|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
BIG EAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 7, 2015Brianna GloverBrian NealAliyah ZanttROSEMONT, ILLINOIS Xavier – 70 COACH NEAL: Well, I guess the opening statement is I think they outshot us, had 29 more shots than us, and it was an amazing accomplishment to win a game when that happens. We certainly didn't play our best game throughout the year, but the great thing for us is that we hung in there and battled and made the plays down the stretch. I remember sitting at a table very similar to this last year and Georgetown had knocked us out and we had just ended a season with a 13‑game losing streak, and I sat down at the table, and I remember there was a big water spill on it, and I couldn't understand why this big water spill was there, and somehow it was the end of a grueling season. And I remember sitting there and I remember telling the media that were there that we'll be back, and the next time we're back, we'll be better. I'm not sure how much better we were today, but we played better this year, and we've come a long way, and I'm really proud of this group. Q. Aliyah, when I talked to Coach Neal earlier this week on the teleconference, he talked about the way that you have really grown into a big role for this team, and today your first career double‑double. How did that feel? ALIYAH ZANTT: It feels, you know, it feels good. I just kept working and coming and working hard every day. We lost a couple of our point guards early in the season, in the middle of the season, so I knew that I had to step up and fill that point guard role, and I fed off what my teammates gave me and what I could give my teammates, and I just continued to work hard and play hard and have fun. Q. What do you think is the biggest change to your game that has come with the point guard role? ALIYAH ZANTT: I have to step in more of a confidence role because I have to kind of run the floor out there. We've got to get into the sets and we've got to see things that a wing probably wouldn't see or a post probably wouldn't see. And I'm basically ‑‑ out there Coach Neal's voice because he can't always say so much from the bench. I just try my best to see what he tells me to see and what to look for within our sets and within our plays on defense and offense. Q. Brianna, you take a look at the game, and Georgetown had 29 more shots than you guys. You kept on fighting, you've doubled your win total from a year ago. What has been the key to this season? BRIANNA GLOVER: Well, we knew starting with this game that it was going to go to the last four minutes no matter what. All the games against them have, and we just knew that we were going to have to keep grinding it out, and I think that's a good indication of what our season has been. We just kept grinding and grinding and grinding, and we've won some and we've lost some, but thankfully we've won more. Q. You made Dorothy Adomako work for everything she got. What do you do to try to contain the Big East freshman of the year? BRIANNA GLOVER: You've got to play them straight up try to take away what they do best. When you play against a player like that, most likely they're going to get theirs, but you have to make sure you stop all the other players out on the court and help out on her. Q. The way Coach sounded to open up that statement, he wants you guys to play your best basketball. What is going to be the key to playing your best basketball tomorrow against DePaul? BRIANNA GLOVER: We definitely have to limit our turnovers. We've had 29 against them both times we've played them, so I think that's a big key, and just to make sure we get up shots because they usually shoot a lot more shots than we do, as well. Q. You guys went down early, 8‑0, especially in a single elimination tournament, what kind of mindset do you have to have to bounce back and get in the game? ALIYAH ZANTT: Well, Coach Neal always says we're going to have to grind everything. So every team is going to have runs, this game is a game of runs. We're going to go up by 8, they're going to go up by. It's just how many runs you can limit in order to get down. We knew early on whether they were going to go on run or we were going to go on a run. It's like the first four minutes you see who's ready to play, who's ready to go. Coach Neal said you only need to win by one. We're a grind it out team, we've grinded out many games all season, so we just knew it wasn't going to be an easy win or it was going to be a battle the whole entire team. BRIANNA GLOVER: Exactly, I agree with Aliyah. We knew it was going to go to the last four minutes, and we just had to make sure we kept grinding. Q. Aliyah, you had a very big play in the final minute, getting the offensive rebound after missing the free throw and then hitting those two free throws to essentially put the game away. ALIYAH ZANTT: Just had to go get the ball. Coach Neal always never, like, puts any pressure when we're on the free‑throw line. He never says you have to make these. You miss one, he just tells you to get one. When we make our shots or miss our shots, either way, you've just got to go hustle and get the ball. Hustle, play, win the games. Q. Coach, it's tough to beat a team three times, and you found a way to do it today. It took quite a play from Aliyah. Take me through what you're thinking as she gets that rebound off the free throw, and then just what she's meant to you guys. COACH NEAL: Well, first of all, on that play I was thinking time‑out, I was screaming time‑out as loud as I've ever‑‑ we just needed to get that possession back. But Aliyah Zantt‑‑ we could have been dead in the water a couple weeks ago. We have three point guards who are out right now, and Urban Meyer, he made three quarterbacks, we're on our fourth point guard. Aliyah, for her to step in and to ‑‑ basically be a backup 2 guard was her role on our team all year long, and for her to step in, and the first couple games it was a little rough, but as each game has gone by, her confidence is soaring, what is great for her. Aliyah has never been a player who's been great at decision-making. She's always made some flashy plays, but she's never been one of those kids that did things right all the time, and that's the neat thing about her is now she's still making her plays, but her decisions, her composure, everything is so much better, and it's helping us win games now. Q. You said, I remember being with you after that loss last year and you were frustrated and you've really been able to build something here this year. I know you want to keep doing that in the future. What does it say about your team? COACH NEAL: Yeah, I mean, it's a funny game. We had a plan, and the plan worked really well the first two games. It didn't work so well tonight, so we had to adjust, and basically we had to do some improvising on the fly there and call some things we don't normally call. Georgetown, everybody is telling us, hey, you beat them twice, but Georgetown plays us hard. Their length and their athleticism, it's very difficult for us to score on them, and I knew coming in that it was going to be a tough game. I just didn't think we would ever be able to pull away, so I just tried to prepare the girls all week, and I think that mindset helped them. Q. What's the key to limit being those turnovers going forward? COACH NEAL: I don't know, I'll take any suggestions. We've been working on it all year. We turned it over like crazy the first half. I think we only had three the second half if my math is right. We had 12 in the first half. I think part of it was just calming down tonight. I think we were just a little amped up. I don't know if we were nervous. I think we were just really jacked up, and when we were playing too fast, we were shooting too fast, everything was just hot out of our hands and making bad decisions. I think the halftime had got there and we were able to calm down and be a little bit better in the second half. Q. Is there ever a benefit, do you think there's any sort of benefit to being able to play on Day One? You don't play now until tomorrow night where you're familiar with the court a little bit. COACH NEAL: Play of the game is adjourned and we earned a 7 seed. I guess in some ways we got any jitters out of the way. We should be able relax and hopefully be able to execute some things tomorrow. I don't know, we're just thrilled to be playing and continue on. Q. Anything that you want to key in on against DePaul? COACH NEAL: Well, they're the real deal and they've had their way with us all year long, so we've got to figure out something to take care of the ball. They play at such a fast pace and they come at you in waves and we ‑‑ it's no secret they take a lot more shots than their opponents. They take a lot of threes, so we've got to figure out a way to slow them down, but more importantly we've got to take care of the ball. If we turn the ball over 29 times like we did in the first two games, it's going to be a long day. So we've got to have our composure, execute our press breaks, and then play with some poise. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|