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Duke's Reigan Richardson and Kara Lawson after victory over #UNC on senior night.
Feb 28, 2025
Duke's Reigan Richardson and Kara Lawson after victory over #UNC on senior night.
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0:00
the microphone Roy we'll start with you
0:03
oh reck congratulations uh what does
0:05
this game mean to your last game at
0:07
Cameron Door the most points you scored
0:09
since December 1st I believe your last
0:12
game in Cameron and door just tell us
0:13
the emotions you oh yeah it means a lot
0:16
you know for the past couple months
0:18
weeks you know I've been struggling just
0:20
mentally trying to find myself again and
0:22
today just meant a lot to me being it
0:23
being sen night my family's here having
0:25
the whole all the fans Cameron Carri is
0:27
here and it just mean a lot um P rean
0:30
you had that 80 run at the start of the
0:32
second half uh two threes from the
0:34
corner can you kind of talk me through
0:36
those plays but also how that motivated
0:38
you the rest of the way uh yeah I mean
0:41
there are opportunities where uh their
0:43
defense just sat sat in the paint and I
0:47
had opportunities to get an open three
0:48
like in the corner and ultimately I just
0:50
let it fly you know I've been struggling
0:51
with my three as well for the past
0:52
couple months and my coach always told
0:54
me whenever you get a chance just let it
0:56
fly don't think about it just let it go
0:57
and that's what I did
1:00
rean um as kind of you know a senior
1:02
leader on this team and you know
1:04
somebody who's watched Toby now all
1:06
season long you know she really kind of
1:07
car you guys in that first quarter um
1:10
just kind of curious of your takeways of
1:12
like her growth and kind of what she me
1:14
to you all this season yeah Toby's a
1:16
beast you know um she's eager to learn
1:18
she's such a fast learner you know when
1:20
she's out there on the court her
1:21
confidence is is undeniable you know uh
1:24
her energy just bleeds on all of us and
1:27
when she when she's on the rooll we we
1:28
feed her any chance that we get and so
1:30
when she's scoring it feeds into us and
1:31
her energy feeds into us as well and it
1:33
gets us
1:34
going going into the senior night side
1:37
of things uh ashin talks during your
1:40
Know video there before the presentation
1:42
started what does what does your
1:43
relationship with her mean what does it
1:45
mean to sure something like happened her
1:47
yeah you know when I first came here she
1:49
was one of my first friends actually I
1:51
got to know and she we kind of just came
1:54
here together we um enduring like a new
1:57
journey together and we we stayed
1:59
together trying to learn uh the system
2:02
together learn learn just Duke overall
2:05
and we kind of just stayed together
2:06
through through everything and we became
2:08
best friends uh you know people call us
2:10
twin on off the court so you know that
2:12
kind of just stuck with us and we we
2:14
kept it kind of on that note when she
2:17
hit the three I mean a really dominant
2:20
third quarter for yall she hits the
2:21
three and she was kind of you know doing
2:23
the celebration and B just mobing her
2:25
what's what's going to your head there
2:27
man Ash when she lets to fly everybody
2:29
knows is going in we we have confidence
2:31
in her that every time she puts it up
2:32
it's going in so does she so whenever
2:34
she makes a three it just feels the fire
2:36
for us and it Hypes us all up and you
2:38
know regardless whether we're making a
2:39
shot or another teammate is making a
2:41
shot we we keep the energy high and we
2:43
we know we we boost each other up
2:44
whenever every chance that we get
2:47
awesome so can you speak on the changes
2:49
that you guys made since the last time
2:50
you guys played Chapel at Chapel and the
2:53
importance of the crowd uh Che you guys
2:55
on throughout again I feel like the main
2:57
thing for us we just had to hone down on
3:00
defense you know they got a lot of
3:01
points in transition so the main thing
3:02
for us is just to um lock that down and
3:05
just being able to score offensively you
3:06
know we did that today we were able to
3:08
execute and um ultimately just score
3:10
whenever we had a chance any more
3:12
questions for
3:13
Reagan close out with
3:17
Lewis um maybe this is just like
3:20
anecdotal scene in enough times but it
3:22
feels like Ash gets a lot of shots at
3:24
the end of a quarter um is that true
3:28
from from your experience and why do you
3:29
think it well know that I think about it
3:32
I've never we never even noticed that
3:35
now that you think about it but you know
3:37
Ashton's a great shooter overall her
3:38
percentage is crazy and when like I said
3:40
before whenever the whenever whenever
3:42
she shoots the ball we believe it's
3:43
going in so we have full confidence in
