Quotes: Duke 81, Holy Cross 44

Duke Coach Gail Goestenkors

Opening statement
"We were very anxious to play. It had been a good long while since our last game. I didn't think we played particularly well, but we did what we needed to do. As the game went along, I felt like we got a little bit better, which was really the purpose of this game - to get the kinks out, to get our legs back under us.

"I'm pleased with the effort. Give Holy Cross credit. They've got some young freshmen in the backcourt. They did a great job and played with a lot of poise considering their youth. They're a tough, scrappy team."

On whether she's had any better pure shooters than Abby Waner
"No, Abby's the best we've had. We've had real good shooters. It's Abby's range, and she gets her shot off about as quick as anybody."

On Temple or Nebraska as the opponent Tuesday
"I've watched tape on both of them. It's going to be a great game because they're both exceptional teams, and they have different styles of play. Temple's extremely athletic. They both have dynamic players on their teams?fun to watch.
Nebraska?they run a lot of motion. Temple runs a lot of sets. You'll see them call almost every single play?it's a set play. Dawn (Staley) knows exactly who she wants to get the ball to and when and where.

"Nebraska runs a 4-out or a 5-out motion so it is constant movement. Their 4 player is one of their best 3-point shooters, so they really draw you out and go by you. They're both excellent teams, but they're different styles of play."

On chewing out her team at the under 8-minute timeout
"I was extremely upset with our defense. We weren't paying attention at all to O'Dell?she had 13 points. We knew she was a great 3-point shooter, and she was shooting 3s on us. She had three 3s at that point in time. So I let my team know how frustrated I was and that I didn't expect her to get any more open 3s.

"At that point, Holy Cross was shooting 47 percent from the field, and that was unacceptable.

"She didn't score the rest of the half, and then at halftime they were down to 39 percent?from 47 percent to 39 percent since that timeout.

"We depend on our defense, we rely on it, we take great pride in it. So when you've got a team shooting 47 percent and one player in particular who's got 13 of the 17 points, you're not setting a tone. You're allowing other teams to lick their chops and say, 'Oh, Duke's defense isn't that good.'

"We needed to right the ship because it was lilting."

On how she righted the ship
"I put Lindsey Harding back in. She had two fouls. I had taken her out. I put her back in because she sets the tone for us. She's the beginning of our defense. Against N.C. State (in the ACC Tournament), that was a different type problem we had. It was their penetration that really bothered us. Tonight, Holy Cross was hitting 3s on us. They were getting open shots off of their screens."

On Duke's pressure
"We started the game in a full-court press, and we were supposed to be trapping, and there really weren't the traps. So those are things we still need to get better with. We've been working on it in practice.

"I give Holy Cross credit. They did a good job. They used Ali's person to bring the ball down the floor, and they knew Ali's our weakest presser."

On why a shooter such as Abby gets into a zone
"If I could explain it, I'd be a millionaire. I don't know. She's been hot since the ACC Tournament. She had two great games in the ACC Tournament as well, so we're going to ride this as long as we can.
She feels good right now with her shot, and the team is doing a good job getting her the ball. We hope it continues.
On not worrying about team overlooking anybody
I wasn't worried about overlooking anybody because we know it's one and done. We know what happened to Ohio State Saturday. We have great respect for the Holy Cross program.

Abby Waner

On whether she expected to see a zone
"Yeah, we practice a lot against a 3-2 zone, one of their main defenses. Even in a man (to-man defense), there's so much attention on Ali (Alison Bales), she can almost score at will when it's one-on-one. So when you pass it inside, there's going to be a double or triple team, and that also opens up things outside.

"I thought we did well to start off with, but once you don't play for almost two weeks, everything's a little bit rusty. Your passes aren't as crisp, your defense isn't quite as perfect as you'd like it to be. We did a good job adjusting and getting better as the game went on.

"I would be a little bit worried coming into the tournament if I felt like my shooting was rusty. In terms of getting into the flow of the game, it's to be expected with everybody. Even though we had 15 days off, that doesn't mean that you still can't get in the gym and shoot, and that's something you can always work on, whether you have other people there or not. I've been trying to take a lot of extra shots the past two weeks, so I don't feel rusty with my shooting coming into the tournament.
It wasn't that our energy was lacking, we were so anxious to get back on the floor that it was a matter of channeling it into the right direction. We didn't have a whole lot of turnovers in the first half, which is something you expect when you're a little bit jittery. It was just about using that energy and being smart with it."

