University of North Carolina Athletics
Postgame Quotes - North Carolina 70, Yale 63
November 23, 2015 | Women's Basketball
North Carolina 70, Yale 63
November 22, 2015
Head Coach Sylvia Hatchell
Opening Statement
“Thank y'all for being here. I'm proud of these kids for hanging in there like they have the last three days. It's amazing how we've improved as a team in the last eight days. I thought they fought hard. It was very physical. A lot of them didn't get any rest at all. We had several play 38 minutes. We had different people step up in different games. This Jamie [Cherry] with that mask on, she just played really, really well so I'm proud of her for doing that. She's leading her team, which is what she needed to do. N'Dea [Bryant], in my estimate, probably had the best game she's ever had because she had 13 rebounds. I challenged her before the game, and she did it. I said, 'N'Dea, don't let me down.' She didn't let me down. So that's great that she had that great game. We need her to keep doing that. So again, great game. We're just getting better and better and we're looking forward to playing Wednesday at 2, Pacific, and then going up to meet Gonzaga for the final part of this Naismith [Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Women's Challenge]. We're going to take them to the Naismith Hall of Fame. It's a special place and it's going to be a great trip for us up there. I'm proud of them because they hung in there and did a great job.”
On Jamie Cherry's performance
“They were playing us really tight so we were just trying to give her some screens out front. She's so good at reading them and either taking it in there and scoring or finding somebody. She's about the best there is at doing that, so we tried to keep the ball in her hands. We knew if they fouled her, she'd make the foul shots too. She missed one.”
“I told them at halftime, 'Look. This is a really good team. They're going to come out fired up. They're going to come after you.' I couldn't have told them any more or any clearer. We let them score three quick buckets and I had to call a time out. They're a great team and they were down. They came back out fired at up and really coming after us, and I knew they would. We have to be a little more mentally tough in situations like that. I wasn't surprised at all because they've got mostly juniors and seniors that they play. They're smart too. Number 4 [Nyasha Sarju] is tough. She's really tough. Xylina [McDaniel] is coming back. She played 20 minutes. Six rebounds, 11 points. She's getting it back little by little.”
Jamie Cherry, So., G
On shooting well early in the game
“Yesterday was kind of a getting used to the mask thing. Just getting used to being able to see out of it and getting my breathing down pat. Warming up today, getting some shots up and just to see those two three's go in, because the past couple of days I haven't been hitting shots, was very confidence building.”
N'Dea Bryant, Sr., G
On rebounding the ball
“Usually my teammates find me on the open shot, so it's not like I have to do a whole lot to get a shot off. Usually when Jamie [Cherry] drives it's just a kick off. Rebounding is first on days like this when I'm supposed to be thinking about rebounding. That was definitely my first thought coming into the game and then getting those easy layups. Going to the hole just makes taking a shot a little bit easier.”
