Everything From Virginia Tech's Megan Duffy, Carleigh Wenzel And Carys Baker After Loss To Duke

Virginia Tech women's basketball head coach Megan Duffy, guard Carleigh Wenzel and forward Carys Baker spoke to the media following the team's 70-54 loss to Duke Sunday afternoon. Here's the entirety of what Duffy, Wenzel and Baker had to say:

Opening statement from Duffy:

MD: "I thought Duke played a tremendous game on the defensive end. We were a little bit concerned them coming off a few losses, what they were going to be like. And I thought we got punched pretty good at times. It's kind of an ugly first half. But just overall, disappointed with a little bit of our execution and how we came out today."

On what Duke did to limit Tech (17-for-64 shooting):

MD: "They're big, they're long, they're physical, they're going to prevent you from getting to some of your spots. I think one of the things we were talking about a lot leading up to this game was changing sides of the floor and I just thought we were a little bit tentative with that. So, we'll go back to the drawing board and figuring out ways that we can help our women get some easier shots. Um I think what we did, we rushed them a little bit, too, just with a little bit of their size and length."

On Taina Mair tallying six steals and her importance in disrupting Tech's passing lanes:

"Yeah, I think all of them were in the first half. So, she got their transition game going a little bit and just a scrappy kid, veteran kid. She works really hard. Just got her hands on a couple easy ones."

Q: You guys forced 24 turnovers, got outrebounded by 16. Do you think aggression in the passing lanes to make those turnovers happen made it difficult to be in position to get rebounds?

"I think some of their turnovers were a little bit unforced and then some of them we obviously had a few things to do with. I thought we could have capitalized a little bit better on their turnovers. We were a little bit tentative in transition and bobbled the ball a few times. I thought it was a little bit uncharacteristic of us once we got out in transition, some of our decision-making and confidence to go up with it. But yeah, you need to capitalize when [Duke] turns the ball over like that. And we've been talking a ton this whole season about rebounding. I didn't think we got off to a very good start in the beginning of the game with our physical play. The opposite was true I think in Florida. We were really, really good putting bodies on people and pushing back and just didn't quite have it today."

On what Duke's defense did to make Tech's shooting tough for the players:

CW: "I think me and Carys specifically, we're kind of used to how they play. We've played them a couple times now. So, you kind of know what to expect coming in. I think it's just getting everybody on the same page, getting everybody ready to go going into the game. Just letting them know what to expect, things like that. But nothing new. We know they're a really good defensive team and play with physicality."

On what made Duke a handful on the boards:

CB: "Like Coach Duffy said, they're lengthy, they're long. I think there was a lot of opportunities where we didn't use the physicality that we've been working on during practice to our advantage. I think just in post play, majority of that was on us, just not pushing them back. There were just a lot of things that we gave up that could have cut the lead down a lot. So that was probably on us a lot and the post players."

On what there is to take froma game like this:

CB: "Like Karly said, me and Carleigh have been playing against Duke for a while now, so we knew what to expect. And I think it was hard to get everyone on the same page, all at the same time. But we play again on Wednesday, so the bounce back has to be quick. We just have to turn around and get everyone back on the same page because when we are on the same page, we're clicking really well. So, we can't really dwell on this for a while, because we play again in two days."

On whether Duke had been doing certain things better today than in their recent losses:

MD: "They had a heck of a schedule. They were playing top-10 teams in the country back-to-back-to-back. And even when they lost to LSU, I thought they looked confident and the ball was moving. They were shooting the ball well. I think you have the opportunity after you get out of a little bit of non-conference and you have to reset yourself into ACC, it's like 'Who do you want to be?' So, obviously, they were hungry for a win, and we didn't just didn't quite have it today."

On whether the non-conference schedule adequately prepared the team for the ACC opener against Duke:

MD: "All I'll say is I'm just focused on making this team better. I think we're all disappointed. The locker room was disappointed. I think Carys said it perfectly. We have a quick turnaround, and we've played so many different styles this year, which is great. And so, a little bit for us is to turn the page. Coaches will get working, players will get their rest and recovery, and then we'll reset tomorrow and try and get better. I think that's the only thing we can kind of focus on. So, I think this last week has been really good for us. Really tough competition and unfortunately today, we didn't have our best."

On how Duffy feels about the team depth-wise:

MD: "We were just trying to find a little bit of a spark off the bench and get some people calmed down on the bench, too. I thought Aniya [Trent] played some good minutes again. I thought our forwards were good. We needed a little bit more."