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BIG EAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTMarch 6, 2016Jim FlanerySydney LambertyMC McGroryChicago, Illinois Creighton - 57, Villanova - 48 JIM FLANERY: Well, obviously thrilled to get a win over a team as good as Villanova. You know, nothing is easy when you -- from the first time we played Villanova, the first, two and a half years ago -- yeah, two years and a couple months ago when we joined the Big East, I said to our team in the first scout session, this is a team that does not beat itself, that you're going to go out and you're going to have to beat, because they don't turn the ball over. They don't make a lot of mistakes, and that was true today. I mean, they had five turnovers, and they played really good defense. I mean, we struggled for offense a lot of the day. I think when you ask these guys how tough it is to get a good shot against Villanova, they'll be able to answer that, but we really fought. I thought, defensively, the first half we were really good, and the second half the game kind of slowed down. They played a little bit more isolation basketball, which maybe helped us as a team that had played yesterday, but just really proud of our team, our effort, our attention to how we needed to win the game. And I think a testament to this team is that the two players who are sitting next to me today are not the two players who were sitting next to me yesterday, and that's a reflection of our team, that we can have different people contribute in different ways. Sidney had 13 rebounds today and I thought was unbelievable defensively on Hahn. I thought she just kept her feet and did a great job, and MC is our money player on offense. She's been that way since mid-December maybe, somewhere in there, and just really wants the ball and can go get a shot against people. We actually put in a play that we had never run for her today, but just loved her aggressiveness on offense and the way that overall we competed as a team. Q. MC, what do you think of the rims at this place? MC MCGRORY: I'm okay with them. They're working pretty well right now. Q. Today you look at the numbers, not many assists, but the way the game was flowing, there was a lot of players just kind of making individual plays late in shot clock. When you're watching it out there and breaking things down and having to make plays like that, for both of you, what was that kind of game like today? MC MCGRORY: Yeah, I think just trying to stay aggressive, and it really helps you to stay aggressive even when you miss a shot, like we were getting those offensive rebounds and getting lay-ups. I don't know, I think it was just like teammates making it happen. SYDNEY LAMBERTY: We talked about before the game, they're a screaming team, so we're good at guarding screens, so we knew that. We talked about we need to spread the floor and go to the basket. Q. Sydney, obviously Adrianna is not Caroline Coyer, but she is very skilled, pretty quick, has a nice step back. When you were scouting her, watching film on her and seeing the way she's played the last three games without Caroline, what were some of the things you took away as far as what you needed to do today and how did you think you executed that game plan? SYDNEY LAMBERTY: Definitely keeping my hand forward. She can shoot the three ball from anywhere she wants, so that was one of the big things. She's super quick, she gets you up on your feet and goes right by you, so just keeping my feet and hand forward. Q. MC, you're a junior, obviously, and with Marissa Janning going out with injury, it seems that you have really taken on a leadership role and I especially saw that today. Being the vocal leader on this team, is that something that came to you throughout the season or when she got injured you knew, okay, this is my team now? MC MCGRORY: I mean, I knew when she got injured that I needed to step up, especially from a leadership standpoint, but I think I've just been working on that throughout the season and will continue to work on that. Q. Sydney, what is it about the mental toughness of this team that continues to have you guys just driving forward and now into the Big East semifinals? SYDNEY LAMBERTY: I mean, clearly, we didn't have the season we wanted early, and I think that kind of pushed us to practice harder. We really focused on that if we have good practices, those will turn into good games, plus like our win at St. John's just helps us keep moving forward. Q. It seems like you reflect your leader a lot, Coach Flanery. How do you reflect him? SYDNEY LAMBERTY: I think just his ideas. You might see him not calm, but sometimes when you're sitting down and actually talking about what we need to do, he calms us all down and say it's these four things is all we need to focus on, and this is what we need to do to win. Q. This is for both of you guys. A lot has been made about the fact that you're a 7 seed and you kind of struggled in February. But now you're here, you've rattled off two wins, one against the No. 2 seed who you swept this season. Does it feel like you guys are an underdog in this tournament, or what's your mindset now from the start of the tournament now going into the semifinals? SYDNEY LAMBERTY: I think we didn't really consider ourselves an underdog. I think throughout the whole season we've seen that teams can beat anyone. There's