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NCAA WOMEN'S 1ST & 2ND ROUNDS: IOWA CITYMarch 19, 2015Shaquilla CurtisJen DumiakMegan GebbiaArron ZimmermanIOWA CITY, IOWA COACH GEBBIA: We are excited to be here. This is American University Women's Basketball's first time in the NCAA Tournament. So these young ladies, these seniors sitting in front of me have done a terrific job in leading this team to their first‑ever title. Being in the Tournament for the first time is an exciting time, a fun time, and we are just happy that we get to play a terrific Iowa team who has been to the Tournament several times and they are very talented and a smart time, and we just look forward to the challenge of being out there and hoping to make a game of it. Q. Could you just describe Iowa, what problems they present for you? COACH GEBBIA: Iowa, because they are so well balanced, I think one through five, they all can score. They shoot the ball extremely well from the perimeter, and they have a terrific center in Doolittle, great young lady, who is a tough person to guard inside. It kind of stretches our defense out a little bit and we have been working a lot on our defense all year. So not being able to help off as much as we would like to presents a problem for us, and having to contest all threes that they are going to take. With the heady point guard who is a terrific player and their senior leader, it's going to be a challenge for us to stop her in transition. We have a lot of things to figure out and work on. But again, we are excited for the challenge. Q. Could you compare Sam Logic with Jen? They have remarkable similarities, both academically and on the court it seems like. COACH GEBBIA: Yeah, that's the first thing I think we said to Jen when we started watching film on Iowa was that, you know, her counter part at the same position, basically plays the same way in that they both kind of run the team. They run the team's tempo. They both like to get into the paint. They are both big on getting the assist, as well as scoring. Just their feistiness and their heart that they bring each and every day; they both go 100 percent every possession, both ends of the court. So there's amazing similarities. And then off the court, I know the Logic kid is an Academic All‑American, and Jen is a first‑team Academic All‑American and Patriot League scholar Athlete of the Year. It will be interesting to watch those two go at it from a mental perspective, as well, because a lot of the game has to do with decision making and that side of the ball, so I'm excited to see how Jen competes. Q. I would like each student athlete to take an opportunity to speak briefly about what it means to compete in the tournament. ARRON ZIMMERMAN: It's just an amazing experience so far. We are so happy to be here, especially our senior year. It's something we have wanted since I started playing basketball, we thought about coming here. Didn't realize how hard it would be when I was that age. But as I worked through college and things like that, it's just awesome to get here and nice way to end my senior year, so keep going. JEN DUMIAK: Yeah, I have to just to piggyback on what Arron said, I think we first so hard to get to this point. Obviously the Patriot League, you're not going to get an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. But we worked so hard: And then everything you work for in high school, and then to college, just to get to the tournament and this point. So it's just an honor to be here and we are just excited for the opportunity to compete and play. SHAQUILLA CURTIS: To piggyback off of them it's really exciting. I know me personally, I'm really, really excited. But like everyone else, it's about working hard and getting in, and like Jen said, we don't have no automatic bid to get in if we didn't win the Championship. But, I mean, we are here and trying to play. Q. Coach Bluder earlier talked about the tremendous momentum you're bringing into the tournament. I think she mentioned you had won 11 games in a row and there's not a loss on your schedule; you have to go back to January. So what does it mean to be bringing that kind of positive momentum into the postseason? COACH GEBBIA: I think it's important because I think our team has generated confidence over the last ten, 11 games, in themselves, with each other, with our defense, and just being able to kind of control the games that we have been a part of. That's going to be our biggest challenge tomorrow is can we control the tempo; are we going to let it get out of control. We have worked on that. And I think part of that has to do with the seniors and their leadership and the chemistry of the team. The chemistry has grown throughout the year, which helps I think any team as you go through the second half of the conference season and into the postseason. I just love how this team bonds, how well they get along and how much they care about each other. It's fun as a coach to watch it happen and just see their faces and see how excited; every little thing from this point on is exciting for them. You know, popcorn is the locker room is exciting; the little things they don't know about until they get here. So like I said, it's just exciting to see this group come together at the right time. Q. A lot of fans supporting Iowa, is that going to be a challenge with so many fans for Iowa? COACH GEBBIA: I'm sure it will. I'm sure it will be loud and stuff here. We have played in front of some crowds. We played at Maryland this year and there was a lot of people there; another Big Ten team that's really, really good. We've had those opportunities but we talked about being able to do hand signals and looking over to the bench more and making sure they know what they are in. Might be a better question for them than me. Q. For Jen and Shaquilla. Can you just talk about what responsibilities the guards are going to have to slow Iowa down, because they are going to try to run, run, run the whole game. SHAQUILLA CURTIS: Well, first in transition, stopping it early, and then making them play in the halfcourt. Also just playing a consistent‑‑ having a consistent offense and running through our reads all the way through sometimes, and get the easy bucket. JEN DUMIAK: Yeah, I think the defensive end starts with Gurley (ph) picking the ball up, giving Logic a hard time, bring the ball up the floor. Kind of slowing it down and not letting her bet in the paint. But on the offensive end, it starts with me and I need to kind of understand the game and how the game flow is going, and deciding when we can run and when we need to slow it down and pull the ball out and run a halfcourt game. I think both of those tasks kind of fall on our shoulders. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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