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NCAA WOMEN'S REGIONAL SEMIFINALS AND FINALS: BRIDGEPORTMarch 26, 2016Karen AstonBrooke McCartyImani BoyetteBridgeport, Connecticut Texas - 72, UCLA 64 THE MODERATOR: We'll start with an opening statement from coach and then take questions for the student-athletes. COACH ASTON: I think we're extremely excited to be playing another day. Our team has just impressed me all year long with their ability to be resilient. And this was a perfect example of really how we have been all year long. Every time we had set back, I thought we were really terrific at being able to reset and go to the next day. And that was kind of what the game was like. I just, across the board, we had so many players that contributed in different ways. And I really thought that this was kind of the epitome of who we are, which is a team. It was a team win. And I couldn't be any more proud of our group and our staff. And last thing I would say is just a lot of credit to UCLA. I thought that they gave us some looks today that we haven't seen. We haven't seen post players with that kind of quickness off the dribble. It surprised us maybe a little bit. Their ability to get on the backboard was a problem for us today. But, again, I thought our team was resilient, and we had a lot of players, including these two with me, that gave us great, great contributions. THE MODERATOR: Questions, please? Q. Imani, at halftime you had one rebound, Brooke had three, you had two fouls, you picked up your third 40 seconds into the third quarter. So, what happened from there? What did the coach say to you? What did you say to yourself to turn things around? IMANI BOYETTE: When coach put me back in, she told me not to foul. That was the first thing she said. And I didn't -- they didn't, no one ever spoke to me about rebounding, but I knew that I wasn't being as strong presence on the board as I should have been. So I was trying to make a conscious effort to get on the boards in the second half and kind of keep Monique Billings occupied or at least off the boards. Q. Imani, just to that end, when you come back in a game, how do you balance that, the ability to play with physicality while at the same time, navigating the fact that you are in that kind of foul trouble? And do you feel like you've learned through dealing with foul trouble earlier in the season, earlier in your career, to be able to do that in a different way now? IMANI BOYETTE: I think I've gotten better with it. Because in the beginning of the season, towards the middle of the season, people started going at me to get me in foul trouble, and I would basically foul out. So I think I've gotten better at it. And it's honing my aggressiveness. And it helps because my teammates try to get more ball pressure or not let Billings or whoever I was guarding go one on one with me. They tried to give me help so I wouldn't be put in a situations where I could foul. So it was like me calming down and my teammates having great team defense. Q. Brooke, the key to the game was the first three or four minutes of the fourth quarter, 10-0 scoring spurt. One, was something said in the huddle after the third quarter? And what was the key to getting that big jump like that? BROOKE MCCARTY: Well, we always start the quarter saying come out with three stops, so I think we really took that to heart. I remember Empress saying it's the last quarter and it's going to show how we go out. So we went out there and played together as a team, and we all bought in in the last quarter and so that's why, that's why we came out. Q. Brooke, first half you guys were stagnant. Second half, you guys went more to a high and low kind of post with Imani. Was that something that you guys made adjustment after the locker room talk? BROOKE MCCARTY: Yes, we started following the game plan that coach had for us. We knew that we needed to get touches to Imani and get their defense moving and get them out of position. So that's what we did. And it worked out for us. Q. How different is the team with Imani in the game and when she's not in the game? And how important was it to keep her in the game in the last quarter and a half there? BROOKE MCCARTY: She's a great player and she's a big factor for us. We need her inside and just like she needs us, we need her. And without her out there, it's like a missing piece. But we can all feel that piece, we're a team. So when she's on the bench, she's helping us and when she's out there, she's helping us. So it's really a win win. Q. How often do you think about the matchup with Connecticut you last had, and specifically with Breanna Stewart? And do you feel like have you a different strategy coming in to attack that matchup on Monday night? IMANI BOYETTE: I think we were very aware in terms of our off season about how we ended our season last year, so we tried to put in the work coming into the tournament and during the season, so we could come in with a higher seed and try to our best to go as far as possible. But we have no clue, so far, about how we're going to play tomorrow, because we were focused on UCLA and our opponent today and getting through them, because we couldn't try to play Connecticut if we hadn't beat UCLA. We had to respect them, and we did. Q. The UCLA coach said the difference in this game was rebounds. You were minus five in the first half, plus 11 in the second half. Was it your aggression, or in the second half, that led you to where you are? And was there a fear that you might be playing your last game if things didn't shape up? IMANI BOYETTE: I think that the