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NCAA WOMEN'S FINAL FOURApril 4, 2015Lindsay AllenJewell LoydMuffet McGrawTAMPA, FLORIDA Q. Jewell, South Carolina has obviously been looking at how to defend you. Have you been looking at how they might try to defend you, and who are the best defenders on that team? JEWELL LOYD: Yeah, we worked on how we're playing, we worked on a lot of other different strategies, as well. We know Tiffany Mitchell is one of their better defenders and she might be guarding me, I'm not sure. But just working on a lot of things. Q. Jewell, how similar or different are you and Tiffany as players? You get a lot of comparisons between the two of you. JEWELL LOYD: Yeah, I think we both have the same mindset of attacking. We're patient, pretty good athletes. People compare us pretty similar like, but at the same time we're kind of different, as well. Q. Could you just talk about the experience of having been here before and how you think that may factor in in terms of a team that's never been to the Final Four before? JEWELL LOYD: I think that really counts for a lot being in the Final Four, because there's so much stuff you do off the court and there's different distractions. But I think overall it's just going to be a lot of fun for all the teams that are here. Q. Lindsay and Jewell, address what you have seen of the South Carolina team, if they remind you of anybody that you've played before the season, what kind of match‑up or difficulties do you see in playing this team? JEWELL LOYD: I think they remind me a lot of Tennessee, also being an SEC school. They're very physical, they have great posts and they have a really physical defense. LINDSAY ALLEN: Yeah, I definitely agree with that. They're definitely physical. They follow the game plan really well and they play hard. They're fighters. Q. Lindsay, you were pretty much lights out the last two games. Did you wish that you could have been playing Wednesday and Thursday, too, and what kind of got you on that roll? LINDSAY ALLEN: I think just our game plan those two games. The posts set really great screens for us and we got some free‑throw line jumpers that really worked on in practice, so just having that confidence and having your teammates really trusting you and instilling that confidence in you. Q. Some say that just having Final Four experience counts for a lot. Do you think that will play an advantage since this is South Carolina's first trip? JEWELL LOYD: I just think that experience really helps. We understand possession basketball, and both teams are here to try to win, so it's going to be a competitive game, and that's what you want in women's basketball. Q. Jewell, if you and Tiffany are matched up against one another, does the competitor in you almost kind of want that? JEWELL LOYD: Well, you want good basketball. You want good competition all the way around so you want the challenge, and it's awesome. We talked about that on the court, as well, and we were excited to play each other. Q. Growing up did you guys ever expect to be here? JEWELL LOYD: Growing up it was always a dream of mine playing for the Final Four and playing on the biggest stage against some of the best players who ever played the game. Yeah, that was really a goal of mine growing up. LINDSAY ALLEN: Yeah, definitely. It's something you dream about growing up as a kid, just playing under the big lights and playing with great teammates and great coaches, so it's been awesome. Q. What are some of the biggest challenges you face as a basketball player? JEWELL LOYD: I think probably just time management, understanding that you still are a student‑athlete, so student comes first, so just understanding how to manage your time. LINDSAY ALLEN: Yeah, I would say balancing school and basketball. Obviously you have to do both, and it's hard to balance that at times, but you have to get it done. Q. Muffet, how do you see Tiffany or some of USC's other defenders matching up with Jewell? MUFFET McGRAW: Well, they've got a lot of choices. I think that's the strength of their team is they have so many great guards with terrific defensive ability in terms of their just athletic ability. I think they could probably keep a fresh body on her throughout the game without really losing a lot, even when they go to the bench. I think they've got some really strong defenders. Q. I have two very unrelated questions. One, after a spectacular season, Jewell struggled a little bit in the tournament. What have you said to her about hanging in there and not trying to force it because she was doing a little bit of that? And the other question is talk about what Morgan Tuck has added to Connecticut? MUFFET McGRAW: I would say in terms of Jewell, that when you look at her numbers I would have been thrilled if anybody else on our team had those numbers. I think that she has been so spectacular all year long that we expect a superstar every single game, and I think the beauty of us being here and our team, what got us here, is the rest of the team. I think that what Jewell does when she's on the floor, she draws so much attention from the other team, and their whole defense is designed to stop her. So it allows the rest of the team to step up, and the thing that allows that the most is I think is Jewell, because she passes the ball so much she's so happy when the other teammates score, and I think that she's that kind of team member that really kind of empowers the rest of the team to, hey, step up, I believe in you, you can step up and help us win, also. I think she's very comfortable having other people contribute, but I think she is also ready for a big game. And as far as Morgan Tuck, I think that it's a shame that the media decides who's going to be the best players at the beginning of the year because I thought from our game at least in December, she was the best player on their team in that game, so probably their second‑best player. I don't think she's gotten near the attention that she deserves. I think she's had a fantastic year, and she is a big reason for their success, and for some reason she's not getting any attention from the media. Q. How important is it for women's basketball that someone other than Connecticut win this weekend and in championships down the road? MUFFET McGRAW: I thought this was a great year for women's basketball in terms of the parity of the tournament. We had a number of upsets, we had a lot of close games throughout the tournament into the regionals. You saw North Carolina and Florida State almost beating South Carolina to get here. We had a really tough game with Baylor to get here. Maryland had a tough game with Tennessee to get here. I don't think it was‑‑ even though all four No.1 seeds are here and only for the third time in the history of the tournament, I think that there's a lot of parity, and it's getting better every year. I think we've got the best four teams here now, and I think what everybody