Everything From Virginia Tech HC Megan Duffy After Win Over Loyola Maryland

Virginia Tech women's basketball head coach Megan Duffy spoke to the media after the Hokies' 64-48 victory over Loyola Maryland; here's the entirety of what she had to say:

Opening statement:

"Kudos to Loyola. I thought [Loyola Maryland head coach Danielle O'Banion] and her staff and and players just had tremendous effort today. Did a great job. They came off a couple tough losses and I thought they were a confident group. Extremely tough, executed really well. So, just kudos to them. And I thought that today was a really good game for us. I mean, it's not going to be always as fluid and perfect as it was on opening night. And I think there's going to be a lot to take from this film. And I really talked to the team in the locker room just about falling in love with the process and trying to improve on some things maybe we didn't do quite so well this afternoon. But in every game, there's always going to be positives. There's always going to be big plays. I was teasing them that the crowd was quiet because we didn't have as many exciting plays as we did the other day. But, a great learning experience for us, wins are wins. And for the first week I think we have a lot to kind of hold our hat on and really get back to work at the same time."

Q: Coach, the lead stayed pretty stagnant for a lot of the game at about 10 to 12 points. What made it hard for you guys to kind of pull away, make that big run?

"Yah, it was a little bit of a game of runs at certain points. And I thought we had some good momentum in that second quarter to maybe turn the tide a little bit. Then, they hit a couple big baskets and it was just hard to get much flow going on on either side. Like I said, just every game's going to be a little different with their pace and they were trying to go late into the shot clock and really execute. I thought they did a very nice job with that. Their two inside kids are are extremely good. They're going to have a phenomenal conference season if those two kids can stay healthy, because they can do some damage inside. So, yeah, just not maybe as free-flowing as we thought. But that's really good when you're in non-conference right now, to really be able to adjust and figure out lineups and what you got to do to kind of create those runs and manufacture points. Sometimes it's not going to be as as smooth as you always think."

On what was the reason that Kilah Freelon did not dress:

"Yeah, she's out day-to-day and that's all we'll comment on with her."

On if she's hurt:

"That's it. She's out day-to-day. I'm not going to comment on her medical."

On if she's looking at the five-game stretch before hitting the road vs. JMU on Nov. 23 as a group or specifically:

"I think so. You got to look at every game in its own entity in some ways, but I think with seven new players and six returners, you're working a lot through rotation, you're working a lot through roles. Practice for us is so important with just our emphasis on our defense, our rebounding and then, getting our flow with offense. So, when you go out non-conference, you're trying to kind of choose how to play different styles as well. And so, I think that's been really good. Towson was very different than Loyola. And then, we'll go back to work on our our third opponent. So, yeah, the early non-conference games at home are, you want to get a little confidence, you want to really kind of iron out some things. And I think, man, both games this week have been really good with that. Our film session, even after Towson was just super positive and beneficial to say, 'Hey, we got to be working on these couple things.' And then you shift gears into a very different style with Loyola and you got to adapt to that, too. So, I really love that part about not only the first week, but the first few games of the season."

On the 14-0 run to start the second quarter and what changed after the first quarter:

"We made a couple adjustments and then, I thought we had a hard time executing some of the adjustments. And so again, when you look back at it, you're like, 'Hey, how can I communicate better to them? How can they be connected within their five and and in their huddles?' Because we were trying to to make a few adjustments off some of the things they decided to run. And then, early season with scouting, you have a very small sample size like the day before when they played La Salle, La Salle played almost all zone. And so, you didn't maybe get to see their full package and you're going off last year and all that. So, it's good for me and our staff to to be able to figure out what can change the tempo a little bit. We only gave up 10 and six points in the second and third quarter, which I thought was really good. So, as much as it felt kind of like a slug match, like you still only gave up 10 and six points, which is solid. And kept him under 50."

On Loyola Maryland's physicality:

"I think we um knew it that especially 10 [Koi Sims] and 11 [Lex Therien] inside, we're going to be able to seal and duck in and just even the rebounding. And it kind of got a little bit contagious by the other ones just being physical. I thought 12 [Cristina Garcia] did a really good job too of just causing some havoc. So again, I think a little bit, you have to kind of figure out how to manage that physicality and then you got to also avoid it by executing a little better, setting and using screens a little differently. And that's why, again, like I can't reiterate this [enough], early season stuff of like, I look back at the film. Was it physicality or was [it] us not guarding a certain action rate? And I think that's the great part about this early matchups, of kind of finding those answers when we dig in tonight on the film."

On Nelson's career-high 11 assists:

"I mean Mackey's u being steady for us. Her pace has been good. She's finding people. One of the things we talked about with her this season is her point production. Sometimes, she's going to have a lower scoring night but have 11 assists. And then, vice versa, she might score a little bit more and her assists might be down. So, I think she's really taken ownership of that, of every game, kind of figuring out what that's going to look for her. And I think she's doing a great job. Five rebounds on that. She probably wants a couple of her finishes back. She's a phenomenal finisher. But overall, I thought, to get those 11 assists and only three turnovers is is great."

On what Duffy liked about her own defense, particularly limiting Loyola Maryland from beyond the arc:

"I think they had a game plan to pound it in because they shot a decent amount of threes their first two games. I don't think it was anything we did. I think it was their emphasis on what they wanted to run and and what kids they wanted to get the ball to. They have a couple kids who can knock down some threes, but their choice was to run their sets a little bit more and work their high-low and work some downhill attacks."

On whether Duffy was working on certain aspects with Wenzel and Baker in the offseason:

"I think Carleigh and Carys are both two extremely versatile players and they got a ton of experience last year. And I think one of the things with either of them, we said, 'Okay, your versatility is great. When do you use it at different times?' Carleigh started off hot from hitting threes and then, she ended up going downhill in the second half a little bit more and getting fouled. So, just that pulse of when to take things from their bag and use them, is really good. And then I thought Carys, she's always been an inside-outside player. She can shoot her three, she can score in that mid-post, she can come off screens. And they're still evolving with that, but I think overall, they're extremely versatile with how we can use them. And I think you saw a lot of that today with both of them."

On limiting the 16 turnovers:

"I thought some of our turnovers were just a little bizarre. Like a few of our passes I was like, 'Whoa, what are we doing?' So, I'm glad I'm laughing now because I probably wasn't laughing in the moment. But yeah, I just thought just a little bit of our accuracy. I thought honestly, things we worked on that Loyola was going to do. I didn't think we executed great with our our passing and we have a very, very good passing team. I think we can find people, but our reads were just a little bit off and give Loyal a little bit of credit on that, for sure. But I think some of those turnovers were just kind of weird. Like the ball felt like, I'm like, 'That had to be tipped.' And the ref was like, 'Nope, it wasn't tipped.' And I'm like, 'Man, that's just a really not good pass.' So, some of those early on. I know Carleigh was getting a little frustrated at a couple of them. We needed that little Stickum on our hands a couple times. So, very strange some of our turnovers, but we'll clean it up."