3:45
her when she um let's it fly all right
3:47
thanks everyone thank
3:52
you solid win for us um I thought that
3:56
third quarter in particular uh we were
3:58
able to create some separation it was
4:00
really like that last few minutes of
4:03
that third quarter uh Ashlin I think hit
4:05
the big three at the end of the third
4:06
quarter to get us to to double digits
4:08
there and then we're able to hold on in
4:10
that fourth um just proud of the team
4:13
you know we had a tough week last week
4:15
and and uh you know you're trying
4:19
to get the group back focused and get
4:22
them to understand that you know it's
4:24
part of the process and you got to just
4:26
keep working keep getting better and um
4:29
they did that you know they did a good
4:31
job of just staying locked in so to
4:32
bounce back on Sunday to get a win and
4:34
then bounce back tonight and get a win
4:36
you know it's great for us we you know
4:38
we want to win both this week obviously
4:39
every team wants to win the games they
4:41
play but we know that um you know we can
4:44
still move up and so we we made that a
4:46
focus of ours to try and win both of
4:48
these against two of the top teams in
4:50
our
4:55
league coach I know Tuesday you spoke on
4:57
just bouncing emotionally you wanted to
4:59
players to show emotion which is a good
5:01
thing we saw a lot of that em motion
5:03
tonight doing a rivalry game what is
5:05
just your main takeaways of just them
5:07
being able to balance that come out here
5:08
and just play four quarters do
5:11
basketball you know the game has so many
5:13
twists and turns and you never know how
5:15
it's going to go and um you know I
5:18
thought you know Toby got us off to an
5:20
incredible start I thought you know her
5:23
presence and her aggressive mentality I
5:26
mean she was attacking I think she had
5:28
12 points in the first quarter
5:30
and I thought that really steadied us um
5:33
and just gave us a lot of confidence
5:34
because when she's playing well we're
5:36
we're a good team and then obviously
5:38
Reagan throughout the game um just made
5:41
big play after big play after big play
5:43
and um you know it was great to see her
5:46
step up in that in that moment on senior
5:48
night and um you know you couldn't write
5:50
it any better if you were writing it
5:52
right your senior last home game um you
5:55
know against against um you know a rival
5:58
to be able to
6:00
to to take over the game and and create
6:02
separation so I'm just real proud of her
6:04
and the performance she had tonight as
6:06
well coach congratulations on the run
6:09
tonight um what are you telling your
6:11
team going into that second half going
6:14
into halftime with the score being so
6:16
close um what were your words of
6:18
motivation to get them going to create
6:20
such a lead during the third and fourth
6:22
quarter what I try to do at halftime of
6:24
games is is is problem solve um figure
6:28
out what's hurting us
6:30
and obviously get a lot of help from my
6:31
staff and then talk about adjustments
6:34
that we can make or maybe not even
6:36
adjustments just things that we're
6:37
supposed to be doing that maybe we're
6:39
not doing as well so that's more of what
6:41
we talked about it wasn't like a a
6:43
rousing speech or anything it was just
6:45
talking about what we needed to do
6:47
better and I thought we let a few of
6:50
their three-point Shooters get loose in
6:51
the first half um I I thought we weren't
6:54
great our guards weren't great in
6:55
one-on-one defense in the first half and
6:57
they were getting to the paint and
6:58
scoring so we just like talked about
7:00
those things of where we could improve
7:02
them and then understand that it's going
7:03
to be a 40-minute game it just always is
7:06
um so to think that it wasn't going to
7:08
be kind of tooth and nail there for a
7:11
little bit that's just what it is so at
7:13
halftime we weren't shocked we weren't
7:14
surprised we were just ready to play the
7:16
second half and see if we could Bend
7:18
momentum in our
7:19
Direction um hey coach uh when you guys
7:21
last played UNC Reagan and Toby they
7:23
kind of struggled they um went two of 24
7:26
combined and then today they were 15 of
7:28
26 um for those two what was the biggest
7:31
change between then and
7:34
now for Toby I think it was just time I
7:37
mean that's like the first week in
7:39
January or the second week of January
7:41
and she's a freshman and it's um you
7:44
know it's challenging they're they're
7:45
very good defensive team so it's
7:47
challenging they also have a very good
7:49
uh five player experienced five player
7:52
so I I think just uh now at this point
7:54
in the season she's been she's played
7:56
almost every team in the league she's
7:57
played a lot of top teams so I think she
8:00
just has more of a comfort now of how
8:01
she can play and how she can
8:04
