March 23, 2017
Recap | Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery
Penn State Women's Basketball
Penn State vs. Virginia Tech
WNIT ââ'¬" Third Round
March 23, 2017
Coquese Washington | Penn State Head Coach
Q: You heard your players saying how they weren't locked in, in the first half. Why do you think that was?
A: I think their choice of words doesn't accurately describe it. I do think they came in locked in, but I think, especially when you're play teams for the first time, practicing what they are going to run and then facing it at full speed, sometimes it takes a little bit of time to recognize and adjust to the speed and tempo of how the other team plays. Then, if you're not necessarily scoring, you worry too much about scoring and not stopping.
Q: It seemed like early on there was miscommunication, what changed as you made this a closer game as the game progressed?
A: I think that was the big thing, the biggest key defensively, and the biggest difference between the first and second half was communication on defense. The first half we were pretty quiet, not communicating with each other. Those were some of the opportunities that Virginia Tech took advantage of. The second half we did a much better job of communicating on defense. I think we also did a better job of rebounding in the second half and that helped us as well.
Q: What do you tell your players when you are in a large deficit like you were?
A: The challenge we were having in the first half was that we didn't have a lot of offensive patience. I think we had about ten turnovers in the first half. We were quick shooting the ball and having turnovers. That caused us to not be in a rhythm offensively. The turnovers and long shot rebounds caused them to get out in transition a little bit and had us scrambling. We talked about that at halftime. I thought the second half we did a better job of playing with patience and getting better shots.
Q: Do you think you became a little complacent with this being your third straight home game?
A: Not at all. I don't think this team ever took for granted this season that playing at home meant an automatic win. I know they appreciate playing in front of our crowd because we have amazing fans. I don't think we got complacent. I think Virginia Tech is a good team. I think we came out in the first half and did not communicate on defense and we played without much patience on offense; and I think they took advantage of that.
Q: How would you rate the overall performance of this team?
A: When you look at our last ten games, we [have played very well]. I thought we continued to grow over the course of the season. As disappointing as this loss is right now, when you look at the totality of our season, this team has accomplished a lot. I'm really proud of how this program has grown over the course of one year. Where we were last year as compared to where we are now, there's no way I am going to sit here and bemoan the way this program has grown within the past twelve months.
Certainly disappointing. You want to win every single game. We definitely would have liked to have performed better in the first half, not digging ourselves a 20-point deficit, then maybe the outcome is different. I'm really proud of what this team accomplished this year, especially with our team being so young. I think our future is really bright especially with the players returning. Like Teniya [Page] said, the team learned a lot about what post season play means. What it's going to feel like and how you have to perform during the season, to perform better at this point in the season. I'm really proud of the kids.
Q: This was the last game for three of your seniors. How do you put their careers in perspective?
A: The last game of the season is always tough for the seniors. They look back over their careers and think about all of the things that have happened over the past four years. I think where this program is today, relative to last March, our seniors grew a lot. Our seniors definitely did a lot in the offseason and the beginning of the year from a leadership standpoint to help build the foundation and make it stronger for the future. That will not go without being talked about.
Q: How much did you miss the presence of Lindsey Spann?
A: This is definitely a game Lindsey would have been impactful for us. She comes off the bench and she gives us a lot of points. Her experience having played a lot of games over the course of her career, certainly she would have been a factor.
Amari Carter | So./Fr. | G
Q: There were a lot of shots that weren't falling. What do you tell yourselves in that moment to stay confident moving forward?
AC: Sometimes the ball doesn't go in and you just have to keep shooting. That's at all is- you can't score points if you don't shoot, so even if the ball doesn't go in you have to count on it going in next time.
Q: What were you saying to each other? What was the dialogue like all game?
AC: Just keep shooting. Like you said earlier the ball wasn't going in, but you can't stop shooting and we were just trying to keep spirits high. Everyone's spirits high and make sure everyone was locked in and not worrying about the last play.
Q: Virginia Tech had five players who scored over ten points. How frustrating was that as defenders to try and slow them down?
AC: They just had a lot of weapons and a lot of people who could hit shots and make baskets. It could be frustrating, like you said, the first half we didn't really lock in, so in the second half we did our best to really lock in and try to shut them down.
Teniya Page | So./So. | G
Q: Every team's goal is to win a championship. Despite the loss, what did you learn tonight moving forward? You are a young team and what does this say about your future?
