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SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTMarch 4, 2017Matthew MitchellMakayla EppsEvelyn AkhatorGreenville, South Carolina South Carolina - 89, Kentucky - 77 THE MODERATOR: I'd like to welcome Kentucky. Coach, if you could start with an opening statement, please. COACH MITCHELL: Well, we're disappointed with the result tonight. We really wanted to win, wanted to play in the championship game tomorrow. But I'm not disappointed in our team's effort. They really fought, battled hard. We were shorthanded today. We had a tough, tough ending to last night's game. Woke up this morning, found out Taylor wasn't going to play, had to make some adjustments. Just so proud of our team for fighting hard. We didn't execute the way we wanted to, but we sure battled. I can't say enough about these two seniors. I love them. They came to play today. They gave a championship effort. We will build from this one, get ready for the NCAA tournament. I think we're going to be a very good tournament team. We're excited about that opportunity. Wish we were playing for the championship here, but can't say enough about our players' effort tonight. THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes. Q. Makayla, when you made that run, got within two points, what was going right for you? What happened to kind of thwart that run? MAKAYLA EPPS: What I will say that was going right for us, we just had an attack mentality from the beginning. Evelyn, myself, Maci, McKenzie, everybody who checked into the game for Kentucky had an attack mentality. I showed. We almost took 20 more shots than they did. We was obviously on the attack, hunting shots. Just down the stretch, got a couple foul calls, a couple free throws we didn't execute as well, missed a couple shots, couldn't get the rebound, so... Q. What can you say about this team's heart? You're down by 14. It looks like it could really go bad for you. You fight and battle back, play with so much heart. EVELYN AKHATOR: I would say we can do anything we put our mind into. I mean, we have good guards, good post players. We play together. We all love each other. I would say whenever we put our heart into something, hustle, it's really going to happen. MAKAYLA EPPS: They had us down 14 in the third with eight minutes to go. We were down 14 at their house at halftime. They came back and had a big third quarter like we did today. I feel like every position or situation we get in with every team, it's nothing new to us. We've been there before. Us being down 14, we've been there before. You could tell our team wanted to win today so we could play tomorrow. Everybody showed fight. We got scrappy after some loose balls. People laid their body on the charge. Evelyn had some great and-one plays down the stretch. I feel like this team never gave up. Q. Makayla, coach touched about you being a difficult tournament team. How will this help you when we get to NCAA tournament time? MAKAYLA EPPS: We got to keep the momentum going. They're one of the top teams in the country, a top team in our conference. If we're hanging in there neck-and-neck with them down the wire, that's saying what we're capable of doing. We're going to get back to it, focus on Kentucky, what we do best, what makes us our best. I'm sure coach got us a really good plan coming up. Regardless of where they put us in the tournament or who we got to face, I'm confident in my team and our abilities. Q. It looks more and more likely like you'll be able to host the first two rounds. What does it mean to get back home, that you might earn those seats? MAKAYLA EPPS: Like I said, playing at home, it's a big home-court advantage, especially with all the Kentucky fans that will pack Memorial if that does happen. Evelyn and I had a memorable Senior Night. The opportunity to play in Memorial again is something we're looking forward to, if the opportunity comes our way. Q. Makayla, what do you remember most about all these battles with South Carolina over the years? MAKAYLA EPPS: Just the Kentucky versus South Carolina game hype is real. It's not like -- you know you're going to get a battle, regardless of what the score is, who is up, who is down. The team that's down is always going to fight till the end. The team that's up is going to fight like they're down. Like I said, the hype is real surrounding the two teams. I've played them line 11 times, probably more than anybody else in the conference. My respect to 'em. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, ladies. We'll continue with questions for coach. Q. Matthew, are you confident Taylor will be able to be back come NCAA tournament time? COACH MITCHELL: Well, it's at little over 24 hours since the injury occurred. She's in the concussion protocol. We've had them last for a long time, and we've had them going back within a week or so. We'll be praying for the shorter period of time. It looks promising right now. We're very optimistic as you can be in these situations. She's a really tough kid, real honest kid. She'll let us know how she's doing. You'll know where she stands with that. She'll communicate well with us. We'll figure it out. But, you know, I think it's a couple weeks until we play again. I would be hopeful, optimistic that we'd have her for the NCAA tournament. Can't hold me to that. I'm just giving what my hopes are. Q. What do you know about Jaida Roper's injury? COACH MITCHELL: Under evaluation. That was the fourth quarter. She's under evaluation. Hit her head. It will be a concussion check. We'll check for a concussion. I shouldn't say that either. She's under evaluation is what I was told. Almost went to medical school, but I didn't quite get in. Q. When they went up by 14, looked like everything was getting ready to go south, you sort of were able to make a run, come back in it. What do you think went well during that period? COACH MITCHELL: Well, we tried to get strengthened and encouraged this morning before we came over here to practice. I just went in the room, told them, Listen, it was not a fatal blow losing Taylor, it was a punch in the gut. When you get punched in the gut, it hurts real bad, but you got to find a way to straighten up and grit your teeth. We had a lot of positives going for us. Everybody that was available today has been in a game and has made something happen in some game. We could not worry about things that we couldn't control. It was a terrible thing that happened with Taylor yesterday. Wished we had her today, but we didn't. I think the players, to their credit... The only thing I asked of them today was a positive attitude at all times, never hang your head. That's a really, really talented, powerful, physical team. If you hang your head, you can get your head handed to you. The only thing I asked out of them, before we started talking strategy, was to have a very positive attitude, an attitude of strength, encouragement of each other. I told the coaches we needed to do the same thing. I was talking to myself more than anybody. I think that's probably what we did well. We always felt like we could get shots. We always felt like we could execute and get some shots. So you just kept telling them, Just hang in there, hang around, it's going to pop open for you at some point. You can get it done. The kids stayed really strong mentally today. That's one of the benefits we can take out of the game. You have to do that tournament time. It's a really, really stressful, difficult time. You can let your emotions get ahold of you and send you in the wrong direction. We didn't let that happen today. I was proud of our team for that. That was real growth, real toughness from them. Q. Matthew, the game tonight was fairly similar to the one you played in Columbia less than a week ago. You made a run on them, came close. Did you think this time, because of what you learned in Columbia, when you saw them back on their heels, This is our shot, we're going to be able to complete this? COACH MITCHELL: I thought the players were communicating in the huddle. Coach, we can get them, win this game. I kept telling them, you know, we weren't making anything up. We were right there. We were a possession or two away. I thought the team had great confidence. We needed a couple shots to fall that were really great shots that we executed well down the stretch when it was a one-possession game. We really did some nice things that created open shots. I just hate they didn't go. I'm proud of our team for executing. We were a confident bunch, fired up. Everybody wanted to win. Just proud of how they competed. Q. Your seniors combined for 55 points today. Maybe elaborate on them, what you saw out of Evelyn and Makayla today. COACH MITCHELL: If you think back to last April, it was so much negativity swirling, never inside the building, always outside the building. We were under attack really. It was incredible. It was a very, very stressful, difficult time. Different things were floating around about them, you know, maybe leaving them, getting out, people coming in saying that was a sinking ship there. Those two stepped up into the gap, just said, We're not going anywhere. This is a great place. It's impacted my life in a positive way. You're sitting there with six scholarship players in April, and you don't know the way forward, you don't know what's going on. If you don't have some character to you, you can bailout and go. Those two didn't. It's just critical. I'm so grateful for them. I'm grateful for all the kids. Then the six that joined up with us, I said this many times, it's a beautiful group of kids, a high-character group of kids. They really care about each other. I think they do, because these two have a special bond at seniors. They knew we needed it from them tonight. They rose to the occasion. So I love 'em as people. They both have just shown tremendous character. They've both given of themselves this season. I just can't wait to get in the NCAA tournament, do something special with them. They've really done a lot for us. So proud of those seniors. Proud of our entire team. They're a special group of young women. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, coach. COACH MITCHELL: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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