attack um and then Reagan it's just been
8:07
challenging for her I mean I'm not going
8:08
to lie like January and February has
8:10
been challenging for Reagan she's she's
8:12
not played up to the level that she's
8:14
capable of consistently and so to see
8:17
her have this type of performance that
8:19
we all know she's capable of because
8:20
we've seen it multiple times before um
8:22
just really proud you know that she that
8:25
she stuck in there and and and fought
8:30
um congratulations on the game and the
8:33
win to kind of Zoom back I know it's
8:37
been it we in such a big moment for
8:38
women's basketball right now and earlier
8:40
this week Diana trasi announced her
8:42
retirement I know your career overla
8:44
with hers quite a bit um in college know
8:47
if you wanted to show what she meant to
8:49
the game yeah these awesome I mean uh
8:53
you know obviously I got a chance to to
8:55
coach her this summer which was kind of
8:56
weird uh to coach someone that is your
8:59
age you know uh I think that just speaks
9:01
to her longevity and her excellence and
9:04
so that was really cool um to have a
9:06
month you know with her this summer in
9:08
Paris and get a chance to um see her
9:11
through a different lens you know
9:13
because I'd only seen her as either a
9:14
teammate when we were teammates on the
9:16
Olympic team or as a competitor when we
9:18
were playing against each other in
9:19
college and the pro and uh just
9:22
appreciate um you know what it takes to
9:25
play that long and what it takes to be
9:27
at the highest level for that long
9:29
and certainly as a coach um to see how
9:33
sharp she is mentally to understand
9:36
everything and um be able to understand
9:39
the strengths and weaknesses of her
9:41
teammates um she's she's she's special
9:44
so it's been a great
9:47
career uh Cara senior night obviously
9:51
this is always an emotional time but
9:53
these two players of articula Reagan and
9:55
you know the years she spent here and
9:56
then Vanessa things that she's gone
9:58
through with her injury and everything
10:00
what do those two mean to you and to
10:01
this
10:03
program well start with
10:06
Vanessa Vanessa um did not sign to play
10:10
for me you know I'm in my fifth year and
10:13
Vanessa's in her fifth year but she was
10:15
signed to play for Duke um with the old
10:18
staff and when I got the job she was an
10:21
incoming freshman but I got the job in
10:23
July and this was in the middle of Co
10:26
and I remember um in the in the couple
10:30
days after I got the job she called me
10:33
and I just assumed she was going to say
10:35
she's going somewhere else because you
10:37
know it was a coaching change and she
10:41
you know didn't sign to play for me and
10:42
she didn't know me I mean I didn't know
10:43
what a De Jesus was I didn't know what
10:46
it was I I was in Celtics like I didn't
10:48
I didn't know what she looked like what
10:50
she what her game was like I didn't know
10:51
any of that and so she calls me and you
10:54
know I pick up the phone and I'm just
10:55
waiting for her to you know say
10:58
like hey I'm not coming you know I was
11:00
waiting for her to break up with me you
11:02
know I waiting her say hey nah this
11:04
ain't working you know and uh she's like
11:09
coach when do I need to be there you
11:11
know what what day like just talking and
11:13
I'm thinking like she's coming she's
11:16
coming she's such a um special player
11:21
and I will always remember
11:23
that you know when you're a new coach
11:25
you got to have some kids that believe
11:27
in you before before anybody else right
11:31
because when you're new coaching you're
11:32
taking over a program you got to have
11:33
some kids that are like yeah I think we
11:35
can I think we can do it here I know
11:36
they've made a coaching change but like
11:37
I think this coach can is who I want to
11:40
be my coach like what a powerful what a
11:43
powerful gesture and then obviously with
11:47
the
11:48
injury she's she's been the only player
11:50
that's been with me for the whole time
11:52
so she's seen the entire growth right
11:56
we're we were the worst team in ACC when
11:57
I got here right right to now we're one
12:01
one of the more respected teams in the
12:02
league right and she's played with so
12:04
many different iterations of our team I
12:07
mean think of our team the last three
12:08
four years how it's changed so much and
12:11
so I could coach another 20 years never
12:13
coach a kid like the Jesus um her team
12:16
first approach her work ethic her
12:19
mentality um how she really gives to
12:22
everybody in the program it's just
12:24
special it's special uh Reagan um is
12:28
someone that um we just man we've just
12:32
been tight and we've just grown as as as
12:34
her career has gone on and um we didn't
12:38
really understand each other in the
12:39
beginning too much you know personality
12:41