TP: I think we learned that it's hard after the regular season. It's hard once it comes to win or go home. Every team plays hard because it's potentially their last game. I think that's what I personally learned and I think as a young team that's what we learned.
Q: We could sense some frustration coming from you a little bit in the first half. What really was the root of that frustration for you?
TP: I think it came from me being too complacent to start the game. That's pretty much it. Things don't always go the way you want them to, especially in the beginning of the game, so I think I was frustrated for probably no reason. Instead of taking my time and being patient, I was forcing a lot of things in the beginning of the game.
Q: It seemed like early in the first quarter you guys were making a bunch of little mistakes. Why was that?
TP: I think it took us a minute to address the physicality of the game, so we were making mental errors and not really focused on what we were supposed to be doing.
Q: This was the biggest game of both of your careers. How much did emotion play a factor?
TP: I wouldn't say emotion played a factor. I pretty much treated it like every other game. I think the biggest thing for us as a team, including myself, was that we didn't really lock in defensively like we should have. Even though we weren't making shots we still had to play defense. If we don't score and they don't score it's [all even]. I wouldn't say my emotions played into it, but I definitely know for a fact I probably should have been a little bit more locked in on defense.
Q: You didn't get to the line until the third quarter. What made you change not just for you, but the whole team coming out for the second half?
TP: I think we just kept attacking the basket. That was pretty much it. Sometimes you can attack the basket and not get calls, but you have to keep doing it. Things kind of changed in the second half for us.
Kenny Brooks | Virginia Tech Head Coach
Opening Statement
KB: Obviously, this time of year, it's about advancing. I'm very excited for this group this first season that we have encountered with each other. It has been very educational, to say the least, but we got off to a tremendous start and won our first fifteen games, being ranked as high as fifteen. We kind of lost our confidence a little bit in the middle of the year, but continued play against traditional powerhouses is going to only help our program. Tonight was really good. We got a lot of contributions from a lot of people. We stepped up and played with a lot of confidence. I'm very happy for my group. I think they deserve it. They've been working really hard. Tremendous attitude, and approach to the WNIT and I'm just glad we're able to continue on. Just very happy, I thought it was a very good win, we played really good defense in the first half, probably some our best defense of the year. And we held on in the second half.
Q: Teniya Page was fairly limited in the first half, what was the key to shutting her down?
KB: Chanette was guarding her, but Page is a tough player. When I was at James Madison we played Kelsey Mitchell from Ohio State, and players like that you're not going to just shut down. She's a focal part of the offense, she's going get a high number of attempts and she's going to make some because she's a tremendous player. We just wanted to make it tough for her and I thought we did a good job…We knew, if Page hit one, you come back at her again, work harder the next time. I thought [our players] did a good job, it was a team effort, at playing against her.
Q: You took James Madison to six NCAA Tournaments over 11 years there, where Virginia Tech hasn't had a lot of post season success in recent history, what was the key to turning that around and having some success after the regular season?
KB: Changing the culture. I can't speak for the culture when I wasn't there, but I know what got me to where I was at James Madison was the culture. You're not going to come in on day one, and just because you arrive, change the culture. It is something you have to live, you have to believe it. You have to stress it, you have to be it. These kids, they've done a wonderful job of transitioning, and they've done everything I've asked them to do. They've worked really hard. A lot of them aren't built for the system that we're playing, but they're adapting. They've done a wondering job at understanding me, and adjusting to our ways, and it wasn't always easy, but it never is when you're changing the culture. I can see the kids are really buying in to it. Case in point, Magarity, arguably our best player, leader in scoring, scored eight points tonight, but we get into the locker room after the game and everyone's happy because we won. It's not about the individual stats and that's the ways these kids are. They're really learning to play for each other. That culture, that winning culture, that's what's been exciting for me this year.
Q: During that 18 point run during the first half, could you sense the momentum shifting?
KB: I did and I think we left some points on the board. I thought we missed a couple of easy [shots]. But we never hung our heads, we kept fighting, and we just continued to execute. I kept telling them, the offense is great, we've proven that we can score, we haven't proven yet that we can play great defense and I think we did during that stretch. We did a good job at making them take tough shots, and it helped us. I think we came out and maybe they took it too much to heart after I said 'I think defense is going win this game.' I think they focused a little too much on the defense, they forgot to step up and knock down some of the shots, but nonetheless, as a program under my direction, we're learning how to win and winning games like this is only going help us.