anyone in the conference who can beat anyone. So I think that we need to have the right mindset and do what we need to do to win. MC MCGRORY: Yeah, we've known we have talent to compete with every team in the Big East all year, and I think now we've gotten together and focused on the details to where we're able to shine. Q. Big picture looking at it, Creighton has been in postseason eight straight years. Obviously tomorrow to continue, that is a must-win game. Are you aware of that -- by the look on your face you're not. Going in, how much pride do you guys take in that streak to want to continue it and want to keep playing despite maybe things not going your way for a full season? MC MCGRORY: I mean, obviously this is a program that we're really proud of, and I think anything we can do that helps build the program and just continue to work on the tradition that's here, I think we take a lot of pride in that. Q. Sydney, anything to add? SYDNEY LAMBERTY: No. Q. How calm were you today? JIM FLANERY: Pretty calm. More so probably. I don't know what it's like to be a player, but I think the second game your nerves are a little different than the first game. As a coach, just to be honest, I feel like I was more nervous yesterday because you're maybe a little more tired the second day. As a player and a coach, that can be a good thing. But I don't know, I feel like we turned a corner. I know that's easy to say, but the week before we went to Seton Hall and St. John's, our practices were -- like Sydney mentioned, I thought our practices were better. I don't know why, because I wanted them to be better, but just more consistent. And with a young team, I've always said, you can have two or three younger players not show up or be not focused at practice, and then maybe the next day, it's two or three different younger players. I felt like we were all -- we were all really good and focused and did the right things that week, and we played -- we had our best road trip. We almost won at Seton Hall, we won at St. John's, we played really well, and I think we gained confidence from that, and that's really kind of helped chill me because I feel like they've -- I'm not going to say -- you never figure this game out, but we figured it out on a level that we really hadn't figured it out through the several weeks before that. If I was more relaxed, that's maybe what it was. Q. You talked about Villanova is not a team that beats itself, but today you didn't let them beat you, either, kind of limiting their second-chance opportunities. If you look at the way they were limited to one shot most of the time, what did you think about the way you executed in that area? JIM FLANERY: Yeah, I mean, I wish the writing was bigger so I could read it without my glasses, but -- I'm just kidding, I don't have glasses, but I need them. But yeah, rebounding was big. Because I think without Caroline, what they've -- you look at their offensive rebounding numbers the last three games without her, Wilkes played great today, like that kid has really stepped up. And they've had to find more ways to score, and one of those ways, if you look at their three box scores and watch them, is they've been a better offensive rebounding team. We talked about that as a team. They don't have their leading scorer. They've got to manufacture ways to score. We did talk about that. We've been a pretty good rebounding team. That's been something that we've been pretty decent at all year, and I think we've emphasized it enough against maybe the best rebounding teams in the league to the point where I think we've gotten better. Q. Does the M in MC stand for money or does the C stand for clutch? JIM FLANERY: I don't know. You know, yeah, she's come a long way as a leader and as a shot creator. And we've needed that offense without Marissa. It's been fun to watch her development and her kind of get outside of herself. She talked about just -- she's not vocal by nature, but I think she's done a good job of grabbing onto that and becoming a leader that this team needs. I think sometimes when you get outside yourself and you lead, you can be more confident and you're less up and down with a bad play or two. I think that's because you know how important it is that you maintain some semblance of evenness and stability. And I think she's -- because she's done that, she's probably more confident in those -- in the production area. Q. The postseason streak, is it on your mind or are you thinking about it knowing that tomorrow is probably the way to extend it? JIM FLANERY: You know, yeah. We haven't talked a lot about it. I just think the message has been just let's get better, let's put ourselves in a position where we can keep improving. So, no, we haven't talked a lot about it, but I mean, obviously now it's a little bit more realistic. But I don't know. Different -- you know, the challenges that we've had this year maybe have pushed that back to a different focus or different place in my mind. And we haven't talked a lot about it as a team because at some point -- you know, I've said this year, for a long time we were one step forward, one step back, one step forward, one step back. You can overuse motivation at some point, so for me I just tried to focus more on the process. That's what my focus has been. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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