Debbie Ryan Quotations

We started out like gangbusters. We were shooting the ball well.

We started off like gangbusters and everything was going down. With us, it is all about whether or not we are making shots. We are a young team -- that is the way it happens.

We're mired in a slump right now and we're digging a pretty deep hole. And the first rule of holes is to stop digging. But that's all we keep doing right now is keep digging and digging and digging.

We would pull within two or four and then we would make a critical error and it would just deflate us. That is a sign of a young, inexperienced team.

With these guys, they have to understand that you have to make it go your way. You have to put a little more into it. You have to bring the ball down. We just don't have that little extra spurt at times to make it happen.

We have probably made a pretty good case, but we just have to pray that there aren't a lot of upsets in tournaments the next couple of days.

She has worked extremely hard on her offensive game so I was starting to run things for her in the first half.

Sixteen days is way too long. It's a long, long time to wait to play.

She is just walking now, just barely walking. That was a pretty bad injury.

I don't know what happened to us, but the doors blew off. Carolina exposed about everything that was wrong about our team in that one stretch there, and that was all she wrote.

I am glad to play at home in front of our fans. I would never be upset to play at home. I am glad to put this team in front of its fans. Our fans love this team, and I am sure they are going to prove that in the next couple of days. They love watching them, and they love being a part of them.

I have a lot of faith in this team, and I feel really strongly about this team. Even though we're really young, they're making strides and they're going in the right direction. They practice hard, and I know we're going to get better and better.

What makes them No. 1 and separates them from us right now is their ability to play 40 minutes and to put 11 people on the court that can stay at a very high level at all times, which makes it difficult for seven people who just played a game last night.

He seemed upbeat and excited about the changes he was making. There was no indication there was anything wrong.

He was a great asset to our program. He made me a better coach just because he was never afraid to challenge or make suggestions and stand strongly behind how he felt. There was no question from the day he came into my program that he?d be a head coach, and I knew he?d be very successful.

I think it?s a great honor for him, one that we all knew would come at some point or another. He?s one in a million.

I thought we stayed right with them. It was just that one lull that put us in a hole that was difficult to climb out of. But I thought we did a good job climbing.

I thought we started out with good intensity. We got great shots and they just didn't go down. Then that affected us defensively.

I thought Denesha had a great first half. She played a very strong first half and really gave us some energy off the bench and was able to put the ball in the basket.

I thought defensively we did a really good job on a team that averages 83 points per game. I was very pleased with our execution at both ends of the court.

It is going to be exciting because we have a chance to win a championship. I think that is how you get them excited. This is a championship. You are not just playing games. You are playing for a championship. I think this team would like to prove something with this. It is a great opportunity for us.

I thought we did a nice job of forcing turnovers and that was a key to winning the game. They got within five and we had to force a few turnovers in order to put them away.

I thought we got off to a really slow start. We missed a lot of shots and that took us out of it.

I thought they did a nice job defending us, but we weren't hitting our shots. When you miss shots and they respond with baskets on the other end, the lead evaporates quickly.

I thought they did a great job in the first half, especially finishing, making shots and driving the score up. I thought they read things well and really did a nice job finishing the game.

I thought that we really adjusted well from the first half to the second half, which is a good indication of how well these kids do at adjusting. We did a much better job of defending penetration and we got on the boards a lot better.

I think we were a little leg tired. I don't want to use that as an excuse because it is not an excuse. We should have been able to overcome that.

I think Boston College is one of the top four teams in the conference. They're a very tough team and very difficult to play against.

I think that we executed very well. In most offenses, we got what we wanted. ... We had some bad shots tonight for sure. That is what shooting percentages indicate -- that we are not taking good shots.

I think that we will bounce back. I think that I am still getting good leadership. We are getting very consistent play from the upper class but I need to get a little bit more from people coming off the bench.

Just for activities, we drive between 60 to 90 miles a week. And now my daughter's thinking about dance next year, and my son 4-H.

Our team has to step up and have a good start. It is important, and it is going to be critical for us.

I was very proud of our play, especially down the stretch. I thought we played with poise and maturity, and the things we've been working on really came to the forefront.

We just went cold. We have a tendency to do that.

We were much better prepared for their post game than we were the first time. We respected their post game the first time, but they just drilled us. This time we had some time to work on it and we came with a much better game plan.

Whether you win or lose in this league, you cannot put too much emphasis on one game. We don't put too much stock on getting too high or low, but more on being even.

We rebounded well and played their tendencies extremely well. They really could not get shots off because when they tried to run their plays we knew what they were going to do. I think we did a good job of keeping them in check.

