University of North Carolina Athletics
Postgame Quotes - North Carolina 72, Clemson 56
January 3, 2016 | Women's Basketball
NORTH CAROLINA POSTGAME QUOTES
North Carolina 72, Clemson 56 • January 3, 2016
Head Coach Sylvia Hatchell, Xylina McDaniel and Erika Johnson
Opening Statement
“It wasn't pretty, but it's a W. We just keep working and working. These kids are fun to coach. I love them to death, and they just keep working hard for us and getting better. Z's [Xylina McDaniel] getting it back, and Erika [Johnson] is helping us out, and the freshman are getting better and better. We're a work in progress, but we just keep getting better and better. I love how they battle and how they fight out there. We're just looking forward to every game and every practice because every time we walk off the court at practice, we're a better team, and that's always a lot of fun.
Clemson came after us, and they kept coming after us. We had some breakdowns, especially defensively with weak-side defense. A lot of it was the young players, but that's how you learn. Jamie [Cherry] made some big foul shots down the stretch even though we did miss a lot, more than we usually do. But it's a W, and we'll start getting ready for Syracuse.”
On feeling more confident in her health
“I mean I'm still working on it, doing extra and I'm doing extra to get my legs back into it. A lot of it was mental, so I had a good talk with our team doctor before the game and he's like, 'nothing's going to happen so just play.' So I mean his talk helped a lot too, but yeah I'm definitely doing extra to get my wind back and stuff.”
On her comfort level on defense with ACC play beginning
“I fell pretty comfortable on defense as a whole all of the time. I don't think anything was really different, but I know Coach Hatchell has really been addressing the fact that this is war, and this is a battle and it's ACC game number one. So it was really important to come out strong. I think that was exciting – to be able to come out and say I'm finally ready to go, get in there and just be aggressive on defense because that's going to produce offense. I don't know, I felt more comfortable I guess, but I'm always ready to go on defense. Every day I'm ready to go.”