wise and so we've had to spend like a
12:43
lot of time together which has been
12:45
great for both of us one-on-one just to
12:47
kind of work together and figure each
12:49
other out and um that's been awesome
12:52
process for me and to try and continue
12:55
for me as a coach to coach her better
12:57
and you know she's had some incredible
12:59
moments you know incredible highlight
13:02
moments of her career here obviously
13:03
leading us to the Sweet 16 last year you
13:06
have that with senior night here as well
13:08
um you know her incredible uh tournament
13:10
out in Vegas this year you know she's
13:13
just had some some moments where we
13:14
wouldn't have been where we where we are
13:16
without without Reagan threeyear starter
13:18
for us you know over the last three
13:20
years and we've won a lot of ACC games
13:22
over the last three years and you know
13:24
Richardson's been in the middle of all
13:25
of that coach turn sanded ey without
13:29
Kelly and not spe and bang art kind of
13:31
mentioned how that fatigue set in in the
13:33
third and fourth quarter how did you
13:34
kind of exploit that early on do you
13:36
feel like you use that to your advantage
13:37
to like finish them off in that weight
13:40
stretch um you know it's hard to it's
13:43
hard to pinpoint uh as as the opponent
13:46
in terms of
13:48
like what what you did to but what I
13:51
would say to you is
13:53
um you know we we knew coming in
13:56
obviously that we would see a lot of the
13:57
for guard lineup
13:59
um because that's what they've been
14:01
playing as of late and um so we we went
14:05
for a guard for some stretches there too
14:08
although we Donovan gives us just her
14:11
versatility you know guys she's such a
14:13
great defender Donovan and she allows us
14:16
to if it's a four guard lineup she can
14:18
play it and switch if it's if it's
14:20
double big if it's too big she can play
14:22
it and not switch like she's just so
14:24
gifted defensively kind of allows us so
14:27
um we we did try to push the pace that
14:30
was something that we hoped to do and we
14:31
wanted to try to do that for four
14:33
quarters I thought the second quarter we
14:34
lost our pace and so that's something we
14:37
talked about at halftime like keep
14:38
pushing the pace and see if we can get
14:40
some looks and transition and that did
14:41
manifest itself there in the second half
14:44
we got time for two more questions in
14:45
the front row and we'll close out with
14:47
Coach you spoke on Donovan previously
14:49
can you speak on her injury and her
14:52
update we saw you guys uh go check on
14:54
her at the other end of the Court you
14:55
guys kind of joked around of you picking
14:57
her up and carrying her on your back
14:59
coming back to the sine any update on
15:01
her no I I I don't have an update on her
15:04
I mean she was smiling in the locker
15:06
room back there but I'm sure she's
15:07
getting with the medical team and see
15:09
but um yeah that was scary yeah it was a
15:12
scary fall so hope she's okay yeah um
15:16
first did you get a chance I know you
15:18
were a little busy before the game to to
15:19
see the top 16 seed update with the NCAA
15:23
I did not that you guys were a regional
15:24
three seed again we were three in the
15:26
top 16 again but you got that going on
15:29
that you're playing for you've got the
15:31
double buy still in the ACC there's a
15:33
lot going on you know you talked a
15:35
little about this the other day about
15:36
putting yourself in the best position
15:37
I'm curious kind of excitement that goes
15:39
into a weekend or an ACC tournament when
15:42
there's this much at stake for you guys
15:44
in a really good year yeah I mean uh
15:47
what a year for our league I mean the
15:49
teams at the top of our league are
15:51
incredible and uh I think it's it's um
15:55
we have a lot of strength going into
15:57
March and I I think we should have a ton
15:59
of us hosting for second rounds um as we
16:03
as we go into it but um we knew that
16:06
this was an important week for us um we
16:08
needed to to to try our best to win both
16:11
of these games and the cool thing about
16:14
you know tonight and also Sunday and
16:17
then the ACC tournament is you can kind
16:19
of control your own fate you know what I
16:21
mean you can kind of win your way to
16:23
where you want to go right you control
16:26
that and so that's what we've talked
16:27
about it with our team is is just um
16:29
finish strong you know uh we didn't have
16:32
the week we wanted to last week uh went
16:34
one and two but let's see if we can go
16:35
two and0 this week so I'm real proud of
16:37
him we've got the first one and now you
16:39
know second one's going to be going to
16:40
be a bear but we'll go down there and
16:42
see if we can get it done all right
16:44
thanks everyone
16:45
thanks than
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