March 28, 2006
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Head Coach Sylvia Hatchell
* Opening Statement
First of all, I just want to say what an honor it is to play the University of Tennessee and to have won this game. Pat and I are very good friends. I went to graduate school at Tennessee. Much of my success as a coach and my opportunities have been because of Pat Summitt. She has opened a lot of doors for me and got me involved in USA Basketball. It's an honor to have played and won this game. These young ladies (Ivory Latta, Camille Little and Erlana Larkins) here beside me are very special. I don't have to tell you how special they are. They're tough and they're warriors and I'm very proud of them. The way we started the game I thought our defensive pressure made a big difference and we got some transition buckets. We played some pretty good defense in the first half. As far as rebounding goes, Tennessee was killing us on the boards and we talked a lot about that at halftime. In the second half we played a much bigger line up. Most of the time we played Camille (Little) at the wing and I thought that helped us a little bit on our rebounding. I knew Tennessee was going to come at us and they did. Those kids were tough down the stretch and then Tennessee made their run. And again, I like I said it's an honor to win this game.
* On her Confidence in Ivory Latta
Ivory is an excellent 3-point shooter and we do several things with her. We let her shoot that shot. If you give her some daylight we're going to let her pull the trigger because Ivory's a great 3-point shooter and I that's a high percentage shot for us to tell you the truth. Because when she does make it then you've got to come out on her then she can drive more and find the post players.
* On UNC's Bench
Our strength is our depth and our balance. LaToya (Pringle) goes in and gets the job done for us. Erlana didn't have a good game. She only made one but she got some rebounds and her presence in there makes a difference. Ivory didn't shoot that well either. Tangy (La'Tangela Atkinson) was solid and Camille played well. I thought Jessica when she played had two big shots, but LaToya's tough in there and I thought Rashanda (McCants) played well when she was in there too.
* On the Difference in Tennessee's Candace Parker after her second foul
Candace is a great, great player. She can just do it all. It may have been a factor a little bit, but she's just such an incredible player. We were trying to keep her from getting the ball so much. Down in the post we were trying to front her and just not let her touch the ball so much. Because if she gets it in her hands she's going to make something happen.
Junior Guard Ivory Latta
* On 3-point basket with shot clock winding down
Coach told me to get the ball and back it out. They weren't coming out to get me so I just shot the ball. It was a dagger. It was coach's decision for me to back it out so I backed it out and I tried to take a couple dribbles and they just stood there. I thought they were going to come out and play defense on me but they didn't so I took the shot.
Sophomore Forward Erlana Larkins
*On sophomore forward LaToya Pringle's Presence
It was very important that you could have a courageous game once again thanks to LaToya (Pringle) and her play I think that's what helped us win this game.
Junior Forward Camille Little
*On North Carolina's Defensive Pressure
Coach Hatchell always talks about defensive pressure and we've been doing that since day one and that's our game plan. We plan on doing against everyone else here on out.
* On UNC's defensive adjustment
I think the pressure on the ball is important. It makes it awkward for perimeter players to pass it into the post. We try to play like we always do.
* On Holding Off Tennessee's Late Run
We didn't want to get shaken up by their pressure, take care of the ball and keep the clock running and just stay focused and we knew that we had it.
