University of North Carolina Athletics
Postgame Quotes - Oregon 79, North Carolina 77
North Carolina vs. Oregon
11/15/2015
Coach Sylvia Hatchell’s opening statement:
“Everybody says that you learn more from losing than you do winning, but the other night was one point, and then today I thought Jamie’s shot could’ve easily been in. The thing is we’re improving, and we’re getting better and better. We’ve got two freshmen out there for thirty-five to thirty-eight minutes. Hillary’s playing really well. We just need some time and a couple more bodies. We’ll get Xylina back hopefully by next weekend. That will help us a lot. Her leadership and her presence in there make such a difference. These kids are battling. I’m so proud of the way they battled and fought hard and down the stretch did what they needed to. At the end of the game, our game management was good. We did what you’re supposed to do. We fouled the right person, and we came down and did what we wanted to do. But they’re still getting lost at times out there. Defensive mistakes and assignments is a lot of it. They’re just learning. It’s going to take some time. But we’re going to get better and better, especially when we get Xylina out there. You can say ‘well, you’ve lost two games’, but look at the games. Look at the situations and everything like that. We’ll get back in here tomorrow and work. It’s early, and we’re going to get a whole lot better. Don’t count us out because there’s nobody that’s going to work harder and fight more than these kids and their coach.”
Coach Hatchell on the team’s effort:
“The biggest thing they need now is confidence. That’s what I’m trying to do is give them confidence because they’re young and they’re just going to get better. They get tired out there because we don’t have bodies to put out there. They’ve been loyal to me, and I’m loyal to them. We’re going to fight and be in every game.”
Jamie Cherry on her leadership for the freshmen:
“I think it’s my job to make sure they know everything and do everything correctly. They’ve done a pretty good job. Of course they’re still learning, but I think they’re stepping into the role really well.”
Hillary Summers on Oregon’s defensive strategy:
“Towards the end, they went to a zone. It’s just us learning how to work with them throwing different defenses at us. It was mainly a zone, but we’re just learning as we go. We’re going to get it.”
Hillary Summers on her role:
“I’m just trying to do whatever I can to help us, whatever we need. I do have to become a little bit more of a leader.”
Oregon head coach Kelly Graves
Opening Statement
“First of all, for our program, we’re just trying to get things off the ground. To come into a place like Carolina with the tradition and the Hall of Fame coach and everything that surrounds this university, it’s an important step for us. This was the best season opener I’ve ever experienced. I have a lot of respect for Carolina and Coach Hatchell – she’s incredible. This was a good experience as a coach and certainly as a team.”
Do you like coming all the way out here (NC) for a game?
“It just kind of worked out that way, really. The nice thing is now we go home for 10 straight home games. But this was a good test for us. I realize they’re not at full strength and they’re certainly going to be a lot better down the road, but it just kind of worked out this way.”
Oregon has a small team as well.
“We do [have a small team]. We only have four returning scholarship players. We brought in a lot of new players this year.”
What did you tell your players during the TO with 1.5 seconds left?
“Just to strategize there at the end. We talked about having one foul to give, but with 1.5 seconds left we knew they were just going to catch and shoot. We just wanted to set up our defense – that was critical – and they still got a pretty good look.”
Did you know Jamie Cherry would take the last shot?
“We discussed that, yes. She’s a gamer! I was really impressed and I think she’s going to have a big year for them. We knew that’s where they would go, and she still got a good look - that’s how good she is.