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NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FINAL FOUR

April 3, 2016

Indianapolis, Indiana

UConn - 80, Oregon State - 51

THE MODERATOR: Joining us on the dais head coach Geno Auriemma, Breanna Stewart and Morgan Tuck. Coach, an opening statement.

COACH AURIEMMA: Well, I mean, it's hard to not be impressed by the things that Morgan Tuck did in that first-half run that we had. That's what stood out the most, it seemed like, you know? But in reality, we talked about it after the game, that was a team performance that first half. Usually if we run out to a 20-something-point lead, a big deal of that is because Stewy got a bunch. And that didn't happen in the first half.

So that first half really set us up well for the second half because everybody on the team contributed and they felt great at halftime and felt great coming out. So that to me was the most impressive thing; that our team played great today.

THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes.

Q. Breanna, sixth time this season that Morgan has led the team in scoring in a game. And with your struggles in the first half, including a couple of fouls at the end of the first quarter, how big -- how big was it to have Morgan stepping up while you were, for lack of a better way to put it, just not having a normal night?
BREANNA STEWART: It was huge. Morgan stepped up and she was doing what she does. She was playing the game that we all know she can play. And when people are not guarding her and giving her the open shot, as you can see, she knocked it in and really started a run for our team.

Q. Morgan, for the last nine games now you've gone on a run where you're shooting about 45 percent from 3. I'm just curious if there's been a specific way that your game has evolved. Has there been something where you feel that things have clicked for you along those lines? What is it that sort of seems like it's made that a plus element of the game now?
MORGAN TUCK: Well, I'll give credit to Coach and Stewy. Coach has really been kind of on me about my shot and making those 3s. And me and Stewy, we've been getting into the gym a lot. So I give them the credit for that.

Q. (Off microphone)?
MORGAN TUCK: Times like 20.

Q. Morgan, real quick, did it bother you -- what was going through your head every time you were coming off a screen or high and low that you were wide open? What was going through your head mentally?
MORGAN TUCK: It's kind of weird sometimes being that wide open when you catch the ball because you're not used to it. But literally the beginning of the game she was standing in the lane. So I knew I would have to knock in some shots so it would open the lane up so we could get more than just outside shots.

Q. Stewy, I know you guys just won, but your goal since the beginning has been getting four titles, and now you're one game away from doing that. Has it sunk in yet, what does that mean to you being back to where you want to be?
BREANNA STEWART: I think it's sunk in when we're going to the locker room, getting back to the locker room, we were all excited. We know that we have one game left. We're exactly in the position that we want to be in. And now it's practice tomorrow. National championship game Tuesday.

Q. Morgan and Stewy, what does it say about this team and how hard you guys have worked to be able to get such a well-balanced performance from a lot of people tonight in this spot?
MORGAN TUCK: I think it shows how good our team is and that Stewy is the best player in the country, but she has a great supporting cast and we're able to step up and make plays. And even when our subs are coming off the bench, they're contributing right away.

So I think that's what makes us a really, really great team. We don't have to go rely on one person to get it done.

Q. Stewy, can you address what Napheesa and what Gabby did? They came in tight spots when the game was up in the air. What impressed you the most about what they did?
BREANNA STEWART: I think what most impressed me was how destructive they were on defense and even offense. Gabby was getting a lot of steals, fronting Ruth in the paint and getting some steals. And Napheesa, she said she took the first charge of her life today. But offensively they're being aggressive. Gabby was knocking down that 15-footer, and they knew that coming off the bench they wanted to be a spark.

Q. Stewy, it's an unusual first 13 minutes for you. Foul trouble. Your first shot was an offensive tip attempt, I think, with six minutes to go in the second quarter. What was that experience like for you, much different?
BREANNA STEWART: It was definitely different. I think that it was a little frustrating, frustrated with myself, that kind of stuff, that I picked up two quick fouls. But I was trying to continue to play. You don't want to foul out of the game. You have to be smart but still be aggressive, but not overly aggressive. And I was just trying to do whatever I could.

Q. Breanna, when you came out of the game in the fourth quarter, you came over and looked like you rubbed Katie Lou on the head. Was that something to interrupt them, was the team aware of the extent of the injury to her foot at that time?
BREANNA STEWART: Yeah, I think that we were aware of what was going on. And especially as a freshman, being in the Final Four, that's not what you want to happen. That's not ideal. She wants to be in the game playing with us. And I think my thoughts coming off the bench was just being there to kind of comfort her. I don't know how much it's going to help. But kind of giving her the idea that we got this.