is hoping for are good games, at least competitive games. Q. Can you talk about the concerns you might have for South Carolina and its front court and what kind of challenge you think that's going to give to your front court? MUFFET McGRAW: Well, I have a lot of concerns about South Carolina. They're such a good team and their depth is just probably the best in the game. Actually I think they have the most depth of any team here. They have great post players on the bench and in the starting lineup. You can't think about we'll have to get them in foul trouble or maybe we can do this or that because the people they're bringing in or as good or better than the ones that are starting. I think they present a lot of trouble for us at both ends of the floor. Defensively you've got Coates who's a great shot blocker. She's just got such a big body. We really haven't seen a post player with her size and ability all season long, so I think it's going to be a little different for us to see the strength of their posts in this game. Q. Elaborating on that parity question, with a lot of the same programs at the top, how hard is it for a school like South Carolina to establish a Final Four‑caliber program? MUFFET McGRAW: Well, I think you're starting with a great coach, and that does make things a little bit easier. She's got a tremendous reputation in the game and she does a great job, so I think that helps. But I think it's difficult. I think the thing that helps you is when you have great in‑state talent. That is probably the thing that can really get you going because when you have local players who want to stay close to home to play and have their families watch them, it makes it easier to recruit them. I think they were fortunate that there was so much talent in the state of South Carolina. And then when you start to win, that attracts more good players. I think good players want to play with good players, so I think it's really been flourishing for Dawn. Q. Tiffany Mitchell gets so much attention for her offense. What have you seen from her on film in terms of a defender, especially how well she's able to defend late in games? MUFFET McGRAW: It's funny, we were talking, she and Jewell are so similar in that way that they both guard the other team's best player, and we ask so much of Jewell and I'm sure of Tiffany, as well. You've got to perform at the offensive end but then you've got to shut down somebody, and of course you'd better rebound and do some other things in between. I think to have the best player be the best defender, it just says a lot for Tiffany and her mindset. I think a lot of really good players just want to score, and they don't have as much interest at the other end, so I think it's great to see these two young ladies really take pride in their defense. Q. Whereabouts at the end of the season did you start to feel like, okay, now we're getting our feet underneath us as far as rebounding and we can rebound with other people? MUFFET McGRAW: I think we were really challenged throughout the season in the ACC, which is just really prepares us so well for the tournament because we're seeing so many great teams, yet Florida State who was only out‑rebounded once all season long and that was when we did it in the ACC Tournament. I think rebounding we faced so many teams throughout the year that this is a great rebounding team, they're hardly ever out‑rebounded so we've really got to do our job, and I think we finally started to take pride in it. It took a while, I think probably late in the season, probably end of February, before we really started to take some pride in the box‑out and work a little bit harder on the boards. Q. Just wondering what the impact Natalie Achonwa has had on the program this year, the contributions she's been able to make. MUFFET McGRAW: It's been great having Ace around to just help counsel some of the players, to have her on the bench, to talk to us a little bit from the players' point of view. We'll talk about some things we're going to do and she'll give some input as to whether that's a good or a bad idea or something that they would embrace. It's been good for me to have a little bit of a sounding board which is very similar to when she was a senior. We talked about a lot of things then, too. It's funny to watch her. She incredibly organized in running things, which is not a surprise because of her leadership ability. But it's been great. It's been great for her to have this experience of being on the bench and being around practice. It's kept her going through the injury because she's just been rehabbing and working hard on that. It's been, I think, a great experience for both of us. Q. What have you learned about Taya Reimer this year? MUFFET McGRAW: Taya has been probably the difference in our season I would say. Somewhere around the middle of January, she turned into a completely different person, and she has brought an energy and an aggressiveness and a confidence that we really needed. I think that our posts were‑‑ I said in the beginning of the year I didn't think they were tough enough, and she's the difference. She's the one that really brought out the toughness in the others. She's been a mentor for Kathryn and Bri. She's just added so much experience as just a sophomore, but I think she has really turned the corner, changed her game, and I think that from that point on, I think she's had an all‑American type of season. We're just so happy that she has kind of found a way to lead this team. Q. I apologize if you answered this already, but just talk about Natalie Achonwa growth, what she's done for you, her growth as a person over the last year for you? MUFFET McGRAW: You know, as a player, Natalie was the most mature player I've ever had from the time she was coming out of high school. She was always somebody that was incredibly organized and knew what was coming months down the road, and then as a player the same kind of leadership with the team, took care of them, everybody was always in the right spots. They were on the bus at the right time. They knew where they were supposed to be because of her leadership and her organization, so those skills in the DOBO job have been tremendous for us. She has organized all the itineraries, she keeps everybody in line. She's on top of everything, and plus being a former player I think can really help the players. She can counsel them on some things ‑‑ if we're hitting a rough patch and she needs to go in and talk over some things with them, I think she's a really good listening ear for them to be able to vent some things. And she's just been great on the bench. She's got great ideas. Initially she didn't say too much and then finally got comfortable and gave some input in what we were doing on the court. I think it's been great, really great for us, and I think great for her, as well. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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