a player who continues to improve. She is playing stronger inside. She continues to get better. She has a number of bad habits she needs to break. It's really hard when you are in competition; it's so easy to revert back. I see she is making progress. I feel like she is using the glass more times and her positioning gets better with each game.
