Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball versus Countdown to Craziness on October 3, 2025 at 7 p.m.
/
7 p.m.
Women's Basketball
vs Countdown to Craziness
Quotes: Duke 54, Albany 52
3/20/2015 3:46:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Joanne P. McCallie, Duke Head Coach
Opening statement:
“Obviously that was a great basketball game, a very defensive basketball game. The best we played was probably in the last minute in terms of what we were supposed to be doing and how we do it, and so I am very proud of the fight Elizabeth [Williams] showed down the stretch to make some things happen. Obviously for Becca [Greenwell] in terms of stepping up to make a huge play. I thought Becca and Azurá [Stevens] for young freshmen, first-time players in the tournament, I thought they learned a lot and also thought they gave us a lot. We are excited, excited to play well in the last minute. Albany is a terrific team. It was really hard to see [Albany Coach] Katie [Abrahamson-Henderson] after that because they deserved so much, but at the same time when you make shots like Becca made that deserves a lot too. So it's a very difficult game in that way, but we are very happy to be moving one and improving on this ungodly number of 27 turnovers.”
On Erin Mathias' performance:
“She was a source of great inspiration I thought. Erin had been coming off the bench for us and just working very hard for us, but those six points felt more like 12 in terms of her impact on the game. I'm very happy for her, she just looked confident and had good composure. I thought she showed her teammates a little something about composure, because offensively we didn't always have that. It was great.”
On Albany's success with the press:
“We played a lot of good teams. We beat Louisville here, Oklahoma here, Kentucky here, and we beat them a lot easier than we beat Albany, but the reality is we've got two starting freshmen, both of which had six turnovers, and Ka'lia [Johnson] is like a freshman or sophomore simply because she has no experience. She kind of held herself pretty well with turnovers, and Kendall [Cooper], a sophomore had a lot of turnovers, so really they have more experience in the guard play than we have by miles. They had two senior guards, three and four, that were money, good solid guards, and they played like it at times. The pressure was excellent, you have to give them credit for that. They were just hustling all over the place, they play so hard. So I think a combination of what Albany tried to do, and did well, and us being youthful, and learning how to deal with that kind of pressure at home, in Cameron, in the NCAA tournament. This team hasn't had that experience yet. As for Azurá and Becca and Kendall and Amber [Henson] next year, that will go a long way. We have one player, one player who has had any experience in this and that is Elizabeth.”
Rebecca Greenwell, Guard
On being redshirted:
“ I think having the experience last year to just sit back and watch I definitely learned a lot. Obviously it didn't finish the way we wanted to last year, so we didn't go down without a fight tonight. That's what helped us pull it out down the stretch. In terms of shooting, I was trying not to think about it and I think that was very successful for me. Also, we had great teammate awareness and we were getting the ball to the open player.”
On being a rhythm shooter:
“I'd say I'm a rhythm shooter and that layup didn't help at the very beginning. I think that was just nerves, but after I made my first one I felt good after that.”
On the final play of the game:
“I think we drew up a great play. The last play, everyone went with E [Elizabeth Williams], so I just curled right off and KJ [Ka'lia Johnson] did a great job of finding me and I just let it go. Once I turned and had my feet set I didn't think about it and I think that paid off.”
Elizabeth Williams, Center
On the team mindset in the last minute:
“I think we all had faith in each other that we were still going to win the game. I don't think there was any doubt in anybody's mind. Coach [Joanne P. McCallie] drew up some great plays for us and I think we did a good job executing offensively. Then, defensively we had some big stops and they were consecutive stops.”
On the final free throw:
“We did have the rebounding advantage and we wanted to get the ball back. We knew that the possession arrow was in our possession, so if we could just get a hand on it then that would be really good for us. I think that we all did a good job of getting our hands in there and getting the tie-up.”
On the team's turnovers and rebounding:
“Those turnovers, I don't know if anything could offset all of those, but I think the rebounding was definitely important for us, especially down the stretch.”
On keeping the team in the game mentally:
“I think each of us had something to say in the huddle, whether it was saying 'OK, you get this rebound' or 'Move here and we can get the stop.' I think it was more of a mental thing and communicating the right things to each other and saying the right things to each other. I think that's what really helped us.”
Azura Stevens, Guard
“I think we have been in a lot of tough games, so just staying composed mentally and knowing that we needed to get the stop in and get rebounds to close out the possession was something we were really focusing on.”
Albany head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson:
Opening Statement
“I would just say: phenomenal. I thought [our team] fought really hard. We talked about purple smear; leaving purple all over the floor. We talked about being fearless, fighting, and being relentless. And they did everything we asked. I'm just so proud of them. We were in the game the whole time, and they fought like warriors. And as women that's what I'm trying to teach them: to fear nobody and to be fearless. You're going to go through battles your whole life, but you're not going to back down and you're not going to fear anybody. And that's what we did today; I'm proud of them.”