On jammed thumb
"I jammed it earlier in the season. With thumbs, it's really hard to get that to go away in the season. I was using the shooting machine and looked away and it got popped there. It was sore earlier in the week but it's a lot better now."

On whether she was more excited about blocking a shot than the shots she made
"I felt like Alison Bales for a little bit, so it was nice to be in her spotlight for once."

Alison Bales

On rating Abby Waner's block
"That was a perfect 10 on my scale! I was impressed, very impressed."

Holy Cross Coach Bill Gibbons

Opening Statement
“It was an emotional locker room. But I've had a lot of those at Holy Cross. I think when you have an emotional locker room it shows you have a true team. Someone told me a long time ago that if you are part of a true team, that is something you will remember for the rest of your life. I think of all the true teams I've had, this team epitomizes what a true team is about. All the so-called experts counted us out. We lost our two point guards. Everyone had us finishing sub .500. Because of great senior leadership and great character and great belief and a team coming together, we proved all those so-called experts wrong and we won that Patriot League title and we got to the Big Dance. This team showed tremendous character and tremendous fight and they did Holy Cross proud. Don't look at the final score, look at how they represented Holy Cross.”

On the press break
“We worked on it for the whole week in practice. I am no dummy and I have watched the last two games on film. We handled it early and they did back off, but the only problem was their half -court defense was so tremendous. That's tough to simulate in practice. I thought they really turned up the intensity in the second half, and I was going into my bag of tricks for plays we hadn't run since the beginning of the season. My kids kept battling and kept working, but you have to credit Duke's half-court defense. A positive thing was that we did handle their pressure, and I thought this game was much closer than the last two times we played them.”

On Brittany Keil reaching 1,000 points
“For her to get there is a great testament to my kids. Gail Goestenkors showed a lot of class and went to the 2-3 zone. I always have respect for Gail, but today it grew ten-fold. I am rooting for Duke to win it all because of the class they showed. That was a lot of class for them to help Brittany, and when they went to the zone she still had to earn the points. I am so proud of Brittany.”

On the season as a whole
“I've had a lot of success at Holy Cross and I've been blessed with a lot of great players. I've got amazing support at home and from our administration. I really believed that we were going to make a run. Had we not made a run and gotten beat, I still would have been happy because we came together as a team. Despite the 15-18 record, it was one of my funnest seasons coaching. This team showed me a lot. The future looks bright for Holy Cross and we can build on this. We have a good nucleus and I can't wait to get started for next year.What looked like on of my worst seasons turned into one of my best.”

Kaitlin Foley

On playing against Alison Bales
“She is a tremendous post player. My goal was to keep her off the block and as far away from the hoop as possible. She can finish inside and she has a great passing game. She makes you work hard and I am definitely exhausted from playing her. This is my third time playing against her.”

On Duke's second-chance points
“I felt with this team, they are going to capitalize on any mistake or slip-up in our defense. That's what No.1 teams will do. I think we tried to limit those mistakes and they did a great job and showed why they are No. 1.”

On Brittany Keil reaching 1,000 points
“She scored her 1,000th point tonight. She has given so much as a captain and a teammate and classmate to this program. To have our freshman telling people where to go on the court to get Brittany the shot shows the impact she has had on players. She has had some physical issues with her knee and she stuck it out.”

On the roller-coaster season
“It's been a whirlwind season. At our first practice, Coach had us each get up on the ladder and visualize cutting down the net, and I think that stuck with me and my teammates. Although we took a few steps forward and a few steps back, we all hung in there together. We really came together as a team dealing with the challenges and as a senior I couldn't ask for more from my team and my coaching staff.”

Bethany O'Dell

On the first half and getting open
“In the beginning I went out there and had this great opportunity to play the best team in the country as a freshman. I wanted to work hard and get open, and Coach said, “If you're open, take the shot,' and I did and it went in.”

On being compared to Abby Waner
“She's lights out; she hits almost every single shot. I had a hand in her face and the ball was still going in. I hope next year I will be able to shoot like that. I am slowly getting there. I can already see an improvement from the beginning of my college career until now. That is an excellent compliment.”