Opening Statement:
"I guess the BIG EAST wanted a rivalry, so they got one. All I can say is when you have kids that play that hard and they come out and compete at that level, you cannot lose. There is no way we could have lost that game as hard as they played. Like I said after the UConn game, when I stood here when Erica (Morrow) missed that shot, I told you she would have another opportunity – another opportunity to make it and I told you she would make it. I know you all thought I was just being a coach and I called the play again and she made it and we won. When you have players who play hard – I watched Erica Morrow play for three straight summers and that kid is so competitive and she is so fiery and she is such a leader she just refuses to let situations break her down. I remember I told my wife a couple years ago when I first saw Erica, I said, ‘honey, I have to get this kid because she is a program changer.’ I remember when I came off the road and I saw her at Adidas Top-Ten Camp, I saw her at the Tournament of Champions and I am serious, you can ask Don Graham, the coach at Morgan State University, we watched her. We were recruiting the same kid. She did not miss a three pointer for two weeks. It was the most remarkable shooting that I had seen and I came home and told my wife we have to get this kid – somehow, someway we have to get this kid. She just made a play down the stretch.
“What can I say about Cintia (Johnson), Tasha (Harris) at the point guard when you get 10 assists and two turnovers out of a freshman point guard and a point guard who has taken on a motherly role in Tasha and fighting for this kid and rooting for her. Cintia comes in the game and really just locks down again for the second game in a row – it is just remarkable. When you talk about taking out all your starters and putting in your backup kids, putting in your Orange team as we call them, and Tracy (Harbut) gets the ball in the post and turns over one of the best shot blockers in the BIG EAST and scores – that is big. Then Marisa (Gobuty) in the middle of the floor gets trapped and passes the ball out of a trap and then we get another basket.
“Those things are what wins basketball games. I have to give every ounce of the credit to my kids. They just play hard; they are remarkable. I love them with all my heart because they compete and they deal with me and I am a maniac. They just deal with it and keep fighting and keep grinding because I don't give them anything. I don't give them an inch. I don't let them not play hard. I don't let them not compete. When you talk about a team who goes through night in and night out what we go through in practice, you guys don't have a clue the intensity level that we have in practice. A lot of you guys come to our practice and you know we don't settle for mediocrity. I think that tonight's game was a game that proved that if you continue to work hard and you believe in yourself then you can win any basketball game –no matter what the situation is. We just pulled together and it was a great game by my kids and I am just really happy for them and happy for the Syracuse community again because they deserve a winner and we are determined to be winners. One thing that stuck in my chest last night watching the LSU v. UConn game was how they keep saying that next big Monday is like the BIG EAST championship game, but what if we beat Rutgers Saturday? Is it still the BIG EAST championship game? Maybe not, so let’s go down to Rutgers and see what happens. You have people who doubt you, that is when we step up, so don't be surprised Sunday or Monday if we are talking about how we beat Rutgers because I would not be surprised and I challenge you not to be surprised. If we play the way that we just played, we have a chance and we are going to play that hard."
On what he said in the huddle with Syracuse down 12:
"Every now and then I challenge my kids and that was a challenge. I asked them all questions. I made observations. I bumped noses a couple times. I asked them where their heart was. I asked them if they wanted to go to the NIT or have a chance to go to the NCAA. I asked Nicole (Michael) what she wanted to do, play or lay down. I asked Erica (Morrow) what she was doing. That was a few things I remember because I had been holding it for the whole game and was able to get it out so it felt good. We challenge each other; we go hard everyday. When you go hard everyday those things either break a kid or make your team and obviously it has made our team. Every time I challenge them, they fight and we just fought it out. We really just got after it."
On whether Syracuse is in the NCAA Tournament:
"I don't know. We have done our part most of the way. I thought that the Providence and the Georgetown games set us back a little bit. I thought Notre Dame at home was a great chance to get us over the hump of beating a ranked team and we did not get that one done. We responded to everything that has been thrown at us and we have come back and made some amends, taking care of the things that we need to take care of so I hope we are. I think we deserve to be in; we lost some games to teams that people have thought we shouldn't have lost to, but they were good teams. Obviously Georgetown, as you just saw them play tonight, is not a last-place type team. Providence down in their place is tough – they play everybody tough. Notre Dame came in and are a top 15 team now, so I don't think that losses in our conference are bad losses. Our conference is the best conference in America by far, it isn't even close."
On the timeout following Erica Morrow's game-winning three-pointer:
"I just remember being happy. I was saying get off the floor until I realized it was a timeout. I was happy for Erica; happy for our team. It was a gutsy shot and if she didn't take it then we don’t win. She is a freshman. To have a freshman take that shot and make it is remarkable. I was more happy for her to come back and make it because Erica and I talk a lot. I talk a lot of trash to her and for her to make the shot, I think, it makes her believe that I know what I'm talking about. I told her and I remember telling her that she was going to make the next one, I wasn't even worried about it so I was really happy for that."
On Erica Morrow's game-winning three-pointer:
"The one thing I did think about was that if she missed it, we could have got the rebound and put it back in. So we still had a chance, but she got a clean look at it. I knew she had a chance to make the shot even when it bounced. I saw it bounce up in the air and I still knew it had a chance because weirder things have happened. She is a good shooter, you have to have good rotation for the ball to bounce and spin back in the rim. It wasn't like it was a bad shot. It wasn't a stone. It was a good shot."
On Georgetown dominating inside:
"The thing they did a good job of was really just planting themselves on the blocks. They got a lot of stuff inside that I thought was contested and they are big and they go inside. They are a good interior team, defensively and offensively, so you know they are going to make some plays in the paint and they did."
On Cintia Johnson covering Aminata Diop in the final 0.9 seconds:
"I saw it, but I knew they wouldn't throw it to her. They were going to try to go to one of their main players, so we had that straight. The thing about Cintia is, she is going to get into your legs and I knew that if she just stayed in her legs that we had a chance, and she did. Cintia stayed physical and she actually kept her out of the lane so I thought it was good defense by Cintia."