|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NCAA WOMEN'S REGIONAL SEMIFINALS AND FINALS: BRIDGEPORTMarch 26, 2016Geno AuriemmaMorgan TuckKatie Lou SamuelsonBreanna StewartBridgeport, Connecticut Connecticut - 98, Mississippi State - 38 THE MODERATOR: We'll start with a opening statement from coach. COACH AURIEMMA: There's really not a lot that you can say when you start the game the way we started it. It's the same thing I said to our players in the locker room. We have got some seniors that have played a lot of games, and they have played in a lot of big games. And when they show up and play the way they played today, it's hard for anybody to play against us. I'm probably as surprised as anybody about the final score. But when it's like that, when we're playing the way we played, and defensively, it just -- I mean, our offense was one thing, but the way we played defense today was pretty magnificent. I'm really proud of them. THE MODERATOR: Questions? Q. Stewie, I assume you guys were watching television last night? BREANNA STEWART: Definitely. Q. So what did you think about it? BREANNA STEWART: I think that -- we have a group message going, obviously, and just saying to everyone that that's a reminder. It's a reminder that you can't take any days off, any games off and crazy things happen in March. We want to make sure that when we came out today, that that wasn't going to happen with us. Q. For all you guys, what is it about your team in general that allows you to play this well at this point in the season? BREANNA STEWART: I think we just have a really good focus level. I think right now we know that it's the most important time, and we don't think about anything else, but what we have to do in the game. So I think that's what allows us to be really successful, is that all five people on the floor, everyone on the bench, they're all on the same page. Q. Breanna, for you, sort of a two-part question. You've spoken of a larger theme for the season as a pursuit of perfection. So when you look at the numbers like today, I mean, eight of 10, 14 rebounds, 13 and a half. Everything -- every sort of stat line grabbed. Do you feel like this was the closest you've come to sort of that ideal when it comes to a game? BREANNA STEWART: No, I think that when you're a player, and you're trying to go out and play really well, you want to have -- you want to contribute in all different ways. And being able to be active on the boards, that was the most important thing, because coach said in the locker room before the game that we have to control the glass. They're a great rebounding team, and we did that. And some days shots fall more than others. And they did that today. But I think that working, whether shots went in or not, working to do other things. Q. Katie Lou, first, I wanted to ask what you thought of your sister's bank shot last night and also, how much did you think the team was motivated or affected by the stunning upsets last night? KATIE LOU SAMUELSON: Well, I got super excited when she banked in that three. Mo's my roommate, she can tell you. She was laughing at me the whole time. But I think today we -- our whole team -- actually, I kind of forgot your second question. (Laughter.) Q. How motivated or alarmed were you by the two top seeds getting knocked off? KATIE LOU SAMUELSON: Well, like Stewie said, it just reminded us that teams are coming out to play in March and it doesn't really matter what seed you are, everyone wants to -- is going to play their best and wants to upset the No. 1 seed, which we have a target on our back, and we know that. So, it just kind of reminded us that we have to come out strong and show them why we are the No. 1 seed. Q. Breanna, you always talk about this team being locked in and focused. Every round you guys seem to be really joking around, loose, did it bother you that a couple of teams lost last night? And what was really special about this steam than in other years previously? BREANNA STEWART: Well, I don't know if it bothered us that other teams lost last night. That's really not in our control. But I think with this team, what's special is the fact that we have such great chemistry on and off the court. And also, we know when there's a time to be serious and there's a time to have fun. We walk that fine line. And in March, this is when you have fun. Q. When you look at that start you guys had today, what was the game plan coming out and did you accomplish everything you wanted to in that first quarter? BREANNA STEWART: Well, the game plan is similar to what every single game plan is. We want to disrupt them defensively. Victoria Vivians is a great player for them, and we wanted to make sure it was really hard for her to get shots. And we had to do that with team defense. And it seemed like early we were able to get a lot of open shots, get out in transition, and from there, everything seemed to be falling. Q. Morgan, does the team have enough self awareness when you're on the floor to understand how well you're playing like you did in that first 15 minutes? Do you ever -- subconsciously do you think, wow, we really got it today? MORGAN TUCK: Yeah, I think we know when we're playing well. Because it just feels better. It's more fun, everyone's involved, everyone's contributing. So I think, as a whole, we don't have to necessarily say, oh, we're doing really well, but I think everyone can just feel that it's a more positive vibe. Q. Mississippi State coach said when you guys got out in transition, it was like piranha's on a