Postgame Quotes
COACH FRESE: Yeah, I don't know what it is, but I think we just love being able to beat Duke in the NCAA Tournament. Just so many classic matchups, obviously, with both teams and really just I think we make each other better.
But just a tremendously proud of our fight today. It wasn't an easy game. I thought that Duke kind of controlled some things in terms of kind of putting us into a half court team, but I thought we did a phenomenal job in the second half.
The play, obviously, of these three up here, started with Shatori in terms of her confidence. But I think you were able to see our depth when we were able to call on Brene off the bench when Lexie was struggling in this game. And all season long we have been able to count on our ‑‑ on this team to be ready to play and we're just excited about advancing and moving on.
Q. Laurin, having played Duke more than anyone else on this team, what does this win mean to you?
LAURIN MINCY: Very relieving. Like you said, we haven't been able to beat Duke since our sophomore year, so it's just very fitting that we come in here and beat them in the Sweet 16.
Q. Shatori, what do you think Laurin's great first half had for you and your ability in the second half to get open looks?
SHATORI WALKER‑KIMBROUGH: She just got our team going. What's most important for our team is that even when she doesn't lead vocally, she leads by example. And that's what she did mostly in the first half. We saw her fight, so we fought and I thought that was a big deal for the remainder of the game.
Q. Laurin, six of seven from deep, against Princeton. Hit four of your first five against Duke. What does the hoop look like from three‑point range for you?
LAURIN MINCY: It just looks really good. We have been getting up shots this past week in practice, and just being shot ready. Coach P is telling us to be shot ready. And then our bigs and other guards are giving us the ball and getting open looks. And I'm just fortunate to knock them down.
Q. Shatori, obviously they were very conscious of Laurin in the second half, and I think even threw a box and one out there. How would you explain your outburst in the second half?
SHATORI WALKER‑KIMBROUGH: It's funny you say they were in a box and one because I honestly had no idea they were in a box and one until Coach told us.
But that's ‑‑ that's just the flow of the game. They were trying to make adjustments, but we just kept playing our game. And Coach told us that if we don't ‑‑ if we pass up an open shot, that's a bad shot, so Bri, Laurin, Malina, Lexie, Kiara, they started feeding me the ball and I just had to knock them down.
Q. Brionna, obviously, Duke very long in the front court, but you were able to out rebound them almost two to one offensively. What was the difference there?
BRIONNA JONES: I think it was just working hard and keeping them away from the paint and pushing them out and I think that we just did a good job today.
Q. For Laurin and Shatori, were you surprised that you didn't see more man‑to‑man? I mean, early in the game when they went zone they were fairly effective, but as you guys started knocking down more shots, were you surprised that you didn't see more man‑to‑man to try to get you out of being able to knock down those open shots from the outside.
LAURIN MINCY: I really wasn't surprised they have been playing zone all year. So they were going to stick to their staple, especially with our depth, I think that they thought it was to their advantage to stay in the zone.
SHATORI WALKER‑KIMBROUGH: Yeah, I wasn't surprised either because I know that we were running and I know that they wore down, I know they didn't want to chase us around the half court, so I think I wasn't surprised not seeing them in the zone most of the time.
Q. Shatori, what was the conversation ‑‑ as someone who wasn't around the last time that Maryland beat Duke, what was the conversation like this week leading up to this game from the upperclassmen who were around for that?
SHATORI WALKER‑KIMBROUGH: We just ‑‑ well I knew it meant a lot to Mincy and for coach, coach said that their size was going to be a bother to us and if we don't come out to play quote unquote they will break us in half, so.
(Laughter.)
So we just were ready to play and we play for Laurin each and every game, because we see how she fights, so we just follow.
Q. Laurin, we saw Lexie struggle in this game, but Brene came off the bench played the final 11 minutes, what was she doing well in the game tonight?
LAURIN MINCY: She was huge. She's always ready when her number is called. Like Coach B said, we need to make open shots if we didn't take open shots it was a bad shot. Brene's a big time player and she likes the big moment, so she came in, she was really ready.
Q. Bri, there was a lot of talk going into this game about how big they were down inside. On defense what was it like trying to matchup with them?
BRIONNA JONES: It was really tough trying to stay in front and keep moving, but I think that as a whole we all worked hard to keep our position and keep an take away their position. So I think we did a good job.
Q. 27 straight wins now. Do you even remember what it's like to lose?
COACH FRESE: I don't want to know what it's like. Yeah, I think that for us it's just obviously it's happened just because it's not what we focus on. It's just taking one day and one game and one practice at a time.
But obviously extremely proud of this group and in terms of I thought they did a phenomenal job with the scout and just locking in to what we wanted to be able to do today.
Q. Talk about Laurin, what she did in the first half to get you guys going, and then Shatori in the second half.
COACH FRESE: Yeah, I thought Laurin really gave us a calming presence, when you talk about your senior, doesn't want it to be her last game, and it took us awhile to kind of get into a rhythm and to be able to kind of get a feel for their size and I thought that her courage and her confidence in terms of wanting to make big plays for this team really helped us to kind of settle in in the second half and for the play that we were able to receive from Shatori and the rest of her teammates.
Q. Early part of the second half you guys were struggling a little offensively. Duke made a nice run, cut it to one. What's it like in those moments when you're not making those 3‑pointers and you come to expect how you transition off that, you called a 30 second timeout and it worked really, really well. So what was your thought process then?