difference definitely was rebounds. They were whipping our butt in the first half in rebounds. Our coaches were telling us about that. It wasn't anything I did, like personally, it was just a team effort. When we helped, we had to slide down and make sure we boxed out their post players. They were crashing regardless, and I just tried to do my job and make she sure that I was occupying Billings. And if I wasn't getting the rebound, making sure she wasn't. We got away from boxing out in the first half. And in the second half, we tried to make sure that everyone was boxing out and everyone was taking a part of the rebound game. THE MODERATOR: All right. Thank you. Take questions for coach. Q. In line of what I was talking with Imani about just now, the -- what has changed about her ability to, once she's in foul trouble, be able to still be as effective as she was, to put up 18 and 10, even though she was in foul trouble, most of that production came after the foul trouble. COACH ASTON: I think a lot of it for Imani is it's just an evolution of her mindset. She's matured, as our whole team has, and she's -- I think all year long, she said she's learned some lessons throughout conference play. But I really believe all year long, she's had a much more level of maturity as far as handling foul trouble and knowing when to back off a little bit and give a player some space, when to let it go. She did go through one little span that she had to think about that, she was getting fouls early because people were going right at her. And she probably did learn some discipline lessons with that. I also think that it helps her to know that we do have some other players. I thought numbers wise Kelsey -- it doesn't look like she did a lot, but I thought the put back she gave us, gave us a little lift. And I think it helps her to know that it's not all her responsibility. Q. Can you address that 10-point run at the beginning of the fourth quarter and the fourth quarter in general, when Ariel made that three-point play late. She just had that reaction afterwards, it seemed like a change in the attitude like you weren't going to lose at that point. COACH ASTON: I think we definitely tried to reset at the end of the third quarter, because I actually thought we had some good moments in the third quarter. But it seemed like every time we made a run, we would relax and let them go down. I think there was one play, where we scored -- I think we may have even taken the lead or tied it and Korver comes down and hits a three, uncontested. And that was the main topic of conversation, which was let's try to get two or three stops in a row by not relaxing if we score. And I thought they did a much better job of locking in, and they, obviously, were better rebounding in the fourth quarter. Q. Coach Close said there's no -- not one play that makes a game. But she did single out Lashann Higgs made a steal at the very beginning of the fourth quarter, it was kind of a gift basket that she thought that maybe that was one of the things that led to what happened afterwards. COACH ASTON: It was definitely a big basket, because it energized our team, and we like to -- I think we like to pick up full court. Sometimes they do it spontaneously and that was one of those times. And she makes a lot of plays that are spontaneous, and you love a player like that, even though sometimes they do things you don't quite know what they're doing, it's still fun to watch them. But I could go down the line with people that made plays. I just mentioned Kelsey Lang, and I thought even though she struggled in the field, the put back she gave, gave us life. And again, you -- Brianna Taylor made some plays that were good for us. So I really think you could go down the line with players that made plays. And that's the difference in our team, is that we have players that make plays now and it's across the board. We don't just rely on one person to do everything for us. Q. In the fourth quarter, the game was kind of nip and tuck from time to time and it seemed like you were really starting to game manage for your team. Was that something consciously you were doing or not? COACH ASTON: It was. We were trying to run some different sets that first of all gave some mismatch opportunities to our team. Some of them were to try to gets the ball into Imani -- there were a couple things we ran to try to get Brooke a shot because she was shooting the ball well. But mainly just trying to manage what we were running so that we possible might reverse the basketball, which we didn't do in the first half. Sometimes, if I manage what we're running, they reverse it without thinking. So, I was trying to get them into some action that would involve reversal. Q. We talked about the 10-0 run was the big difference in this game. Now to look ahead, the run is what always seems to be a problem when people play UConn. They have that one big run coming at some point. What do you tell your team going, now that you've finished this game, to prepare them for playing in this environment here, knowing that those runs are going to come and not to get sucked into what they can do? COACH ASTON: Well, it's definitely easier said than done -- and by the way, I appreciate you guys what you do for us for women's basketball. We all keep up and it's a great thing. But their runs are tough. Obviously, with the crowd being what it is, they feed off of it, but they're also very capable, because you don't have someone on their team that you can pinpoint. I think that's what makes them so good is that every player on their team is explosive, every player