roast. So my first question is, have you ever had a piranha on a roast? And my second question is, can you just run me through the mindset when you guys are all just flying down the floor like that? BREANNA STEWART: I definitely never had a piranha on a roast. I don't think I would like to try that. I'm not sure. But I think that that's -- we like to get out in transition, and it seemed like every time they came down the court when we were on defense, they weren't getting what they wanted. They were turning the ball over or getting a block or getting a rebound. And we were just out hustling them. We were running past them to get up the court in transition, and you could tell that they were tired. THE MODERATOR: All right. We'll take questions for coach now. Q. What were you thinking last night watching those games and seeing teams that people thought had no chance of losing that early go down so quickly? COACH AURIEMMA: We were at dinner, and I managed to see some of the Syracuse game. I think our reaction was probably the same as everybody else's. Wow, this is pretty amazing. I didn't get to see any of the other games. I didn't watch any of them. The only thing I watched was -- I watched some Mississippi State stuff. But it's maybe that time now when things like this are capable of happening. That things like this didn't use to happen in the past. And maybe it's a good thing. It's a thing that I tell our players all the time, and that is the top seeded teams, when they don't win, it's because the upset happens because the other guys play really, really well, and you don't play your A game. Because they need your help most of the time. I think it was awakening for our players and for everybody else, that if you show up in March, and you don't bring your A game, and your guys aren't focused and locked in and playing their best basketball, that this can happen. Now, in the past that could never happen. The talent was just too one sided. But now -- plus you got teams that are seeded really low, that because they had a bad year, they're probably -- they probably shouldn't be seeded that low. So it makes it look even worse than it is. But that's where the game is right now. Q. We know you to be a really good sports fan, aside from this. So, you know how it goes, teams win, teams lose, so how come what happened last night never happens here? Never. COACH AURIEMMA: Well, I mean, I wish this was Monday night at 10 o'clock, and you were asking me that. I would feel a lot better. I like to think that generally speaking when we show up with the best team, we tend to play our best. But that's not always going to happen. We were just having this conversation outside in the hall. We're pretty hard on our guys, we're pretty hard on our kids in the middle of January and the middle of nowhere, and we're playing a game that everybody thinks is meaningless. We're pretty hard on them. And we demand certain things. Then, when you get to this time of the year, hopefully, they don't know any other way of playing. So, when we started out playing the way we did today, I was taken aback myself. That's one of the top defensive teams in the country, right? And I was just -- I knew they would have a hard time guarding Stewie and Tuck, I knew that, because they're just not used to seeing players like that. But I was -- I even told them during the timeout, and I never do this, I told them during one timeout, I said, man, you guys are really good. I was just caught up in it all. I said you guys are really good. Now, timeouts on Monday might be completely different. Q. The way they played today, is that just a testament to how locked in they are and focused on what needs to be done? COACH AURIEMMA: Sure. Sure. I mean, we have three seniors that they have never lost a game in the NCAA Tournament. Knock on wood. So, when they show up to play in the NCAA Tournament, there's no I hope we can win, I hope we play well tonight. That doesn't mean they're going to play great or they're going to win, but there's no doubt in their mind walking into the game. That's a big part of winning at this time of the year. Just knowing that you've done it before, and you know what exactly has to be done. That's a little different than Mississippi State coming in here their first time in this situation, a bunch much of young players, who are not quite sure what to expect. So there's a lot to be said for having some veteran players who are as good as -- Stewie makes a couple shots early, whatever plan they had to guard Stewie went out the window. Q. Back there in '95, when you looked pretty solid, those of us who were around -- COACH AURIEMMA: Are you trying to say I looked solid back then, but not anymore? What are you trying to say? (Laughter.) Q. Well the focus -- you used to joke about the 8 million things you worry about, and you listed them over and over again. Years later now, do you go through the whole list or maybe there's just a little list of concerns? COACH AURIEMMA: I got up this morning, and I was as tortured or as nervous as I was in any other year, in any other tournament game. That feeling is exactly the same. The things that are most prevalent right now is probably that same thing that can happen to us that happens to anybody, you don't make any shots. For whatever reason shots don't go in. And Monday night we could play as hard and have the same scheme and defensively be just as tough as we are tonight and shots don't go in. So, at this time of the year, you got to be prepared for anything. But that's the No. 