Q. Breanna, what do you think were some of the major causes for that slow start at the beginning? The slow start at the beginning, what do you think were the major causes for that?
BREANNA STEWART: Mine? The biggest cause was I picked up two fouls in less than two minutes in the first half. But I think that I don't really know if it was a slow start, but the rest of the team was knocking in shots. Morgan was knocking in shots. Mo, Kia, Lou, you could go through the entire team and say they were playing really well offensively.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, ladies. Questions for Coach.

Q. Can you tell us what happened to Katie Lou and what the circumstances were and how that all went down?
COACH AURIEMMA: I guess it happened on the very first possession that we had where she drove it to the basket and she said she felt something but didn't really say anything and just continued to play on it. And it wasn't until late in the first half that we found out that there was something wrong.

Then by halftime, when we were in the locker room, we knew that when she wasn't back in the locker room right away, it had to be something. And then before the half started, before the second half started, Rosemary Ragle, our athletic trainer, told me she has a broken bone in her foot and she's out. And we just addressed it with our team real quick and play on.

Q. It's not easy defending your team. It's kind of pick your poison thing. Were you surprised Morgan was hitting shot after shot and they didn't really change that, they kept giving her shots? Is that something what they have to do when they decide to leave someone open and they chose to take their chances with her?
COACH AURIEMMA: That was my biggest concern going in offensively for us. My concern defensively was how we were going to guard them, which is not easy. My concern offensively was -- and we talked about this every practice leading up to tonight -- we're going to get more open shots tonight than we have in maybe three months.

And that's good and bad, because, as Morgan said, you're used to being guarded and having to work hard to get open, and then split second, boom, catch a shoot or catch a pass, catch and drive it. Now all of a sudden you catch the ball and you're standing there and there's nobody around you.

And it's a fine line, you take that shot right away or do you pass it up and come back to it later. I think that's where you've got to trust your players.

And I remember telling, I don't know, somebody at ESPN or something, I said if Morgan Tuck makes shots at the beginning of the game, I think we're going to be okay. And they had to make a decision. You either have to leave Tuck open or leave Stewy open, but if you're going to play Ruth, then you can't guard both of them. And they chose to guard Stewy, which obviously I would have as well.

Q. How gratifying is it as a coach to see all your key players tonight come in and do exactly what they needed to do to help you win?
COACH AURIEMMA: We talked about being a team effort and a team win. It's one thing to play against a great player, because you can gang up on them and figure out a way to get the ball out of their hands if you want to. But to try to beat a really good team that's playing well together, that's difficult to do.

So if you're going to win these games, you're not going to be able to come out here and just say, okay, Stewy, get it done. It's not going to happen. Invariably your team has to win these games.

And that's what happened tonight. And we talk about that a lot. Stewy gets so much attention that if you're not careful, some of the other guys on the team might try to be like Stewy: Then I'll get more attention. And that's the world we live in.

Luckily our players don't think like that. But that's a world that a lot of coaches live in today. They've got a really good player and then they've got a couple of okay players and those guys think they should be getting more shots, and the next thing you know it all falls apart.

So we just talk about everything that you've done in the last six months that got us here, just do that. You as an individual, everything that you've done, everything that you know you're good at, just do that. And it will be enough. That's what happened today.

Q. When I asked Stewy about saying four years ago she wanted to win four titles and now you're one game away from that, just your thoughts on being that close? The second half, I know you said many times that when you guys play games, a lot of times it's you against yourselves. It doesn't really matter who you're playing against. You don't know who you're playing on Tuesday night yet, but is it sort of the same thing, where it depends what you guys do Tuesday more than whoever you play?
COACH AURIEMMA: I think that's maybe more the case during the regular season. I think when you get here, we're playing against Oregon State today, and we knew what we had to do to beat them. And we don't know who we're playing Tuesday. That's exactly right. But we're going to know in a couple of hours. Then we've got to figure out how to win that game.

But while you're trying to do that, it's like any other sport: Yeah, you're trying to win, but ultimately if you do all those other little things that lead to winning, then it really doesn't matter who you're playing. If you can do those things, you're going to put yourself in a position to win.

So it's the same as our game against Ohio State. The very first game of the season. Our approach tonight was exactly the same as it was against Ohio State. No different. This is who we have to beat. If we do these things, one, two, three, four, five, then we're going to win. And we've done that 30 times every game, talk about the same things. And when we do those things, we're in position to win.

