University of North Carolina Athletics
Postgame Quotes - Carolina 65, Bucknell 50
November 21, 2016 | Women's Basketball
NORTH CAROLINA POSTGAME QUOTES
North Carolina 65, Bucknell 50 Ÿ November 20, 2016
North Carolina Head Coach Sylvia Hatchell
Opening Statement
“I want to say how proud I am of Martina Wood, who was assistant coach for the Bucknell team. Martina played here, was an outstanding player for us. She came off the bench most of the time, was solid as a rock, and just had unbelievable work ethic. We're really proud of Martina. They have a very good team. I know they won 25 games last year. They're definitely an NCAA team and will go a long way. I wanted to make sure I said that about them. It was hard fought. Our toughness award goes to Hillary Fuller. That kid was tough as nails in there. She had 13 rebounds. We were outsized quite a bit in there because their post game is so good. Fuller was really tough in there. Our kids have been working really hard in practice. Fuller's our only senior, Jamie [Cherry] is our only junior, and we've got eight freshman. We're working so hard in practice and just getting better. I thought our defense overall was pretty good. We took a lot of threes. I like shooting the three, and we've got kids that can shoot that, but we've got to knock some more of those down if we're going to shoot that many. I saw a lot of things I like, good things. It was a good win, a big win for us because Bucknell's a really good team.”
On the team's ability to extend its lead in the fourth quarter
“We're in great shape. We like that tempo. I think other teams get tired. We were tired, but we're used to that, and we're going to keep it going. Plus, our kids have a lot of confidence. They know that, especially in the fourth quarter, we want them to play more aggressive. We don't slow it down unless it's a time-score situation. I had to call a timeout to get them to work the clock a little bit and not keep giving Bucknell more possessions than we had to. They are going to play aggressive, and they know how important the fourth quarter is.”
Jamie Cherry, G
On her production
“The coaches ran great plays for us to be able to drive in there and kick to the open player, especially with the ball screens. They went over-under on ball screens, which allowed us to get shots as well. When they started picking up on us going over-under, then the kick outs were there. Just being able to know that I've got all of them out there being able to shoot is even better.
On her leadership on the court
“I trust my teammates to the point that it's unbelievable. Stephanie [Watts] and them are great shooters, so it's just a matter of them getting more shots up, and they'll hit them. Especially tonight, you saw that. Stephanie wasn't hitting as many as she normally does in the first half, and in the second half, she came in and took off. It was just me feeding them the ball and then doing what I have to do.”
On her big second half
“My team and my coaches always keep confidence. I keep shooting the ball, keep taking it to the basket, and they'll eventually fall. I think my teammates also did a good job of finding me and setting screens and getting to the basket to help me do that.”