is terrific offensively. But on the flip side of that, what is more impressive in person than that is, on film, which I haven't looked at film on them, but I've actually seen them play, but what's the most impressive is their length defensively. They just, you really have to have some patience -- back to your question. If you shoot quick, a lot of times in a row, then you're probably going to get sucked in. And we did that last year. So I hope that we can maybe reflect a little bit on shot selection last year. But again, they force you into shots that are bad because they're so long. Q. Two-part question, first, how big is it for this program to make that next step and get back for the first time in 13 years to the regional finals? And second part is, I don't know if you watched it all, but seeing the UConn game before you, where it was over in the first quarter, is that something where your team, you don't want them watching in case you do play them or they're out there appreciating some obviously very well played basketball? COACH ASTON: Well, first of all, your first question, phenomenal. That we were in the regional final of the four years ago I don't know that we would have projected that or anybody else would have. But as a coach, especially one that's gone through the processes as long as I have as an assistant coach at Texas, and then as a head coach, you have certain teams that you really appreciate. And aside from where our program is right now, and I'm really proud of that, it's hard for me not to just stay in the moment with this team, because they're really fun to coach. They set out at the beginning of the year to get to this place. And that was all they ever talked about. And along the way they hoped they would win a conference championship and I don't know that we ever talked about winning 31 games, but I do know that this was exactly where they wanted to be. They wanted to get one step farther than they did last year and feel like that they were continuing to improve. And they have stayed in the moment with that all year long. And I'm extremely, extremely proud of them. Q. If someone told you before the season you were going to win 31 games, you would have thought what? COACH ASTON: Well, I will say that the, I don't know that I would have been able to even say, yeah, I think we can or because of the -- and I know you know our program really well -- but we did have those guys that were coming off of injuries and surgery, off season surgeries. So I think that was the unknown with our team. And those guys really all of them that came off of the surgeries, other than the fact that Brady could not really get recovered from hers, they all came back and have given us something really special. So, to say that we knew this was going to happen, I'm not sure, because I wasn't sure of our health. I thought if we got healthy and in particular you talk about Imani and Ariel, who were not able to go through off season and then Bria and Brady, but to have Imani, in particular, all year long has been special for her and for our team because she's never been able to play a whole year. She's never played more than a semester. So, but we were talking about that back there, Travis and I were, who obviously we have all been a part of special teams, you could have attempt that goes to the Final Four and not win 31 games. So, this is a special season, no question. Q. So sort of like a two-part question, but it touches on what you said, how significant to have Imani and have the two of you in that situation against the team that ended the season last year for you, as a competitor, as a mile post for the program, and just, do you think about it, have you started to think about it in terms of someone who can up end what seems like this march towards history? COACH ASTON: I think that we would not have played as hard as we played today with the competitiveness that we played today, had we not wanted the opportunity to play UConn tomorrow. Because some people just wouldn't want to take the chance. And I think that our players understand that they are the standard. We saw it firsthand last year. Everybody has seen it. So I think we all understand that that is what level we're all striving for. So, you might as well go play it and figure out what it looks like and how can you get there. I don't have the answer as to whether we can get there on Monday or not, but I definitely think that we have a group of players that are going to try or they wouldn't have done what they did in the fourth quart today quarter today had they not wanted that opportunity. Q. You talk about UConn's length and as you go on through your game plan, how do you simulate their length, their speed, their physicality, in practice? COACH ASTON: I think I'm going to dress Tina Thompson out. That's going to be a starter for me. I'll see if I can slip her into a uniform and start there. Hard to get ready for that in 48 hours. That's tough. So, the only thing I can say is that we go competitively against guys every day and we do have a habit of practicing against a group of practice guys that are long and athletic and don't have any mercy on us most days. So, I can appreciate the fact that we have tried to, again, every day in practice we're searching for that level. So I think we'll be more mentally prepared because of the opportunity to play them last year, but -- and that should be somewhat of a difference, that we understand what we're going up against. THE MODERATOR: All right. Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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