Q. This is not game-related. But I'm curious, have you been influenced at all by John Wooden? Have you met John Wooden? If so -- because you're in that territory. You bypassed him already.
COACH AURIEMMA: Well, I don't know if I'm in that territory. But when I was a kid, I was a great admirer of the UCLA basketball program, no question about it. Tremendous admirer. Like I met Gil Goodrich, and I got a chance to play golf with him. He lives in Connecticut. What, when did I meet him? Maybe 10 years ago. I just stared at him the whole 18 holes. Like I'm playing golf with Gil Goodrich.

And I remember when we had Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird, I remember saying to the media, young kid, how would you describe your back court, I said: It's like we've got Gil Goodrich and Jerry West playing for the Lakers. They were like: Huh? Had no idea what I was talking about.

But when I was a kid, we used to have these discussions when I was in high school. Would you rather play for UCLA and sit on the bench or would you rather play 40 minutes someplace else and know you're never going to win a national championship. And it was interesting discussions. Different people think different things.

I knew every one of their players. I watched them play as much as I could. I read everything about them. Obviously I didn't know I'd be sitting here answering this question about UCLA. I just loved it. I loved everything about them. I loved the way they played. And obviously as I've gotten older -- and I did have a chance to meet Coach Wooden once. I think we've done that story already. Probably told it to death. Made quite -- I don't think I made a big impression on him, let's put it that way. I'll talk to you about it afterwards.

Q. Breanna and Morgan are the big story in tonight's game, but talk about the efforts from Moriah Jefferson, 10.7 assists; Kia Nurse, 9.5 assists. Twelve assists between them compared to eight for Oregon State. How big was it having their presence felt in the game?
COACH AURIEMMA: Well, as I said, everybody did what they're good at. So if I look at the stat sheet, I don't see anything here that makes me go, wow, I didn't know they could do that. Or this kid came out of nowhere. Wow, we weren't expecting that. And I'm sure Scott's not going back to his locker room going, you know, we had no idea that this kid was going to do this.

Everything that's on the stat sheet. Everything that played out in the game is exactly what these players have been doing for the last five, six months. So that's what Mo does. That's what Kia does. And they make open shots and they get people the ball and they play great defense. They did a great job on those two kids from Oregon State.

So, as I said, you can't come here with one or two good players and think that you're going to win the national championship. You gotta come here with -- and you know what's crazy about the NCAA Tournament, doesn't necessarily mean that the best team in America wins the national championship. It's the team that plays great for three weekends. And sometimes that is the best team in the country. Sometimes it's not.

But you better have more than one or two players playing well if you want to win this game tonight and even more importantly Tuesday night. So they did exactly what I'm accustomed to seeing them do.

Q. Do you have any thoughts on just what you've been able to see with LCU, a team you play in the exhibition, and then they go on to have this undefeated regular season and now you see them this weekend competing in the DII championship game tomorrow?
COACH AURIEMMA: I tried to get them on ESPN but they're never on. So, you know, may need to talk to Carol Stiff over here start putting on some undefeated Division II teams. I could tell a lot by watching a team play. And when we played them, you could tell. They just play. They didn't look at it as, oh, I want to get Stewy's autograph when I'm playing her. They came to play. They brought a lot of fans. They had a lot of fun. They went right at us.

Yeah, they got killed, but so what. They never stopped playing. They never stopped competing. They did all the -- exactly what I was just talking about earlier. They know if they do this, this, and this every night, they're going to win. They did all those things against us. It just wasn't going to matter. But at least they did all those things. They tried to do all those things.

So I'm not surprised that they're here and I'm not surprised -- it's hard to be undefeated, don't get me wrong. It's really hard. So for them to be here, that coach, he's a hell of a coach. He does a hell of a job. And I like the way he does things. He's really cool. I like him.

Q. In terms of Morgan Tuck's 3-point game, it sounded like you've been on her for a while. She was a 30 percent 3-point shooter for basically three and a half years of her career for you. Was there, A, a moment that you kind of understood, all right, now this is what I can expect from her, because you said tonight there's nothing unexpected in what you got from your team, and that's been really over the last eight, nine games, but also the other part of that was that really the number one -- sort of the last piece to fall into place for you guys, just sort of force that decision for opposing defenses?
COACH AURIEMMA: Stats don't really mean anything. So if you look at our cumulative stats from our season and go, all right, Tuck is shooting 30 percent or 27 percent, whatever the number is, about a month ago, she's shooting whatever from the 3-point line, wow. Now go look at the top 10 teams we played this year and check out her 3-point shooting percentage. It's completely different.