COACH FRESE: Well, obviously, you call the timeout to stop the run. But for us, to make sure we get the right play called, to be able to look in terms of getting the ball inside a little more touches to Bri and to be able to get an inside, outside approach.
Q. You sat Lexie for the final 11 minutes. She came in right at the end. What went into that decision and then talk a little bit about Brene's play.
COACH FRESE: Obviously, I feel like I'm able to get the pulse of our players and I felt Lexie struggling through most of the game. I kept trying to get her back and get her energy and get her confidence. I just felt like in the second half I had to make a decision, a tough decision, obviously. Just didn't feel that the energy was there.
Luckily, we are so fortunate to have the depth that we have, Brene is a player that you talk about three years ago against Texas A & M in the Sweet 16 came in and had big play after big play, just like today.
So I think that's where we have obviously been able to have an advantage all season is to be able to have the depth that we have. I know Lexie will bounce back from this game.
Q. There's been a lot made over the course of the last couple days about this rivalry, do you feel like this maybe puts it to rest for a little while?
COACH FRESE: It's a rivalry? I thought everyone was Duke's rivalry. So, for us, we were obviously ‑‑ we have had great matchups. Duke's made us a better team when we were in the same conference as them. So, it's kind of ironic obviously for us to come out to Spokane to be able to play them.
So, but for us we really didn't put as much emphasis in the team we were playing as just knowing that in order for us to be able to advance, we needed to play our best game.
Q. Your thoughts on sharing the basketball, 17 assists on 23 made field goals.
COACH FRESE: Yeah, I thought our team did a phenomenal job executing. I was concerned going into this game, I was concerned with turnovers, I wanted to kind of show Laurin and Shatori, in terms of what it was going to look like, and I thought they did a spectacular job. But to have that kind of length and what they're able to do and for us to be able to have a positive assist to turnover ratio was key.
Malina Howard #5 (Junior|Center)
On the defensive effort…
“We knew going in that we were going to have to play great team defense and that we were going to have to be there for each other. It was about being there in help defense, being there for each other, and trusting each other and the way we’ve played defense all year. ”
Here making things difficult for Elizabeth Williams…
“We went in knowing that we had to make it difficult for her. Brionna [Jones] did a phenomenal job of frustrating her and making her take shots that she was rushing, and I think we just did a good job of containing her. She’s a phenomenal player, like we said yesterday, and she was going to get hers. I think we did a great job, collectively as a team, stopping her.”
Brene MosEley #3 (Redshirt-Junior|Guard)
On being called on off the bench…
“I didn’t know when in the game it was going to be, but I just wanted to make sure I was ready to go. ”
On the made 3-pointer at the 47-41 mark…
“I was just trying to get us a jump shot. I think they were stepping in on the threes, so we had a lot of inside-outside looks, and that’s why that look was there, and then I just knocked it down.”
On moving on to the Elite Eight…
“I’m thankful, I think we deserve it, and now we’re on to the next round.”
Duke Postgame Quotes
Q. Ka'lia, but for both of you. How did the game unfold compared to your game plan, what you guys wanted to do? How did you feel about what you did and what Maryland did to offset some of the things you did?
KA'LIA JOHNSON: I think that Maryland did a terrific job of being the aggressor in the first half and it kind of set us back a little bit. But once we made up our mind that we were going to attack and jam the ball inside like we always do, I think we put them on their heels and we just needed to keep that going for a full 40, not just 20 minutes. We have been talking about playing a full 40 all year and when you don't, you don't get result that you want.
ELIZABETH WILLIAMS: Yeah, I would say the same thing. I think that when they got those threes early we just didn't adjust very well and then we finally shut them down. But we just were so inconsistent in the second half, that's what hurt us.
Q. You guys made that run early in the second half, got within one. Did you feel like you just needed to get the lead and maybe it could have snowballed from there or were there other things that Maryland kind of did from then on out that you guys struggled with?
COACH McCALLIE: Well, it's a long game. It's just a lot of minutes to a game that you have to play. I thought we fought hard. Obviously Maryland did some very good things, hit some shots and got some transition and things of that nature.
We just didn't play a good game of ‑‑ to be out‑rebounded, we have been out‑rebounding everybody all year. It just wasn't a great game for us. You have to give credit to Maryland, they're a very good team. They have a lot of guards. A lot a lot of guards, we didn't. That was a big problem.
Q. Where does that Maryland team stack up with some of the teams that you've played this season?
COACH McCALLIE: Very similar to a lot of them. The ones I mentioned on our schedule. The Louisville, Oklahoma, Carolina, Mississippi State, they're just right in that group. I think in women's basketball there's a monarchy right now and one team really can't be beat and everybody else can beat everybody. And that's how I feel about it.
Q. Obviously a tough loss. I'm asking this open‑endedly on purpose, but what would you, if anything, have liked to have done better during the game to get a better result?
COACH McCALLIE: Just the whole first half concept of being stronger and tougher and not ‑‑ I really thought that we have had shooters before, some incredible shooters. The lack of focus on Mincy was a real problem. I didn't like that. The rebounding. We had two offensive rebounds at the half. You're trying to get 25 for a game.
So the lack of energy, aggressiveness, that's what I would have liked to have seen. I don't know what the result would have been, but I know that that would have been how we needed to play.
