North Carolina vs. Clemson Post Game Quotes

March 3, 2001

Clemson head coach Jim Davis: “We were a little worried about that basketball game. We had lost two very fiercely competitive games against North Carolina, and we felt like it was our turn. … I just thought that we defended so very well in the first half – and really in both halves. We allowed Juana Brown to catch and shoot on us in both games before. She only got four three-point field goal attempts (today). So that was huge for us.”

“Erin Batth means so much to our basketball team, and she was limited on her playing time today. I told her and I told the team that this proves this is a team game. We were able to pick her up on a bad day, and tomorrow may be her day.”

“We did a great job in defensive transition. Second-chance points – that’s huge for us. And we did a very good job making contact boxing out and aggressively going after the ball. I thought we did a good job of putting pressure on the ball. Marci (Glenney) and Nuria (Forns) – they’re two small forwards, and they’re in there battling 6-5s and 6-3s and they just fight their hearts out. So all those things combined limited their points in the paint.”

Clemson forward Marci Glenney: “What is real important to this team is rebounding., and more than any other time this season we were focused. You could see it in warm-ups. Everybody was ready.”

Clemson guard Chrissy Floyd: “We have really been focusing on rebounding, and tonight we outrebounded them and limited their second-chance points. We really worked hard in practice on boxing out and jumping to get the rebound. … After losing to them twice by one, it was just something that everybody had on that minds.”

North Carolina head coach Sylvia Hatchell: “Well, the bottom line we knew was going to be rebounding, and which team was the most physical. That was it. Both shot percentages were almost identical. They did go to the foul line a little more. Of course we fouled some there at the end. But we knew the rebounding was going to be major and make the difference. They got 15 offensive rebounds and they pretty much manhandled us.”

“When you get to tournament time, usually it’s the team that’s the most physical is the one that’s going to advance. That’s pretty true to form for this game. I think that Clemson has an excellent chance of winning the whole thing, to tell you the truth, for that one single reason. They play good defense. They’re extremely physical, especially under the basket.”

On the rivalry between UNC and Clemson the past three years: “It’s really funny that the last three years, we’ve developed a pattern with Clemson. Whoever wins the two regular-season games loses to the other in the tournament. That’s happened this year. Last year, we lost to them in both regular-season games, then beat them in the tournament. The year before that, we beat them in both regular-season games, they beat us in the tournament. So we’ve set a three-year pattern. I guess it’s better not to win the regular-season games.”

On preparing for Clemson: “Clemson wins because of defense and rebounding. It’s not their offense. We didn’t start off strong offensively where normally we would put up some points quickly. I credit their defense for lot of that. That’s why we always have such battles with them, especially come tournament time.”