We don't put extra money into our savings. We decrease the amount we pay to reduce our credit card debt. We still live in a starter home. I'm not even considering a bigger home because we're paying all that money in gas.

We had very balanced scoring tonight. Somebody was there to make the play for us.

We were hitting tonight. We took good shots, and we finished.

We need everything from her; we need a lot of scoring, a lot of rebounding, defense. She has to find a way. We need everything.

We are digging a pretty deep hole. And the first rule of hole is to stop digging. But that is all we are doing right now. And that is something that we have to learn.

We played a lot from behind in games. We haven't been all that great at taking the lead, and holding onto it. So, today was a great game for us.

We were a little leg-tired. That's not an excuse. We should have overcome that.

We showed a lot of character and courage in the first half to match them point-for-point. But we just seemed to get tired, or I don't know what happened to us, but the doors blew off and Carolina exposed about everything that was wrong about our team in that stretch. That was all she wrote.

We kept going to her and she kept delivering.

The physicality of the game is something that you have to adjust to. You have to adjust to those things and this team usually adjusts to that. They're pretty good with the physical part of the game, but tonight I didn't feel like we were as physical as we normally are.

We've been playing good ball lately, and we're home.

We'll have to wait and see just how good we are, where we're going to get our points from. I'd say it might be my most inexperienced group, (but) it's the best leadership we've had in the past 13 years.

We gave her the chance to get some experience, but it wasn't the game plan at all. I had to make sure I had post players to end the game, because they're a very big team.

We just kept going to her in the second half and she just kept delivering. That's what you expect from your veteran players.

You have to give Tech credit for not letting us get closer. They were hitting their shots tonight.

You have to give (FSU) a lot of credit. We started off like gangbusters. But we couldn't maintain it. We had some bad shots tonight, for sure.

We lost a couple at home when we didn't play very well. That made the difference.

We got ourselves in a little bit of a hole to start the game. We didn't shoot the ball very well, and we did some things that were uncharacteristic.

Even though we got down a little bit, we still made a little run to come back. We played a pretty good first half. We showed a lot of character and courage in the first half, being able to match them point for point.

There was a lot of fouls in the game. That kind of disrupts your rhythm.

It was a physical game and we pride ourselves on being a physical team. But we let their physicality get the best of us.

I wanted her to basically take a look at things from the floor to see defensively how she could improve upon her game and help our team. I thought she did a tremendous job tonight coming off the bench. I doubt it will be permanent. She did exactly what I needed her to do tonight.

Our defense is usually pretty good. I'm pleased where we are now. This team has bought into the fact that if we want to win, we have to play defense.

That's where she's grown most from last season to this season - in her ability to take on a bigger role as a leader. I think she wanted to do it last year, but I'm not sure how comfortable she felt with so many seniors here.

They try to hold scores down in the 50s. They're kind of a pain in the neck to play actually.

A lot of people think it is important about starting, but it really isn't. It is about trying to maximize the talent that you have on your team.

They have Ivory Latta and nobody else does. But they have a lot of great players. It's not just Ivory Latta.

They are a team that doesn't quit on you. They are very feisty, aggressive and difficult to defend. The clock was at a snail's pace at the end.

There is not too much rest in the ACC. There is no easy game in the ACC.

It was a very brutal stretch. However, we took some steps forward in this stretch. We played Maryland at home to an overtime game and played North Carolina fairly close. We were able to make some big strides, and we weren't overmatched against North Carolina, we just made some errors that really hurt us. I was very proud of our effort.

It's a huge boost for us. You can't put too much emphasis on one game in the ACC. You have to stay focused and on an even keel, win or lose.

Dawn is the epitome of what the Distinguished Alumni Award represents. Since graduating in 1992 she has brought notoriety, prestige, and honor to the University through her personal and professional endeavors. Dawn's experiences at Virginia have helped her to impact the world in a meaningful way. She is most deserving of this recognition.

No team could get a rhythm out there. That's what made it an ugly game.

It will be different for us without Tiffany here and it will be tough to replace her. Tiffany has been the person that has stepped up in major situations. She sets great standards for herself and all those around her.

They have to worry about staying up with us too.

I'm gonna have to be hard on her in the beginning.

I'm disappointed to a point. I knew we were on the board, but I knew our status was tenuous because of our conference record. ... It was disappointing to see some of the other teams that got in that shouldn't have. There's a lot of conference politics in this.

If we can be fortunate enough to win there, we'll have a chance to play at home again.

In the second half we beat them on the floor, but the free throws made the difference. You can't do much about that.

You won't get away with anything in practice if Tiffany's out there.

The first half was our best performance of the year.

The last two games, I have seen us do things that I have not even seen us do in practice. That's just not a good thing. I have no idea what to do about that.