University of North Carolina Athletics
Postgame Press Conferences: UNC 71, Liberty 65
March 21, 2015 | Women's Basketball
2015 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship
First Round · North Carolina 71, Liberty 65
Carmichael Arena • Chapel Hill, N.C.
Saturday, March 21
POSTGAME QUOTES
NORTH CAROLINA
Sylvia Hatchell, UNC Head Coach:
Opening Statement
(On Liberty coach Carey Green) “I don't know whether there's anybody I have more respect for than I do him. He's had lots of opportunities to go to other schools but he's stayed right there and built a dynasty, really. And he's just a great, great guy. I have the utmost respect for him and his players. They do everything the right way.
“We're happy to come out with the win. It's been a couple weeks since we've played. I thought we were very rusty at times. Our rebounding was … I don't know how to describe it but it was pretty bad. We've got to do a lot better job with that. But I was proud of these kids for pulling it out. It got a little wild at times out there but Latifah (Coleman) settled us down, and we kept trying to go to these two (Allisha Gray, Stephanie Mavunga). Stephanie was overplayed a lot. But a couple of the others knocked down some shots. They work hard and pulled it through for us. I knew it was going to be a tough game because Liberty is tough. Its just typical of these first round games we've been seeing in both the men's and the women's tournaments. But I'm just happy for the win and look forward to playing on Monday night.”
Latifah Coleman, Senior Guard
On being motivated in this tournament by the fact she's a senior and it's her last tournament
“This is the most motivation I've had by far in my career. The fact that this could really be it just motivates me and keeps the wheels turning. I'll do whatever I can to survive and advance.”
On being further motivated by Coach Hatchell's return after missing last year's tournament while battling leukemia
“Every time we think about the tournament and last year we get filled with emotion. Now that Coach Hatchell is back it's just great. It's just more fuel to the fire.”
On withstanding Liberty's surges:
“We just kept talking to each other and we had confidence we were going to win this game. Our motto for this tournament is “finish” and that's what we're trying to do.”
Stephanie Mavunga, Sophomore Forward
“We knew we really have to focus. It's anybody's game, especially watching the men's games you really see that, and watching some of the games yesterday. Teams played really close to one another. You can't take anyone lightly. We knew we had to focus and it was going to be a game of runs. After we had that 14 point lead in the first half, we knew that Liberty was going to come out and attack hard. They kept chipping away at the lead but we know basketball is a game of runs and we really had to buckle down. “
Allisha Gray, Sophomore Guard
On how UNC finished out the game
“We definitely picked up the defensive tempo – at the end you noticed they turned the ball over a lot.”
On playing with Latifah Coleman.
“I love playing with Latifah. She's a great distributor of the ball. She's going to find when you're open.”
LIBERTY
Carey Green, Liberty Head Coach:
Opening Statement
First of all, we want to congratulate North Carolina and the Lady Tar Heels and wish them the best as they continue in to the NCAA. It is survive and move on. And as far as my team is concerned, we've had a great year. I'm very thankful for the leadership of the four seniors and these three up here (Ashley Rininger, Karly Buer, Emily Frazier) and their efforts they've given us all season long. Beginning with the end of last year, working very hard and the efforts that they gave, especially in the second half. I think you have to respect their efforts in the second half. We've made some mistakes during the first half, and they shot the ball very well, and put us in a hole. We showed determination and character in the second half, and certainly came back and showed what we're made of – Champions for Christ, an opportunity we're given to honor and glorify Him with our efforts, and hopefully that was respected by all. Certainly pleased and very proud of this team.
On what enabled UNC to pull the game out
Well I think there's two parts to that. We were down 14 at halftime. So we've got a big hill to climb. We climbed that hill, and maybe it was alluded to a little earlier. Right when we're down six or something like that, we turned the ball over, and don't get the shot. I felt like the X factor was our bench. We needed our bench to step up and they did, they got 18 to 19 of those rebounds and scored one-third of our points. They got 22 points coming off the bench. You have Catherine (Kearney) coming in and Jasmine (Gardner) just laying her heart out there. Only way you're going to get Jasmine off the floor is you better foul her out and she did foul out. She's going to lay her heart out there and she did. The X-factor of the bench, and to be precise with your question, I think we got too far behind and just made a critical mistake or two to get that one more enthusiastic play. We really got the support. I'm biased, when I make this statement: I think our fans were louder than the Carolina fans. I'm biased with that statement. I think they may have had us outnumbered a little bit. It was almost a 50-50. I'm certainly thankful for our administration and our support. The buses that came down and the fans, and hopefully they got their money's worth. They should have. That's their fault if they didn't. They picked us up. They were the sixth man to encourage us with our X-factor and we're thankful for that.
Emily Frazier, Liberty Guard
On trying to come back against UNC and the impact a defensive stop could have had
“North Carolina is a very, very good team, and they're tough. That's really how it felt. We'd go on a run and they'd just knock us out. It was just a constant trying to get back in the game. So yeah, I do feel like that would have given us a lot more confidence. It would have given us a boost. I mean, I wish it would have changed the outcome of the game, but you can't look back on that. Everybody played really hard and North Carolina showed up and did a very good job. Best wishes to them.
Karly Buer, Liberty Guard
On Liberty's turnovers on consecutive possessions with about four minutes left
“Our turnovers were critical. They came at times where we really didn't need a turnover. Our mentality is if you turn it over, go get it back. So we didn't think about that at the time, “Oh shoot, we turned it over twice in a row.” That wasn't our mentality, our mentality was get it back, and just go play.
Ashley Rininger, Liberty Forward
On how things opened up for her in the second half.
“I knew that I just needed to be tough, and just continue to look for my shot. I was trying to work inside and do the best that I could. I got great looks from the guards. It just really opened up for me.”
