University of North Carolina Athletics
Postgame Quotes - Carolina 80, Alabama A&M 35
November 18, 2016 | Women's Basketball
NORTH CAROLINA POSTGAME QUOTES
North Carolina 80, Alabama A&M 35 Ÿ November 17, 2016
North Carolina Head Coach Sylvia Hatchell
Opening Statement
“First half, I thought we played some really good defense, but we weren't making our shots. We only shot 31 percent in the first half. The second half, we did a little bit better. Stephanie [Watts] got caught on fire over there. These two [Stephanie Watts and Paris Kea] both are going to be great players. They do some amazing things out there at times. We've just got to keep getting better, get a little stronger. I did think that defensively we did some nice things. We'll continue to get better. I thought we were getting some really good shots in the first half. They just weren't going in. We've got five games in nine days, so we're excited about the next nine days. It will be a lot of good games. We're just trying to keep everybody healthy, and we're looking forward to the competition.”
On the defensive effort:
“The first half, I thought we were doing a lot of good things defensively. Our traps were good. We've really been working a lot on our rotations and our traps and intercepting and different things like that. I thought we did a pretty good job with that today, but we have been working a lot on that. I wish we could've created more of our offense off our defense. You'd think if we forced 35 turnovers and got 18 steals that we could've created a little more offense off our defense. I didn't think we came down and converted like we should have on some of those opportunities. Again, we're just working hard and getting better, and we're going to continue to do that. We're going to be a perimeter shooting team and a driving team too, because we've got kids that really have good ball handling skills and can drive. Shooting the three is going to be a big part of us this year. Defensively, we're getting better. We're talking more and learning to read things out there a little bit better. Defense was overall good.”
On the team's 2-0 start:
“These kids that played so much are now sophomores and not freshmen. The difference in Stephanie from last year to this year is light years, and the same thing with Destinee [Walker] and Jamie [Cherry]. Paris out there really helps. I just think that these kids have a little more experience, and we have a little more depth. Fuller is our only senior, and Jamie's our only junior, so we're going to have most of the team for the next three years. We signed a really good class this week, which is going to make us a lot stronger.”
On her three point shot:
“Personally, I'm looking for threes. The first half we just weren't knocking them down like we normally do. We did happen to get a lot of threes because they were also playing a lot of zone.”
Paris Kea, G
On the role of the team's forwards:
“The biggest thing that we emphasize is rebounding. Get inside position so we can get the outlet high and a fast break. We're a fast breaking team.”