On defensive philosophy and pressing:
“We press every game, all the time, so it wasn't Duke [that caused us to press]. That's how we play. We do man presses, we run a jump, we do a 2-2-1, we do a 3-2, we play matchups. We're all over the place; that's Albany ball. It had nothing to do with Duke, because we didn't care what the name of the shirt was. We were going to play our ball, our game. And we did. It was awesome, and I'm proud of them. I was raised to not fear anybody as a woman, and so I've raised them not to fear anybody. And that's how they played today. It wouldn't have mattered if it was Mississippi State or Tulane or North Carolina, we were going to press, and we were going to play the way we play. It just happened to be that Duke is very injured right now and they don't have great ball-handlers, and so it just fell right into the way we play.”
On making adjustments on the offensive end:
“Well, the thing we did differently is we didn't shoot it quickly; and we usually go quickly. And I knew we couldn't go quickly because then we would have had to guard [Elizabeth Williams] too many times on that low block, because she's a beast. We just couldn't shoot it as quickly as I wanted; I wanted to take some air out of the game offensively, and then run a set play to have an opportunity to rebound the ball. We did not take a lot of bad shots. Did we miss? Yes. Did they adjust our shots? A little bit in the paint, yes, definitely. But otherwise, that's the only thing we did differently.”
On rebounding and missed chances:
“Obviously, we knew that their size was going to be tough and that we needed to push back on the glass, but they still had too many second chances. But I thought the game was in our hands. Erin [Coughlin's] shot could have gone in. Imani [Tate's] shot could have gone in. There's just so many things about Albany that went right. And it wasn't anything that I think personally that we could have done better. I just thought Erin's shot was going in, and I thought Imani's shot was going in, and we just missed them.”
On her relationship with Duke Coach Joanne McCallie:
“It does [make it more special], because I'm proud of her and she's proud of me. And she actually said sorry, because our girls played their guts out, and if there's anybody that would have wanted to see us move on it would have been Joanne.”
On the game's key moment and key player:
“[Rebecca Greenwell's] three-point shot was the key play. That was the game right there. That's pretty tough, to make that kind of shot in such a high-pressure situation. So kudos to her, she killed us all by herself; she had six threes.”
Shereesha Richards, Albany Forward
On defensive effort:
“I just thought we crowded them and just played Albany basketball. We focused on us and try to do the little things that Coach Abs [Katie Abrahamson-Henderson] told us to do and just tried to stay focused on defense. We just played Albany basketball.”
On looking forward to next season:
“Right now, I just want to be in this moment right now. I am not looking forward to what is next. I just want to be in this moment and be thankful I am here with my teammates and we got to be here another year and that is all I am looking forward to right now.
Sarah Royals, Albany Guard
On the closeness of the upset:
“I was very confident in us. We knew that we came in and we knew we could win. Coach wrote on the board before the game that if you believe it then it could happen, but if you don't believe it, it won't happen. I think every single one of us believed, on the bench, everyone on the court, our coaching staff, all of our fans and everyone at home all thought that we could win that game. Everyone watching the game saw that we played our hearts out but we should have won that game. I think we out played them and I am not ashamed to say it. It just didn't go our way.”
On the accomplishments of the last four years:
“I think it definitely says something. There has got to be a very limited list of how many people that have been to the NCAA tournament four consecutive times, four America-East championships or any conference, not just our conference and for Coach Abs to come in here and take a program that was below .500 to undefeated seasons and one and two loss seasons. It just speaks wonders about her and the coaching staff and what a great coach she is. The type of players she recruits is even more special. You just don't find those players everywhere. Okay, we aren't Duke's size but she recruits tough girls, women, excuse me, tough women. I wouldn't trade my teammates for anything in the world.”
Imani Taylor, Albany Guard
On what made her team believe they could defeat Duke:
“We are small but we have a big fight. I felt like you cannot just go out there and say 'Oh they are just Duke, we are going to lose.' You have to go out there with the mindset that you are going to win and if you believe you will succeed.”
On the final possession:
“I was looking for the jumpshot…but I was convinced it was going in. I was really upset it didn't.”
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
/ Women's Basketball
C
/ Women's BasketballC/F
/ Women's BasketballWomen's Basketball Season Ticket Holder Tailgate
Sunday, September 07
Duke WBB: Kara Lawson - 13 Gold Medals. One Standard
Thursday, August 14
Duke WBB Postgame: NCAA Tournament Elite Eight
Sunday, March 30
Duke WBB Postgame: NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen
Friday, March 28
