University of North Carolina Athletics
Postgame Quotes - Carolina 84, Alabama State 54
November 11, 2016 | Women's Basketball
North Carolina 84, Alabama State 54 • November 11, 2016
Postgame Quotes
North Carolina Head Coach Sylvia Hatchell
On team composition
“I love this team, our chemistry is tremendous. We're young, we got one senior, one junior, the rest are freshman and sophomores, and I knew that adding this young lady [Paris Kea] would make a big difference and it did. Emily [Sullivan] played well for a freshman in there. We're just going to continue to get better and better.”
On Stephanie Watts' injury
“Stephanie didn't have her usual game. She hurt her hand in practice yesterday and I was really surprised she was even going to be able to play today. She hyperextended her thumb and it's in pretty bad shape. We don't play for a week so she'll have time to rest that up and get well there.”
On early shooting woes
“We didn't have a shoot-around today because the game was so early and I think that hurt us some. We've been knocking down threes like crazy and we weren't doing that tonight, we were 6-25 and we would normally probably make 12 or 13 of 25 because we had some good looks… but it's hard to complain when you get 84 points.”
On frontcourt
“We've got some good size. Emily does a good job in there setting screens with her height, shes really tough around the basket keeps the ball up high. She and Ly Ly [Alyssa Okoene] and Naomi are all just going to continue to get better as they get opportunities to play.”
On her 22-point night
“It's my first official game back after sitting out last year, so I just had a lot of built-up energy. It felt good to finally play and contribute on the court.”
On setting herself up to have a strong performance today
“I would say definitely my mid-range. It's my go-to. I try to help on the boards, too, and get some rebounds.”
On staying fresh for the game while on the bench
“On the bench, we always try to stay in the game. We watch whoever is playing our position and we like to see how the other players are defending and how it is rebounding so we can stay mentally engaged on the bench so that when we do come into the game, we're ready to get started and can make an impact right away and not have to have a couple of plays getting into the rhythm of the game.”
Both players: How did it feel to get the first game out of the way?
Paris: “It feels great. It definitely gave our freshmen some experience. We finally got it over with, that and all the nerves.”
Emily: “It was a really great experience to play my first official game here and I know it was a good team win and a good team game for us. I think our chemistry was really great on the court so it was a lot of fun to play.”