So going into today's game I wasn't thinking how has Tuck been shooting the ball. I just know when we play big games, they go in. So at practice, I don't know, two weeks ago, whenever it was, I just spent some time just: Tuck, if you're going to shoot those, you've got to make them.

She has a great answer: I know. That's it. I know. And she would just stand there and knock them in one after another after another. And I could tell, when we left Connecticut, the bigger the game, the more she makes. She and Stewy are a lot alike in that regard. They make shots, but then in big games they make a lot of shots. And they make big shots. And I'm not surprised. Let's hope she has one more of them.

Q. Stewart obviously had those two early fouls. Did you think about taking her out, or was that out of the question and you had the confidence she wasn't going to commit that third?
COACH AURIEMMA: Yeah, as soon as the foul call came, it was -- yeah, I wanted to take her out. And she looked at me and she said: I got it. I'm all right. But it affects us. Because they started -- they got laps they would never get because she wasn't comfortable blocking shots. It affected us a little bit defensively around the basket. And sometimes when you've got two quick fouls, it affects you offensively because you really want to go that hard get a charging call and make that a third?

So it obviously affected us. But to be able to do what we did with her getting, I think, two shots in the first half -- we said that at halftime. We walked in, I said: Guys we're up 21 points. Stewy's only got two shots. I don't know what they're thinking, but I'm thinking we're in pretty good shape. And said Stewy -- and we weren't going to go out of our way and say, okay, let's run 10 plays for Stewy. All we did, coming out of the second half, go: Listen. Let's get some movement here. Get yourself on track, Stewy. Knock in a 3, and let's get moving. (Snapping fingers) knocks one in. Let's get moving.

Q. I know everybody in the media has been grappling with the question, the secret behind your consistent excellence and dominance of the game, and I don't know if we're any closer to understanding that than we've ever been. But I'd like to ask you about what I think is one piece of that, and that's the enthusiasm I consistently see on your bench. Your kids that are not in the game are up cheering every time a shot goes in or a 3-pointer as if they've never seen a bucket or 3 before. Is that the way they come to you, you recruit them that way? Is that something you demand of them, or is that an ethos passed on by your upperclassmen?
COACH AURIEMMA: I don't want to sound like an old guy. I don't want to sound like an old guy who's been coaching a long time. So it's going to come across like that, I'm sure. But recruiting enthusiastic kids is harder than it's ever been. Because every kid watches TV and they watch the NBA or they watch Major League Baseball or whatever sport they watch, WNBA, doesn't matter, and what they see is people just being really cool. So they think that's how they're going to act. And they haven't even figured out which foot to use as a pivot foot and they're going to act like they're really good players. You see it all the time. See it at every AAU tournament, every high school game.

So recruiting kids that are really upbeat and loving life and love the game and have this tremendous appreciation for when their teammates do something well, that's hard. It's really hard.

So on our team, we, me, my coaching staff, we put a huge premium on body language. And if your body language is bad, you will never get in the game. Ever. I don't care how good you are. If somebody says, well, you just benched Stewy for 35 minutes in the Memphis game a couple of years ago. Yeah, I did. That was to motivate her for the South Carolina game the following Monday? No, it wasn't. Stewy was acting like a 12-year-old. So I put her on the bench and said sit there.

It doesn't matter on our team. The other coaches might say you can do that because you've got three other All-Americans. I get that, I understand that. But I'd rather lose than watch kids play the way some kids play. I'd rather lose. And they're allowed to get away with just whatever and they're always thinking about themselves. Me, me, me, me. I didn't score, so why should I be happy? I'm not getting enough minutes, why should I be happy? That's the world we live in today, unfortunately. And kids check the scoreboard sometimes because they're going to get yelled at by their parents if they don't score enough points. Don't get me started.

So when I look at my team, they know this. When I watch game film, I'm checking what's going on on the bench. If somebody is asleep over there, if somebody doesn't care, if somebody's not engaged in the game, they will never get in the game. Ever.

And they know that. They know I'm not kidding. We only have 30-some games. If you're lucky, what's this, 30 what -- 37. 37 games. You can't get up for every one of those games? You can't be excited for every one of those games? And you're on scholarship. Now, you're playing on the best team in the country and you're going to mope, seriously? That's the way we handle it. Now, they might be faking it, I don't care, but they're not moping, there's nobody moping.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach.

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