Feb. 26, 2010
Georgia Tech Coach MaChelle
Opening Statement:
“I thought that, even though [North] Carolina’s record is what it is this year, I still think they’re a very good team. They have five McDonald’s All-Americans on their team and any time you beat [North] Carolina, you know with the history and tradition they have, it’s a big win. The fact that we made history tonight makes it even sweeter. 22 wins in the regular season, that’s never been done before. A first round bye in the ACC Tournament, never been done before. There are several things that happened tonight.
“I’m very proud and pleased for our seniors. Four 20-win seasons, it’s just an amazing career for Brigitte Ardossi and the things that Tiffany Blackmon has done on the floor and in the classroom for us over the four years has obviously been a tremendous asset to our program. I told the players the other day that Brigitte Ardossi is the best leader we’ve had in the history of our program and there’s no doubt about that. On the floor, off the floor, how she held the players accountable, but also at the same time was able to encourage them. Even though Sasha didn’t have her best game tonight, I really thought Brigitte brought the best out of Sasha Goodlett as well. So, we’re very pleased and excited.
“We have a quick turnaround. We’ve got to go on the road in the morning and head to N.C. State, but this is what we wanted. This not only get’s us ready for the ACC Tournament, but for the NCAA Tournament because of how quickly you turnaround and play and we’ve had two consecutive weeks of that. So, we’re looking forward to the challenge on Sunday.”
On the team’s free throw shooting on the night:
“Well, if you ask the players one of the things that we work on every single day is free throws. We probably shoot more free throws in practice than any other team. We know the way we play and how aggressive we play and how we want to put the ball inside we want to get to the free throw line. Our goal every game is to make 20 free throws. So, we’re always trying to get to the free-throw line and I thought we did a good job of that tonight.”
Georgia Tech forward Brigitte Ardossi
On playing her final game at home:
“I’m not sad or upset. I’m just very proud of our team and what we’ve accomplished over these last four years. I can’t really think that this is the end because it’s not. We still have another game, the ACC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament. We still have games to play, so I can’t be sad right now.”
North Carolina Coach Sylvia Hatchell
Opening Statement
“It really came down to rebounding. We held them to 32 percent shooting and I thought overall on defense we did a pretty good job, but the rebounding was the difference in the game. I really thought that we could pull it out, but I think their last six points were second chance points. We just have to do a better job of boxing people out and rebounding. We gave good effort and I thought the team had a good game. We just didn’t get on the `boards with them, which cost us the game.”
On the position North Carolina finds itself in being on the bubble to get into the NCAA Tournament:
“Well, it doesn’t get any easier, because our doubles in the conference are pretty tough in Duke, Georgia Tech and [N.C.] State twice. Our backs are up against the wall. We need to win Sunday [vs. Duke] and we need to do well in the ACC Tournament to get in. We should be doing better than we are. We’ve lost some games we shouldn’t have lost, but we’re pretty young out there and I’d say half the games we lost, the difference has been rebounding. If we can just get that one thing worked out, then I think we can take off.”
On Brigitte Ardossi:
“She’s had a really good year. She didn’t shoot that good tonight, but she still had 18 [points] and she had ten [points] at the foul line. She’s had a really good year and she plays really hard. She’s a work horse for them. She’s gets them going when they need it.”
North Carolina guard Cetera DeGraffenreid
On if she was confident on taking Georgia Tech defenders to the paint on the night:
“They were pressing a lot, so whenever we came back and got the ball across half court the lane was wide open. I knew if I got in there that I would be able to score.”