1 thing that I worry about. And before the game, before introductions, as a matter of fact, I kept telling Chris Dailey like, man, I'm like, and she said, well, just imagine how they feel. So I kind of -- our staff feels the same way as Mississippi State feels. We never go into a game with like an arrogant attitude, like, we got this. We worry about a lot of things every game. Q. So you spoke about just sort of being able to marvel with the way the team played. But specific to Breanna, just looking at a game where like even beyond the shots where she's filling the stat sheet across the board, were you able to sort of take a moment within this one and sort of marvel at that kind of just a half of a performance that basically no one had -- no one has ever done, when you look across the landscape of this game. COACH AURIEMMA: Right. Well, every time Stewie plays the way she plays today, I do appreciate it even more. And I know I shouldn't do this, but every time she plays the way she played today, there's a point in time during the game when I go, wow, man, this ain't going to happen next year. All these shots that are getting blocked, they're going in next year. All these buckets that we're making, they're not going to happen next year. So I didn't think like that when she was a freshman or sophomore or junior. But, yeah, like right now at this point in time, everything that she does, it hits me a little bit harder because I know I'm never going to see this again. Now, again, I said that when Diana graduated, when Maya graduated, but I don't see anybody like Stewie coming along anywhere in the near future. So, I don't want to wait until it's too late to appreciate it. I'm appreciating it right now as it happens. Q. I guess to my eyes last night, I saw a Notre Dame team that didn't guard well enough and a long-term South Carolina team that doesn't score enough. Could you talk about your demands on both ends of the court which teams have protected over the years from upsets. The Mississippi State coach was saying you guys don't get enough credit defensively. I think we all talk about your ballet offensively sometimes, but can you talk about both ends of the court, vis-a-vis huge upsets that happened like happened last night? COACH AURIEMMA: Our mantra at Connecticut has been, for the longest time now, our defense is always going to give us a chance to win every game we play. So every game that we play we're going to have a chance to win, because I think defensively we're as good as any team in the country. How much we win by is predicated on our offense and if you get a night like, a day like today where our defense is really locked in and our offense is flowing like that, then you get a score like you had today. But if the shots don't go in you still have to give your self a chance to win. And you're right, you're absolutely right, when people talk about our team, they talk about how hard we are to guard. But I think people overlook -- and we don't go around talking about it either. We don't make a big deal about it. But we haven't led the country in points against or field goal percentage defense or scoring margin and all that other stuff because we don't care about defense. And it helps also the fact that we get eight or nine really, really good players that can score and they know that you're never going to get a chance to score unless you play at the other end. So, we have been able to create that kind of culture and it really serves us well during the NCAA Tournament. Q. I'm sitting next to the Texas scouts as they're watching this game and now Texas and UCLA are going at it. If you're playing like this what team can even get close to you if they play at this level? COACH AURIEMMA: Well, I mean, that's what they said about Baylor a few years ago when Louisville beat them when they had Brittney Griner, that they just ran through the entire season and through the tournament and nobody could come close to them. A then one bad night and next thing you know we're playing Louisville in the Final Four. So, like to think that today was today and the players are going to enjoy it today. But tomorrow's a whole new challenge. Monday's a whole new challenge. There's some teams that your defense is perfectly situated to be able to stop everything that they're doing. And then there's some other teams that your defense is going to struggle because of what the other team does. Every game is a new experience. Yeah, if we play like we played today, I feel good about Monday night. If you tell me, coach, don't worry about it you're going to play exactly like you played today I feel even better Monday night. But that's why we're going to have to play the game. Q. You and Vic shared a nice moment after the game, to the gist of what did you tell him and what did he tell you? COACH AURIEMMA: I've known Vic for a long time. And he does a fabulous job. I know where the program was before he took over and where it is today and in a real short period of time. So I have a lot of respect for him and the way he coaches. His guys play really hard. So after the game -- obviously he's disappointed at the way they played, and I said, honestly, Vic, when we play like this, I don't think there's anything anybody can do. So it's no reflection on your team or anybody else on your team. When we do what we did today, that's not a true reflection of Mississippi State. That's just a reflection of how good we were today. THE MODERATOR: All right. Thank you. 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
|